#87 - Sick People

It annoyed me when my kids were in school and other kids came to school sick.  I mean really contagious kind of sick, where they had no business being around other kids.  I realize parents can not be taking off from work every time their child has the sniffles, however, it is unfair to the child to send them to school when they feel like crap, causing others in their class to feel like crap because of the contamination factor! Well, my annoyance with this has extended to adults in the workplace.  Again, I realize we cannot take off from work everytime we feel a bit off.  But when the bit turns into a lot, then I feel we have an obligation to ourselves and our co-workers to STAY HOME!  Walking around in a fog can cause inefficient results in the workplace, as well as getting the entire office staff sick.  So unless your job is one of those critical to the safety of the world, please don't shlepp in to the office, hacking and sneezing all over the phones, keyboards and copiers!

                                                                        

#86 - Cyber Craziness

We have been through a whirlwind of events in one week's time.  From Black Wednesday and all those partying passed out teens, to giving thanks for friends and family & stuffing our faces on turkey dinners, to shopamania on Black Friday, to my Hoos getting their butts handed to them by the Hokies, to putting up Christmas decorations on Sunday, to Cyber Monday (and for someplaces Cyber Week) and being able to get great deals online. Not sure if I missed this special day last year or if this year is a first, but a thought has crossed my mind after listening to the news yesterday about the phenomenal sales across the country on Black Friday, which was one of the reasons the stock market was up 290 points yesterday (hey, I don't make this stuff up!).  If so many people went Black Friday shopping, enough to result in one of the BEST Black Fridays EVER, then how do people have any money left to shop during Cyber Week????  Oh, never mind, how silly of me!  We will simply use credit cards.

Even though Americans spending money greatly benefits the economy, we will all sink a bit further in debt as a result, and then credit card companies will have huge profits  so they can give their CEOs exhorbitantly high bonuses and I guess the economy will gain ground as a result of all this! NOT!  Have we not learned anything from the financial crisis of the last few years???!!!!

                                                                            

#85 - Patty Play Pal Resurrected!

When I was 5 years old, I fell down the cement stairs in our apartment building in NY because I was jumping rope and trying to do my ballet routine (I was determined to be "different" in the ballet recital).  What did this stunt result in? A really bad concussion and 3 weeks in bed and my grandmother buying me a Patty Play Pal doll.  Patty Play Pal stood about 3 feet tall, had shiny straight black hair (well, my did) and was made of that hard plastic as most dolls were made of in the late 50s, early 60s.  Why am I taking a walk down memory lane once again in a pet peeve blog?  Because I think (I'm not sure, mind you) that I may have seen Patty Play Pal on Black Friday.  I can't be sure because she was in a saran wrapped stack of maybe 50 dolls in a center aisle in Walmart, surrounded by a huge hoard of people, waiting to pounce on the pile, as soon as the store employees cut the saran wrap!  Here's why - Walmart does not close on Thanksgiving apparently, so their Black Friday sales merchandise is literally wrapped in saran wrap and marked with signs that say, "do not sell until 10pm on November 23rd".  I inadvertently got swept into this aisle at around 9:55pm, to people chanting - cut that wrap, cut that wrap! And when the wrap was cut, people descended on these poor dolls.  I do not keep up on the latest fads, even in toys for my grandchildren, so I am not really sure if it was Patty Play Pal or not.  All I do know is that people can behave very badly at times.  Now if people were clamoring to see the resurrected Jesus, I could understand their behavior; but for Patty Play Pal - give me a break!

