Thank you and a lack of social manners

Where in the world has the phrase “thank you” gone?

That simple pair of words has been drilled into my and my sister’s heads since we were old enough to talk. We may not have fully understood what we where saying or why but we learned to use those words as instructed. I work in an office where hundreds of people call in on any given day to ask for information and assistance in one form or another. I can’t keep track of the number of people I’ve spoken to through my job in the last year that have not said thank you when they are given the assistance they requested. I understand that some people think they are superfluous words that have grown unnecessary as time has passed but they aren’t and they haven’t.

I want to scream when I spend ten plus minutes helping people and listening to their grouchy descriptions of their situation without complaining and then no acknowledgment when the transaction is completed. What is so hard about “thank you?”

I admit, on occasion that I don’t always use “please” and “thank you” as I should. If I realize that I’ve done this I will apologize to the individual that I didn’t thank.

“Excuse me,” another pair of words that appear to have fallen out of favor.

I hate going into Walmart at times because of the rude way people interact with one another. I was in our local Walmart on Sunday. I was nearly clipped by people with buggies at least three times, it is ridiculous.

I’m sorry, if I’m standing in an aisle, looking at items on a shelf and you need to pass in front of me, or so close to me that you are touching me, say “Excuse me.” That is just common courtesy. It is rude to walk in front of someone when they are trying to see something.

Oh, and getting nearly run over by a person on one of those electric carts is embarrassing but hard to avoid at times. I saw this older woman using one and pulling a normal buggy with her. She was zooming around corners and merging into the traffic without concern for who she hit.

Speaking of motorized wheelchair type apparatuses, I was stuck in a wheelchair for roughly three months. Yes, I’m jumping from electric cart to motorized wheelchairs to manual wheelchairs.

Background: April 2010 I broke my left ankle, requiring surgery and the insertion of a plate and pins. I was on nonweight bearing for the three months, therefore requiring a wheelchair.

Well, while in the wheelchair I hated staying home, I don’t like feeling confined. I would take short trips with family to the store and to the next big city for little fun outings. I noticed something that bothered me a lot. The world in which we shop is not wheelchair friendly in anyway, shape or form. I know I’ve seen that sort of things before but experiencing it firsthand was a new and eye-opening experience.

Walmart, yes it is a gathering center for people of all shapes and sizes and levels of good and bad manners. Rolling into the store people with lit cigarettes nearly burned me because they turn with their arms stretched out further than their personal bubble.

Waiting in line at the more recently remodeled stores was dangerous. These lanes were wide open, no magazine/candy walls to divide them. This woman who pissed me off for more than one reason is a prime example of failing to pay attention. This person held up the cashier for an extended period of time. We got to an empty register, or so we thought, it turns out she left half her groceries at the register to go back to produce for more WIC approved items. We got in line and the cashier was about to start ringing us up when she came back. She pushed her buggy in front of me, nearly hitting my arm with the basket. She was in line with her two young children. We got in line behind them and waited for the cashier to complete her groceries, but apparently she forgot an item. She left her two tiny kids in the basket, alone, easily abducted by anyone, to go get some fruit. Those poor babies were crying, the older of the two was maybe four years old, she was terrified. It was one of those moments when you want to comfort a child but you can’t because you will be accused of some type of horrible crime. When she came back she actually hit me because she was swinging her arm like damn fool. I nearly told that rude individual where to shove her apples, sideways in fact.

Sorry, yes it was a long time ago, but it is still a moment in my life when I wanted to bitch slap a special type of person.

The moral of this story is, people please be aware of your surroundings and use your manners.

Why is it wrong to paint a little boy’s toenails? or Stupid gender labels

This topic has been covered before by others but it still bothers the hell out of me. I’ll go back a little bit for those that may not have heard about it.

Last year a woman, Jenna Lyons, and her young son were part of a layout for a JCrew photo advertisement. In the photo spread she is seen painting the child’s toenails hot pink. There were so many negative responses to these images, it was unreal. Parents and nonparents alike voiced their opinions about her actions. Some claimed that she was being cruel to her child by adorning him with nail polish. Others have decided that by painting her son’s toenails she is grooming him to become either a feminine male or a homosexual.

I’m sorry but in this day and age, how can so many people be this close-minded? I know everyone is entitled to their opinion and I do not want to offend anyone with mine. How does painting a child’s toenails make them anything other than happy? Please understand that I am not saying anything against being homosexual, transgender or anyone else. In fact, I have several friends and family members that are openly gay and I love spending time with them. 

In response to all of the controversy around the ad there were a number of articles and posts with countless comments. One educated opinion was by Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York City psychiatrist. He stated, "I can say with 100 percent certainty that a mother painting her children's toe nails pink does not cause transgenderism or homosexuality or anything else that people who are social conservatives would worry about."

I know a guy who was angry with his sister-in-law because she painted her little boy’s toenails. The back story on that one: the boy has a sister, the mommy painted his sister’s nails and he wanted to be included. She painted his nails a deep blue, nothing cutesy or frilly about that. The little boy just wanted to share something with his mom and sister. He’s under the age of 5, his personality and personal preferences are still developing and constantly changing. If painting his toes makes him happy, then by God, paint that little dude’s toes!

