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June 18, 2005

I got tagged

Beautiful Ala tagged me with this meme: "Five things society at large enjoys, but that I, for the most part, just don't get..."

My first thought was - only five? I mean, really, let's face it, John and I are not exactly the couple that fits in everywhere.

So, anyway, here are my five thingies.

1. The raising of the children - too many Americans seem to believe that children should be in daycare, and if old enough to go to school, should be scheduled within an inch of their lives for ballet, soccer, baseball, and other properly arranged group activities. Planned, supervised activities day in and day out. . . I can see maybe one or two activities sprinkled lightly through childhood, but too many moms spend every spare minute getting their kids to the next planned activity.

I believe that children should be able to be happy by themselves, without planned activities. Kids should be able to sit and do nothing, or read or create by themselves, or hang out with neighborhood friends playing games or riding bikes without a grown up watching them every second. It makes them self-reliant. Let kids use their imaginations - build forts, treehouses and chase fireflies.

Oh, gosh, I could go on forever on that one, so I better stop now and go on to number 2.

2. Pro Sports. I don't get it. How pitiful (to me) are those people whose week is made or ruined depending on how their football, baseball, soccer, hockey or whatever their team does? People actually get in fights over games. How bizzarre!

3. Home Owners Associations. I have lived under the heavy hand of a Home Owners' Association in the past. What hell. Approval was needed for the color of paint I wanted my house. If my garage door was open for more than 5 minutes, neighbors would be on the phone bitching at me. Only certain varietes of trees andl/or shrubs and flowers were approved. It was like being absorbed by the Borg, for goodness sake!
I am very happy to live in Leavenworth, Kansas now. We don't have to get approval to plant a shrub or build a front yard garden pond. I can be as eclectic as I want to be.

4. Fashion. Anyone who has met me knows that I am definitely not a slave to fashion. In fact, I'm almost anti-fashion. Many designers design only for anorexic women with boy-like figures. Many designers are gay men who are really designing for boys, but that's another gripe. When those fashions, designed for a straight up and down figure, are created in normal women sizes, the result is not pretty. And if you are as chubby as I am, it's downright awful. And the money people spend to have the 'latest' outfit each season is astounding. Unless, of course, you are talking about shoes. That, I can understand.

5. Cell Phones. I'll get in trouble over this one. I have a cell phone, I only use it when traveling, and then only when I am not in a car, a plane, a train or any other conveyance. But what really gripes me is that people are under the utterly mistaken impression that if they are talking on a cell phone in a public place, that their conversation is private. All the while, they are talking rather loudly about the size of their boyfriend's ummm, dangly thing. Or the type of positions they attempted the night before. These idiots don't care if there are children within listening distance. In fact, they will glare at you if you raise an eyebrow at the inappropriatness of their very public discussion.

Personally, I don't want to be available 24x7. That's why my cell phone is most turned to the off position. I'm a rebel, ain't I?

Well, it seems that, this being a meme thing, I should tag some others. Let's see.

I'll try for Eric and Tammi and Barb and John and Rosemary.

Posted by Beth at June 18, 2005 7:30 PM

Comments

Posted by: Rae at June 19, 2005 2:43 PM

Posted by: ALa at June 20, 2005 2:24 PM

Posted by: Barb at June 20, 2005 10:48 PM