                                                                       

                                                              

                                                         

#84 - Let's make up names for days

Seems to me every time you turn around, there is a new occasion being invented.  There are the traditional ones that have been around for many years: Thanksgiving, Halloween, 4th of July, Christmas, Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, Labor Day, Memorial Day, to name a few.  Then there are ones that pop up out of nowhere.  Grandparents Day.  As if those of us who are grandparents need a day to be treated in a special way.  We walk on water in our grandchildren's eyes EVERY DAY.  Administrative Assistant Day.  First of all, what ever happened to calling people a secretary.  Did that suddenly become a bad word?  And we need a day to recognize our secretary's good work, which I believe is what he/she gets paid for?? Boss's Day.  Ditto the secretary sentiment.  Kwanzaa, which honors universal African-American heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles^[1] and culminates in a feast and gift giving. So, an African-American decides in 1966 that black people need to have their own celebration around the same time as Christian & Jewish people, six days more than Christmas, but one less than Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.  And now I heard on the radio the other day, we have Black Wednesday.  Not to be confused with Black Friday, the day retailers hope their numbers go from red to black because of high volume in sales, Black Wednesday is the - are you ready for this - BIGGEST PARTY DAY OF THE YEAR FOR TEENS, who will drink alcohol excessively and then BLACK out.  So, you are now telling me the day before Thanksgiving is the BIGGEST party day of the year for teens, surpassing New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, graduation night & prom night???!!! Puleez, you've got to be kidding me!

                                                          

#83 - Dust in the Wind - Not Just a Song by Kansas

I am a classic rocker.  I was in high school from 68-72 and lived on Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, James Taylor, Carlie Simon, to name a few. And Bob has the same taste in music, so when we got married in 1975, music was one of those things we never argued about. The first big thing we ever bought as a married couple living in Germany was not a couch or a bed, oh no, it was a stereo receiver, speakers and a turntable.  Being in the Army in Germany was great for stereo purchases!  AAFES had unbelievable prices on top of the line stereo equipment.  By the time we came home in 1978 (3 years later), we had acquired Bose & Pioneer speakers, a Pioneer turntable, a Pioneer receiver, a Teac reel to reel and a cassette player.  Bob went through a new pair of head phones every few years, as it enabled him to listen to music while the kids were asleep or watching something on TV.  Our love of music has trickled down genetically to our son, whom, when he had his house built 3 years ago, made sure it was wired for outside Bose speakers (ah, made his father proud!). Alas, as the years have passed, it seems the only time we really listen to music anymore is in the car or when we have people over the house (BBQs require speakers outside) or at birthday celebrations, or of course, at Christmas. So, before I even get out the Christmas decorations, I go to the CD player to load 5 Christmas discs.  And what to my wondering eye should appear - St. Patrick's Day Irish Pub Songs!  WTH??? Are you telling me the last time we listened to music on our stereo system was St. Patrick's Day???!!!!! 

"I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone. All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity. Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind."  Not so sure, but there may be something to this getting older crap!

                                                               

#82 - Thanksgiving Traditions

Traditions.  Those things that we do in our families that can evoke wonderful, fond memories from our childhood.  Being born on St. Patrick's Day, my birthday always began with my father singing "Rings on my fingers and bells on my toes, elephants to ride on, my pretty Irish rose, come to my birthday on next St. Patrick's Day, Mrs. Rumbo Jumbo, Jude O'Beau Shea, O'Shea!"  I am a big proponent of family traditions, even when the traditions you grew up with in your childhood need to be adjusted to accomodate a new spouse and his traditions, i.e. opening gifts on Christmas Eve after midnight mass vs. opening gifts at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day.  And then as your children grow up and are in college, going back to opening gifts on Christmas Eve because the collegiate crew are night owls and prefer nocturnal activities to sunrise ones.  That then evolves into married children and their new spouses and their traditions.  And so it is that we arrive at Thanksgiving and the dawn of a new tradition - roast chicken instead of turkey.  Now this may be because my daughter-in-law's grandmother lives on a 100 acre turkey farm in WV (or maybe it's 200 or 300, I'm not really sure; all I know is, it's a lot of land!) and my dil grew up watching cute little turkettes mature into big fat gobblers, and the thought of eating them was too traumatic.  Or that my suburban grown son lost his taste for turkey after viewing the turkey houses at grandma's farm.  But the result is there will be no turkey on their table this Thanksgiving.  At first, I felt like our traditions were flying the coop.  But when I stopped and thought about it, who really cares what's on the table for Thanksgiving,  It's what's around the table that counts! Enter in a new era in traditions.  It's all good.

