School is nearly out for the summer.
To me this means that:
-the mall will now be crowded all the time after noon.
-the movies will be crowded before 6 PM.
-service at fast food places will decline in efficiency and increase cerebrally.
-the Xpressway will be crowded with teen drivers all the time between noon and beyond.
-more parents will be taking the bus to work.
When I was in school, I hated for summer to come to an end. When I was the mother of school-age children, about August 1 I would be longing for the first day of school to hurry up and arrive. I'm still in that stage, hurry up and arrive so us Seniors can reclaim the mall, the cinemas and the Xpressway. I have officially become an OC, "Old Codger."
And that's what I hate thinking about.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Love Judge Judy. She runs a tight ship in her courtroom. If a plaintiff or defendant thinks they can get smart with her or appear clever, she cuts them down to size.
She cuts to the chase by asking, "Do you take any medicine for any psychological problems?" and "What were you doing out at that time of night if not looking for trouble?" or "You stay out of it. You have nothing to offer to this case. You are a step-parent." My favorite is her asking, "Do I look like I need help up here?" or "Do you think I was born yesterday and they keep me around for my good looks?"
Some who appear before her have called her names, unflattering names, under their breath. Bert, the Bailiff, at her order, removes them from the courtroom. This almost always signifies that they have lost their case.
She has removed minor children from the courtroom in order for them to be spared their parents' and grandparents' bickering with one another. Fathers who won't pay for weddings; friends who repossess cars and many couples who no longer live together and expect Judge Judy to help them split up their property. She makes it very clear that the courts are not for 'live in' couples. The courts are for legally married couples.
I love Judge Judy. And that's what I think about it.
She cuts to the chase by asking, "Do you take any medicine for any psychological problems?" and "What were you doing out at that time of night if not looking for trouble?" or "You stay out of it. You have nothing to offer to this case. You are a step-parent." My favorite is her asking, "Do I look like I need help up here?" or "Do you think I was born yesterday and they keep me around for my good looks?"
Some who appear before her have called her names, unflattering names, under their breath. Bert, the Bailiff, at her order, removes them from the courtroom. This almost always signifies that they have lost their case.
She has removed minor children from the courtroom in order for them to be spared their parents' and grandparents' bickering with one another. Fathers who won't pay for weddings; friends who repossess cars and many couples who no longer live together and expect Judge Judy to help them split up their property. She makes it very clear that the courts are not for 'live in' couples. The courts are for legally married couples.
I love Judge Judy. And that's what I think about it.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Just heard that as many as 300,000 teachers may be laid off across the country this summer. Student/teacher ratio may rise to 50/1.
One federal legislator remarked, "Schools have got to get used to managing on less money."
Sounds like a remarkably hypocritical statement.
That is the pot calling the kettle black, as they used to say.
Legislators have never had to manage on less money. One has only to open any newspaper to read some of the ways the legislators use their money.
But not to belabor the obvious, I'll just say that's what I think about it.
One federal legislator remarked, "Schools have got to get used to managing on less money."
Sounds like a remarkably hypocritical statement.
That is the pot calling the kettle black, as they used to say.
Legislators have never had to manage on less money. One has only to open any newspaper to read some of the ways the legislators use their money.
But not to belabor the obvious, I'll just say that's what I think about it.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Every morning presents us with a new slate on which to write our life. Each of us is given the slate and a piece of chalk. Throughout the day we add to our slate, writing the story of who we are for that 24-hour period.
The good news is that every morning we have a clean slate on which to impress our life.
If there is any bad news in this, it might be that we also, sometimes unwittingly or unknowingly, but often, I fear, purposefully, are making our chalk marks on other people's lives at the same time, and they on ours. This is not always bad news but it doesn't take much of an imagination to see how it might be.
Part of our own daily slates are given over to others, not necessarily on purpose but because their chalk is wide and is applied with a heavy hand and overpowers what we ourselves are attempting to write. Our little chalk board can be filled with others' thoughts and opinions so much so that we hardly have room to write our own story.
This is a travesty.
No one should write our story for us.
I like it when friends cross my pathway and make a few positive marks on my slate. In editing my story each evening before bed, I like having their impressions on my daily activities. I hope I have made some happy marks on their daily slate so when they think of me it is with fondness (and also when they think of themselves).
However it is what I allow to be placed on my daily slate that counts and what I place there myself. Each of us is able to set up a Star Wars-like barrier to prevent the negative influences from attaching themselves to our slate. The barrier is not as effective for those internal negative influences that we write ourselves.
This is why we need to choose carefully how we live our lives...because we are writing our stories.
Every person is a screenplay being written. There are characters and plot, crises and resolutions and sometimes, often, happily ever afters.
And that's what I think about it.
The good news is that every morning we have a clean slate on which to impress our life.
If there is any bad news in this, it might be that we also, sometimes unwittingly or unknowingly, but often, I fear, purposefully, are making our chalk marks on other people's lives at the same time, and they on ours. This is not always bad news but it doesn't take much of an imagination to see how it might be.
Part of our own daily slates are given over to others, not necessarily on purpose but because their chalk is wide and is applied with a heavy hand and overpowers what we ourselves are attempting to write. Our little chalk board can be filled with others' thoughts and opinions so much so that we hardly have room to write our own story.
This is a travesty.
No one should write our story for us.
I like it when friends cross my pathway and make a few positive marks on my slate. In editing my story each evening before bed, I like having their impressions on my daily activities. I hope I have made some happy marks on their daily slate so when they think of me it is with fondness (and also when they think of themselves).
However it is what I allow to be placed on my daily slate that counts and what I place there myself. Each of us is able to set up a Star Wars-like barrier to prevent the negative influences from attaching themselves to our slate. The barrier is not as effective for those internal negative influences that we write ourselves.
This is why we need to choose carefully how we live our lives...because we are writing our stories.
Every person is a screenplay being written. There are characters and plot, crises and resolutions and sometimes, often, happily ever afters.
And that's what I think about it.
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