Thursday, August 16, 2007

White and Black

Who’s who?

By what right does a person have to take the life of another human being?
When does a person become a fanatic?
Can anyone become fanatic?
Does it just take a certain type of person?
A certain religion?
A certain skin color?
Who’s wearing the white hats and who’s wearing the black ones??
I can’t tell anymore…I should be able to tell who the good guys are, shouldn’t I?

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Breaking news.....for whom???

Do you really care if Nicole Ritchie is pregnant? I don't, and I think most people feel the same way. Why and when did all the crap that's Hollywood become the end all and be all for the news? And why is it on all kinds of TV, radio and newsprint? Who cares? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe everyone in the country was waiting with bated breath to hear about my pregnancies and I disappointed the general public. Was Larry King waiting for me to call him and tell him how I vomited out the door of my car as I was going to work? Did Jay Leno want to know about my fainting spells with the pregnancy of my son? Maybe they did and I was to selfish to "share". Forgive me if I was uncaring of the feelings of America.

To tell you the truth I find it difficult to believe that America really cares about someone other than itself. The way I see it is, if it doesn't directly affect someone they don't care about it. So what if our kids are dying in Iraq. Who cares if people are starving? I'm not, so why should I care. That seems to be the attitude I'm seeing all around me these days.

I went to the pharmacy yesterday to get a prescription filled for my grandson. He's 19 months old and he had a fever and an ear infection. The kid clearly didn't feel good. He was flushed, hot and wanted to sleep, but I needed to get the meds for him before getting him into his bed. As I was standing, waiting to pay for the meds with a very understanding pharmacist helping me, an older lady literally pushed me aside (and in turn pushed me so the baby was squashed against the metal shelving). She leaned over the counter, where the pharmacist was completing my order, and said, "I haven't got all day. You have to do this script immediately. I'm late for an important luncheon." I, being the person I am, a grandmother, holding a baby who's sick and has just been jostled against something that hurt him, brought my foot up and slammed it down on top of her toes with my whole weight. I was ever so sorry, I had lost my balance as I was trying to protect my grandson from being continually hurt buy the metal shelf...

I thought she was going to grab me as she called me a number of disagreeable things. I smiled and said very quietly and with my eyes never leaving hers, "I'm ever so sorry, but if ever you push me again and it causes my grandson to cry because he's being hurt, I'll do more than hurt your toes. Got it?" She stepped backward and walked to the other side of the counter. The Pharmacist said, "Are you and your grandson all right?" I said, "Yes, I think so, and I thank you for asking".

I bought the stuff and waited until I was sure the "lady" was ready to leave. I went out just before her, turned to her and said, "Next time you're in here I hope you're a bit more careful." Her face was bright red, as she stammered, "I'm very sorry." I looked at her and said, "I'm not".

I noticed she was limping a bit...

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

One good turn-this is reality

There's a slogan out there that says, "One good turn deserves another". I think it should be " One good turn shall not go unpunished".. It seems that every time (or at least most of the time) when I do something for someone else I end up getting the short end of the stick. Something invariably happens that causes me to ponder why in Hell I did the "good deed" in the first place.

I had an opportunity to help out two people. One person was in need of money and sold me something that another person I knew desperately needed. I paid the person and asked for help transporting the items that needed to be moved to the person who needed it. Of course my vehicle was about 1 inch too small to do the moving so an alternative method had to be found. This is where the problem has become a nightmare. I am now the person that is in the middle of a bunch of folks trying to find a vehicle that this thing will go into. I guess it's my fault for getting involved in the first place, that's why I say "One good turn shall not go unpunished".

The party that is getting the item is happy that they're getting the thing but the logistics of moving it is becoming the problem for others. In retrospect I should have checked out if I had a vehicle that could carry the thing but to be honest I didn't think about that. My concern was getting this thing, giving the person who needed the money, the money, and getting the thing to the person who could use it.

I seem to have alienated folks by doing this. At the same time I'm trying my best to resolve problems that are affecting others by listening and keeping out of their business. Keeping out of their business is difficult to do, since they seem to keep trying to pull me into their stuff.

I have several thoughts on this and this is the correct forum to write them out.

We are not islands. We all need others, whether or not we admit it, or like it. Those of you that are trying to be loners are nuts if you think you can be a freaking hermit and live off in the woods on your own. I bet there's less that 1% out there that could make it without the help of others. Think of your sustenance alone. If you buy food, there were tons of others who helped you to get that food, the farmer, packing plant,packers, truckers, all the people in the store where you bought the stuff from. If you grow your own food you had to get the seed from somewhere and more than likely you bought it from someone who packaged the seed. You get the picture. To think that you can live without help from someone else is pretty shortsighted.

Since we've concluded that we need to have someone other than ourselves to exist, normally, let's put this into perspective, shall we. Suck it up and deal with it. Don't get all upset because you have to ask for help. When you do ask for help be courteous about it. If you're the person who's giving the help, if things don't go smooth, don't go back to the person that asked for the help and give them additional problems by yelling and carrying on about how they should have done this.....or that..... That's why they asked for help in the first place. The last thing the person needs is more anxiety over what ever they asked for help with. The person knew they couldn't manage alone that's why they asked for help in the first place.

I think I'm going the hermit route. Geesh...