                                                                          

#81- Before Black Friday

I love this time of year. We go from Halloween and all the trick or treating fun, to Thanksgiving, a day of family and food and fun and simply giving thanks to a wonderful God for all the blessings he showers upon us.  And now thanks to my daughter and my daughter-in-law, I have gotten sucked into Black Friday shopping.  A few years ago the two talked me into going Black Friday shopping at 3:00am.  Now the only thing I knew about Black Friday was from a friend who did it every year, and the one thing she said that made sense to me about the nonsence of getting up 3 hours after all the merriment and stuffing of Thanksgiving was that Black Friday enabled her to really focus on the spiritual part of Advent, as she was not thinking about Christmas gifts and what she still needed to buy. So, at first when the girls proposed that I come with them on Black Friday because it was sooooo much fun, I remembered the Advent spiriuality thing (vaguely, because as I have shared before the memory is not what it used to be), and so, agreed to join them.  And what do you know?!?! I actually did enjoy it.  Were the stores packed with other wacko women (not too many men are actually seen on this day)??? Yes. Is it ridiculous to get up and venture into the land of shopping frenzy on only 3 hours sleep??? Yes again. But there is something about the comradery that begins with Starbucks coffee at 3am and waiting in the cold with hundreds of others for a store to open its doors, that is fun.  Yes, actual fun!  So, my peevishness is not really about Black Friday but about the advertising in the days BEFORE Black Friday.  In the past, you would hear which store was opening its doors at 5am.  That wasn't good enough however, because that soon got bumped to 3am, and then midnight and now this year some stores are opening at 10pm on Thanksgiving night.  I feel badly for the employees who have to work that night! Always looking for more profits, stores have now advertised over the past week that you can find sales as good as Black Friday this weekend and in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, so why wait.  Why wait indeed?  My recommendation is that the stores just have Black Friday sales all year long, and every weekend open their doors at midnight, and consumers can shop 24/7! Pretty soon, sales leading up to Black Friday will begin on the 4th of July with a parade and fireworks display!

                                                                    

#80 - Thanksgiving Negative Hype

Holidays - that magical time of year - when old and young alike transform into delightful human beings - kind, cheerful, caring, compassionate people. So, why then does the media need to put a damper on that by reporting things like last year's gas prices were ONLY $2.88 per gallon, and it will cost a person $14.86 more to drive from Atlanta to Orlando? First of all, is everyone and their brother leaving the Dixie state to participate in the Mickey Mouse parade in Disneyworld? Secondly, in the greater scheme of things in this economy, if $14.86 is a big deal to you, then you shouldn't be making a trip to Orlando over Thanksgiving.  Stay home and spend that money on your family's Thanksgiving dinner. And the other gem of a report I heard was that it MIGHT be difficult to find a turkey this year, as they are not as plentiful as in the past.  I didn't hear a reason why, so I can only surmise that the turkeys must be on their way to Disney, too. 

                                                     

#79 - Not a Very Good Catholic

I seem to write thematically on this blog, meaning I group my peeves in themes. So, after yesterday's post on attitudes of Catholic school parents, it stands to reason I should go off on another Catholic topic - the new Roman Missal & the new translation of the mass.  I must be a dud Catholic (dud as in I don't give a rat's ass) because I don't really get what the uproar is about with the new translation of the mass that will be coming out in another week - the 1st Sunday of Advent - and I have done a pretty fair amount of reading and researching in order to do adult classes for our parents at church on the subject.  Please don't misunderstand me.  I am not saying I agree with the translation but the reasons behind the new missal make sense.  And for me, it is all just words.  My relationship with God is not going to change because I will now say the word "consubstantial" instead of "one in being".  So, listening to people on both sides either complain about or rave about the changes is a bit humorous to me.  One of the funniest things I heard the other day was in favor of it.  I was commenting on the fact that I couldn't believe next week was Thanksgiving already and that it was the 1st Sunday of Advent, and the response I got was "yes, and we start using the new Roman Missal that weekend.  I have been waiting for 30 years for this!" REALLY??? 30 YEARS????? This person is in his late 40s, which would have made him in his late teens 30 years ago, and you're telling me he was actually looking forward to the day when we would have a new translation of the mass!!!??? Man, all I was looking forward to in my late teens was the weekend!!! Guess I wasn't a very good Catholic!

