Politically correct...or not

This seems to be another idea that kind of snowballed,it may have started out with the right intentions but it ran amok from there. I have heard over and over people complaining about the new and improved words that are applied to them and I can't say I much blame them, some of it is down right silly at best. One can apply here the adage,"If it ain't broke don't fix it". Which brings me to the question, who is deciding what is right or wrong when it comes to how we can refer to our fellow humans? And how did they get the reins in the first place? Some folks are afraid of opening their mouths for fear of offending someone,so once again another of our basic right are being trampled upon,where will it stop? In the beginning our rights were fairly simple and bright,shiny and vibrant but as time goes on it seems like most of them are fading to the palest of pastels,totally washed out from the original ideas.

Surprised

I have to admit I was a little surprised at the positive responses from yesterdays post,I had been thinking on it for several days and was wondering what kind of a can of worms I would be opening. As it turns out I am one in a multitude that feel the same way,so how did it get so turned around like it is now? It is more or less our kids that are doing the parenting these days,or did I mentally miss a generation in between? Here I was thinking that I would be getting boos and hisses,but not really caring, I wrote it anyway...goes to show what I know!
Been busy as a one armed paper hanger today so not much more to offer for today,but I will try to come up with something worth your while for tomorrow.

Balancing act

Life is pretty much a balancing act or if you prefer you could think of yourself as a juggler trying to keep the balls in the air,but what about kids? It has been brought to my attention that kids in these times we live in are being over scheduled to the point of having no free time. I understand the logic that has brought it to this point,in keeping them busy they have no time to get into trouble,and exposing them to several different things will hopefully make them into a well rounded adult,but every minute of every day? What about time to just be a kid,and play? What about just having a little down time to use their imagination? They surely won't have time for much of that once they are adults and with any luck join the work force. This also makes me question if this is why kids don't seem to strike out on their own like they used too,people say it is because it is so much more expensive these days,but with considering COLA raises the same apply to wages so I don't think this is necessarily true. Maybe with all the over exposure to choices they can't narrow it down and figure out what they want to be when they grow up,or maybe they are so dependent on the parents by the time they reach adulthood they are afraid to take the plunge. I am not talking about just having a kid play a sport but the push for them to do everything that comes down the pike,dance,music,extra classes and clubs the lists I am hearing are endless and make me tired just thinking about it. Is this good parenting or avoiding being a parent? It seems to me the only free time the kids that are over scheduled would have they would need to be spend sleeping,so when does time with the parents come into play? I may be way off base here...we all know it wouldn't be the first time,but it sure leaves me wondering.

Satisfaction!

At last a product that works as promised! Uma got the acid test today,not only was it raining but there were several good gusts,and just like her warranty had suggested she defied the wind and the interesting thing is how she resisted inversion...she inverts when confronted with a gust but when it lets up she pops herself back out to the regular umbrella configuration. Needless to say I was impressed! I only hope I am not speaking words of praise too soon for fear of jinxing the whole operation,but with any luck my superstitions will not come into play this time,and we will have a long and mostly dry time in the months to come. All I need to figure out now is how to keep the water from wicking up my pants legs...ah,back to the drawing board.

Breaking the Law 101

I can't help but notice when I am making my daily rounds the people teaching their children how to jaywalk...what do they say to them? It's all right to break the law as long as you don't get caught? Then years later they are the same ones wringing their hands and wondering how their child could have gone bad.
That brings out that soapbox person again on a similar topic,bikes and skateboards on the sidewalks. Do those people not read? There are signs that say no bicycles or skateboards...and never mind the very name sidewalk suggests its intended use,otherwise they could have called it a sideride.  I worry about the elderly getting mowed down by the ones that insist on riding on the sidewalks and expressed my concerns at city hall,but of course was told they don't have money in the budget for anyone to do anything about it. I suggested that perhaps the parking Nazi could at least say something to them when he saw them,and they said he was pretty busy with marking tires and writing tickets and there was no revenue in bicyclists, I was a little peeved at this point and told them,"well if you started confiscating the bikes and they had to pay to get them back it would be a big step to solving the problem." I was told to come to a city council meeting if I wanted to bring it up...so it was all just another waste of my time trying to save the elderly from bodily harm.  Then there are the ones that actually use the bicycle lanes,but have such a sense of entitlement that they don't think they need to stop for traffic signs or signals...HELLO! Did they not notice that there is no steel wrapped around them and they will be the certain loser in any run in with a motorized vehicle.

Marinated people

Not to worry,I am not turning cannibalistic on you. I am talking about people that take your breath away from the overuse of colognes and aftershave,and not in a good way. I think it is a bit much when I am walking outside and that happens,I can well imagine what it must be like to be in close contact with those same people all day long. The very worst of all though is in restaurants where the smell becomes part of the meal and ruins it,this is not usually from the employees as most have enough sense to not wear something that is going to make the meal less than enjoyable,but from the other patrons. Okay,done with the soapbox for today.
I thought I saw someone wearing the same tie-dyed shirt as I had on today until I realized it was my reflection in a window...but in my defense it is a building with windows on both sides so you look through to the opposite corner, so I thought in a few more steps I would come face to face with the person dressed like me until that little light bulb that sometimes dims in my brain came back to full wattage.

Favorite things

Don't worry I am not going to burst into song I would never abuse my audience that way,even if you couldn't hear me it would still be bad!
What I am talking about it my favorite magazine came in the mail yesterday,actually it is the only magazine I get as most of the rest leave me somewhat flat. It is called "Mental Floss" and I have been getting it for a couple of years now,it is truly a treat. One of the small things about it is at the top of the first several pages above the actual articles is little one-liners called Scatterbrained. The first one in this issue was During the 1960's the U.S. Coast Guard received about two dozen real pleas from concerned citizens to rescue the castaways on "Gilligan's Island". You can well imagine from that small sample what the rest of the magazine is like. I have to say though I liked Scatterbrained better when it was belows the articles and called The Bottom Line,but that is just me and no real reason for it. They also have a part after the Mail Bonding section called Mental Flaws where they correct any errors from previous issues. Don't be confused by Mental Flaws,it is in no way related to mental pause, which is when your brain just shuts down temporarily usually right when you are in the middle of something. I used to think that mental pause only affected people once they reached a certain age,but have discovered even people in their 30's can experience the phenomena,though not as often or severe.