                                                                 

#78 - I'm Better Than You

It really bothers me to witness one person's superiority over another. Why do people act superior?  For a number of reasons too numerous to list, but here are just a few.

1. Because they think they are better.

2. Because they think they are smarter.

3. Because they have more money.

4. Because of the color of their skin.

5. Because they attend a Catholic school.

This last possible reason is the catalyst for this post.  I remember as a child attending Catholic school in NY and having early dismissal on Wednesday (1:00pm) so those "public school" kids could come and have their "CCD" class.  And what was the attitude of all the wonderfully Christian Catholic children in my class - put away anything you didn't want the "public school" kids to take, because we just knew they were all Bonnie & Clyde in disguise, just waiting for their oppportunity to steal our pencil cases. I would like to think this attitude has changed since I was in grammar school, but unfortunately it has not totally gone away.  To make matters worse, it is not really coming from the actual kids in Catholic school, but from the parents.  The my-kids-are-in-catholic-school-and-there-is-nothing-more-they-can-learn-from-you-in-the-parish-concerning-sacramental-prep-attitude, is alive and well in some parents (not all, thankfully).  And it is re-enforced by some clergy who have "the Catholic school is the only way to go" mentality, and that kids in public school are not on the same level as their counterparts in Catholic school.  Shame on everyone for teaching kids at an early age how to look down upon others! And we wonder why kids grow up to be arrogant, superior, holier-than-thou types of adults???!!! Perhaps those same parents and clergy need to ask themselves WWJD.

                                                                        

#77 - Attic Hoarding

I have a colleague (no names will be mentioned to protect the innocent!) who loves the show "Hoarders" (at least I think that's the name). She has a sick fascination (she acknowledges this, it is not an editorial comment by me) with people who are hoarders, even though it is an addictive, psychological, emotional issue that results in people not being able to function in their own homes (i.e. so much stuff is accumulated, there is not even a space on their bed to sleep).  So, because of our conversations on this topic, I have come to the realization that I am an attic hoarder.  Attics, garages & storage sheds seem to be the catch-all places for crap.  And my attic is no different, with the exception of something that may not be present in most homes - all of my two children's school work.  Oh no, I'm not talking about 12 years of report cards or that special science project award or the best book report award. No, I am referring to 12 years of EVERY bit of schoolwork my children ever did.  Large black garbage bags filled with these papers.  And for what?  Do we take then out every June around graduation time and nostalgically (yes, Brad, that is a word!) sit around, reminiscing about the hours spent on a particular homework assignment? No, they have stayed, accumulating in the black bags in the attic for the past 26 years that we have lived in our house.  The bags have started to disintegrate, but not those papers!!! And do my grown children who have children of their own, want these cherished tidbits of memorabilia. Oh, hell no! All they want me to find are the transformers and She-ra & He-Man artifacts!  So, it is on my list of to-do projects this winter (cannot go up in the attic in the summer - it's like an oven up there!) to venture into the land of attic hoarders and finally get rid of these bags of papers.  The problem is that I will most likely need to take a week off from work to do it, because although my children may not want these pieces of the past, I still find them fascinating, as only a mother hoarder would!

                                                                          

#76 - Biased Refs

My feelings about referees would be the same as announcers on TV.  They are paid to do a job and they should do it objectively, with no preference for one team or another.  So, when you are at a college football game and the ref makes calls that results in the entire stadium of 52,000 people booing, that tells me they did not do their job well at all.  Why is that?  Here are a few of my takes on this....

1. The ref is getting older and REALLY does need glasses.

2. The ref is getting older and is developing early altzheimers and has forgotten the rules of the game.

3. His mom asked him not to be too hard on the team that was doing poorly.

4. He couldn't get into the university because he wasn't smart enough and so has a chip on his shoulder against the entire school.

5.  His brother is a bookie and he couldn't pass betting on the game.

                                                                       

#75 - Leaves

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I have already voiced this in a previous entry.  And the colors are phenomenal.  And watching the leaves swirl every which way in the autumn wind and listening to the sound of leaves crunching underfoot is all part of the season.  Therein lies the culprit - LEAVES, LEAVES AND STILL MORE LEAVES!  And with the raining down of leaves comes rakes and leaf blowers and a husband who does all the manual labor involved with the leaf removal.  And the more manual labor that he needs to do because our house is surrounded by trees, the more you will hear grumbling.  I look at it this way - it is what it is, and no amount of complaining about it is going to miraculously remove the leaves.  So, just do the raking and blowing and stop yer whining!  Then again, I can have this rather magnanimous attitude because I am not the one performing the wonderful task!!!!

                                                  

                                                              

#74 - Walking on Eggshells

Life can be difficult at times.  Life can be painful at times.  Life can be sad at times.  On the flip side of these statements is my view of life.  Life is a gift.  Life offers us many opportunities.  Life can be filled with joy and happiness.  All of the above are factual tidbits.  No one would deny any of these statements (at least I don't think so).  I realize that an individual's personality determines their perspective on life and how they deal with occurences in life. However, I find it somewhat irksome that the rest of the world needs to discover what personality is rearing it's head before proceeding through the day.  Being a somewhat direct person, I find it tiresome to walk on eggshells because one is in some kind of mood on a given day.  Again, I am not saying we can't all have a bad day, i.e. not feeling well physically, a family member is sick, etc. But I guess most people are not up front.  As a matter of fact, from what I have experienced in my life, I would hazard a guess and say that more people are passive aggressive.  They get pissed about something, but instead of saying what they are pissed about, they walk around with an attitude, resulting in others having to walk on eggshells. So, here are a few suggestions I have to remedy this situation.

1. Using make-up, paint a clown smiley face on and at least I cannot see the grumpiness on your face.

2. Take a pill.

3. Listen to some Black Sabbath.

4. Take another pill.

5. Put up a sign stating your attitude that will not require any verbal exchange for the day.

6. Take a sick day.

7. Buy me a pair of new slippers to aid in my walking softly on the eggshells.

                                                         

                                                                   

#73 - Needy People

There are needy people in this world and then there are NEEDY people in this world.  I suppose if we were to look at this philosophically, we are all needy in a way.  We need to eat.  We need to drink (at least water). We need shelter of some kind.  We need to sleep.  We need God (even though we may not acknowledge his presence).  We do not need an expensive new car.  We do not need a bigger, newer house.  We do not need the newest i-phone. There are hungry and homeless people who need our help in getting back on their feet; people who just a month ago may have been living in a house and had food on their table and now, do not.  That is one type of neediness. The other type of NEEDY person has a home, has enough to eat, has a vehicle to drive them to work (yes, they even have a good job) and the store and the restaurants, has enough money to pay their bills and even go on vacation.  Their neediness is the emotional kind. It’s human nature that we all want and need attention. It helps us as humans to feel secure and become productive and to feel confident.   When you are emotionally needy, your priorities are always changing. The needy individual deals with feelings of insecurity and is uncomfortable in their everyday life. Tone of voice, body language or words give away the needy feelings of people who are looking to be taken care of, both physically and emotionally. There is almost always a drama or a crisis.   I realize as a Christian, I am called to help out my fellow brothers & sisters in need.  However, taking care of someone's emotional needs can be extremely draining, more so than taking care of the physical ones.  I just wish more people would get a clearer understanding of who they are and what makes them unique, which in my humble opinion, would lessen the amount of needy people in this world! 

                                                              

                                                                        

#72 - Biased Announcers

So we all are biased when it comes to our favorite teams.  I am a Jets fan, a Mets fan and a UVA fan.  And of course, when a call goes against my team, I will immediately either a) make an excuse for them like, well, I heard the flu was running through the team this week, or b) make a remark about the ref's eyesight, or c) talk about the other team's nastiness and unfair playing tactics. I can do all those things as I am a fan, not a paid announcer on TV.  I expect announcers to be objective and fair and simply state the facts as they arise on each play.  Not react in an excited way whenever the team we happen to be playing does something OK, not fantastic, just OK.  I then would expect the same excitement for my team when they do something OK.  Not the monotone, oh, that's another touchdown for UVA voice and then an excuse about why the opposition couldn't stop them from scoring.  There should be something written into these announcer's lucrative contracts (the lucrative part is just an assumption on my part as I do not know what they really earn for their biased commentating) that they are not allowed to take sides just because they are an alum of the school or better yet, they cannot announce a game for a school they attended or team or played for!!!

                                                                    Go Hoos Go!

                                                                     

#71 - Getting Older & Turning Clocks Back

I have never been one of those people who worries about their age and how old they are turning.  I knew someone who just HAD to be married before her 30th birthday.  Why? Would she turn into a pumpkin if she wasn't???? Never found out, as she did get married at 29 and made her deadline (and was divorced five years later).  I also knew another person who cried the morning of her 40th birthday.  I am following my grandmother's philosophy: you are only as old as you allow yourself to feel.  But here is something I have noticed as I am aging: little things in life make me happy.  How is this a pet peeve, you might ask? Well, when one suddenly remembers at 7:05pm on Saturday night that we turn clocks back, and that person and her spouse almost do cart wheels across the backyard because they will get an EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP, there's something not right with those people!!!!

                                                                                



#70 - Cop Wannabe - Take 2

How many cop wannabes are there in this world?  Well, apparently at least one more than the park cop in my first cop wannabe pet peeve.  And this one was at the airport.  Here's the scene: your son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons are coming home from their 10 days in Cancun.  They land at 9pm on a Thursday night.  You are waiting in the cell phone lot for their call that they have cleared customs and are ready to be picked up.  You drive to arrivals - door #7.  Well apparently everybody in Northern VA must have been arriving at that exact moment, as the cars are 3 deep along the arrivals curb near door #7.  Now if you were driving your own little egg car, you might be a bit reckless and squeeze in between the parked cars.  However, you are not driving your own baby car, you are driving your son's ginormous Tahoe, so instead of the wild and crazy guy routine, you simply pull up a bit farther in a coned area that is not marked with any signs.  Tired and harried parents approach with the 1 & 3 year old, and you begin to quickly load the Tahoe.  Enter scene: cop wannabe AKA airport security.  "Excuse me, are you DOD?" Tired son answers, "no." "Are you DIA?" Same answer, "no." "Are you military?" By now, tired son has had it and says, "exactly what is your point? Cut to the chase!" "Well now, this area is only for military or government people and anyone else who parks here can be fined $150.00."  "Well sir, as you can see, we are not parked, we are simply loading our car as fast as humanly possible, and btw, there are absolutely NO SIGNS ANYWHERE saying who or what this area is." Cop wannabe exits scene, mumbling something under his breath, probably wishing he had a gun with A BULLET like Barney Fife, that he could have waved around in a menacing fashion!  Next time maybe he should lend a hand to the perpetrators instead of standing there playing the 20 Question Game!

                                                                             



#69 - I'm right, you're wrong

Remember my peeve about people pulling into parking spaces right next to you when there are five other spots in the general area of your vehicle? Well, this peeve now takes on an additional element: I know what I'm doing is right and you obviously are wrong.  Here's the scenario: you pull into a BJs parking lot. The guy in the spot next to you is a bit close to the line, so you adjust where you position your car in your spot accordingly.  He can get into his car and you can get out of your car.  That is, until a person pulls into the spot on the other side of you and decides he doesn't care how you are parked, he will park as close to the line bordering your car (actually about 6" from your car!), making it not only impossible for you to get into your car on the driver's side, but also for his wife to get out the passenger door in their car, so she needs to climb over the console and get out the driver's side.  I actually witnessed this as I came out with my filled shopping cart. I then witness the guy start to walk away from his car and head toward BJs.  I look at him and say, "how would you like me to get into my car?"  And he answers, " you should not have parked so close to the line." SO, in other words, you are incredibly stupid for how you parked, but I am not.  It is your problem, not mine. I am right, you are wrong.  Well, I was not moving on this (both figuratively and literally), and I explained how the car next to me was parked when I arrived. There must have been a look from me of "I will not let you pass me and go into the store until you move your car", as he hesitated and then goes back to his car, and begins to enter, all under the glare of his wife standing with a shopping cart.  I start putting my stuff in my trunk.  He gets back out of his car and says, are you going to move your car.  I look at the guy and now realize I must be dealing with someone mentally handicapped, or partially blind, and I say, when I finish loading my groceries and you move your car, so I can get into my car, yes I will.  Now mind you, there were two other spots, two cars over from him, that he could just have pulled out and back into.  But NOOOO, he wanted THAT SPOT for whatever reason. Now a younger me might have slowed my packing groceries to a crawl, just to annoy the guy.  The more mature me simply loaded the groceries and flicked him off in my mind!

                                                               

#68- Will you make up your mind??!!!

I realize that with each passing day, comes new advances in the world of science and technology. And with those advances comes new discoveries.  So, I do understand that there may be better ways of approaching things than in years past.  However, it seems like every time you turn around, contradictions arise.  For example, one day we hear that coffee and caffeine are really bad for us.  The next day that is reversed and 2 cups of coffee a day can ward off breast cancer. One day we shouldn't be drinking alcohol.  The next day, a glass or two of red wine is great for the heart.  One day, we start babies on solid foods at 4-6 weeks old, the next day,we shouldn't be giving babies any solid food until they are a year old.  One day, parents have the option of an alternative immunization schedule as there is a link between certain immunizations and autism.  The next day, that is totally false.  How are we really supposed to know what to do!?!!? My philosophy is if it works, don't fix it.  Eat & drink in moderation, do what you think is right for your child after looking at all the pros and cons, and just live your life! It's no wonder people seem to be running in 10 different directions daily!

                                                                       

#67- Coping Skills

Why is it that some people can cope with things in life so much better than others?  I have a difficult time listening to people with what seems to me (and what do I really know) minute, trivial problems or more accurately, self-inflicted problems, while there are other people who really have monumental difficulties in their life and they simply deal with them. And people who simply accept responsibility for their actions and deal with the consequences, as opposed to those who point a finger at everyone else for their plight in life and expect someone else to solve their problems and bail them out.  Woe is me syndrome is annoying and draining and I wish the wims would just go away and weave me awone!

                                                              

#66 - Scrooge: Not Just at Christmas

Halloween - that enchanted day of the year for kids of all ages everywhere - where you dress up as something other than yourself, ring a doorbell, smile and look cute (or not) and get a treat thrown into your bag.  Treats for nothing!  Your costume doesn't even have to look like anything and you still get a treat because the giver doesn't want to look ignorant and ask what you are supposed to be!  I like Halloween.  But then again I like kids, even older ones who just use the day as an excuse to get candy but are really too cool to have a costume, so they just carry a pillow case for all their loot. By now you have realized that my pet peeve does not lie in the holiday; it lies with the Halloween Scrooges.  Those adults who must have suffered great trauma on Halloween as a child.  Adults who did not get good treats when they went trick or treating.  Adults who have forgotten all the fun associated with the day.  Adults who may not like kids.  Adults who were never kids themselves.  So they sit in a darkened house, with no lights on, listening to the squeals and laughter of children on the street, as they go to the non-scrooge houses and add to their plunder.  Kids today are kinder than when I was a young trick or treater because if we came across a Halloween Scrooge apartment, we did not ignore their selfishness.  Oh no, we made sure they knew that we were not as selfish as they.  We left them gifts of eggs (smashed on their doors or front stoop), chalk (chalk in socks makes quite a dusty mess when banged against something), flour and eggs and water mixtures in plastic baggies (dropped from the top of apartment buildings in front of the scrooges as they walked down the block).  Oh yes, we were truly selfless even in the face of selfishness!