The stereotype that boys cannot wear, do or want anything that is deemed “feminine” is ridiculous!

A little girl can roughhouse and get dirty and she’s just considered a tomboy and no one has a problem with that. Some men love that their daughters are tomboys, they are so proud of having a tough little munchkin that can protect herself.

A little boy wants to play house and stay clean and he is called a sissy, which by most male standards is one of the worst things to be called. Teasing a little boy for wanting to be creative and gentle will enforce the idea that those are not things that a “real” man should be. Yes, let’s teach boys that housework is not for them, that it is women’s work only.

Things at are apparently inappropriate for boys of our modern age:

Nail polish-except black, that’s ok on occasion because it is a masculine shade

Makeup-which is funny because for many years in our history heavy makeup was worn by men and women alike; Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Babylonians

Playing with dolls-guess what, action figures are dolls, they are just more rugged or badass in appearance, but they are still dolls

Little girls and women can wear whatever they want and do whatever they want as far as hobbies and careers and they are not usually labeled derogatory terms. Little boys or men that want to wear or do something that is considered female oriented are labeled any one of many nasty derogatory names.

Just because a little boy wants polish on his toes or wants to play dolls does not mean that he is going to grow up to be homosexual, not that that is a bad thing.

Birthday fun

This past Saturday was my birthday and I felt like writing a fluffy piece.

A good friend recently surprised me with a wonderfully lovely gift. We discussed it and decided that he is best described as “morbid cuteness,” and I love him. This gift was a figurine called Hootie by the Furry Bones Company. Hootie is a statuette that stands roughly 3 inches tall. He appears to be a pudgy little skeleton wearing a “Tootsie Roll” owl costume and holding a bright red lollipop.  This link should lead you to him and his adorable friends.

 https://myfurrybones.com/shop/images/T/xctmpy4rMPD.png

The ladies that I work with were super sweet. It is a common practice at work for the birthday person to be “surprised” with sweet treats on or around their birthday. Well, on Friday they surprised me with several treats that they had either made or purchased and decorated to match my interests. One purchased a cheesecake and decorated with “happy birthday,” and icing spider web and plastic spiders. To explain, I love Halloween and much of the décor that goes with it, spiders and owls are among my favorite things. If you like owls I would recommend My Owl Barn, a great collection of owl products and art. Another lady had purchased these little tiny bobble head owls (actually they were penguins but they were too cute and it was so sweet of her that we couldn’t find the heart to correct her) and she placed them with another of the sweet confections. They got me a cute card and everyone in my office signed it. I’m going to keep the little “owls” and the card, great reminders of a happy day at work. I was good and did not overindulge. 

Mom cooked a great meal Friday night, chicken cordon bleu and homemade French fries, yum! We had cream puffs for dessert that night. Saturday, mom, little sis, hubby and I spent the day out of town, wandering around a couple of great stores before dinner. My cousins invited us out for dinner at a local restaurant, Blue Agave, and proceeded to treat all of us. It was a nice evening and a lovely gift.

What did you do on your last birthday?

A section of the conversation that led to the inception of this creation

Having conversations at midnight or beyond during the work week, totally sober but low on sleep, can lead to some very interesting material. For example, myself, my husband and my mom were discussing various things and my husband misheard a comment that one of us made. I can’t remember what the actual statement was but he heard something about him having “clothing trees.”

I still haven’t figured out what we could have said that he would have morphed into that idea. The thought that popped into my head upon hearing clothing trees was that there must be polyester trees. That’s where employers in numerous job fields go to gather the uncomfortable and unforgiving but mandatory polyester uniforms. Hubby responded that if you plant polyester trees and cotton trees near one another there was a hope of getting a nice collection of polyblend trees.

Now, at 1:00am this discussion along with other topics was causing sidesplitting pain and tears due to the laughter that ensued. Hopefully it can continue to cause a few chuckles here and there even at what most people consider more “reasonable” hours.

Sticking with the polyester theme, why must that fabric be the choice for so many uniforms in so many different fields? I understand that the substance is nearly indestructible, except by fire but that isn’t the best thought.

The material does not breathe. Depending on the weave of the material it is scratchy. Would you want to wear a softer version of sandpaper on your skin? Unlike so many other durable fabrics, it is very unforgiving. There is no stretch in a 100% polyester clothing item. If you wear a polyester uniform you must maintain a set weight or you will be even more uncomfortable in your uniforms. Even more fun than gaining weight and wearing a uniform is losing weight and wearing a uniform. You really can't afford to take it in unless you're certain you're not going to gain weight while this set of uniforms is "active." Generally, if you want to alter it, you are footing the bill.

Mull this over, you work for a company, let’s call it Polyester Stressor. You are “measured” for a set of uniforms. This set is supposed to be your work wardrobe for the next several years. To begin with, the styles chosen are old fashion at best. The employees are supposed to have power in the “voting” for the selection of colors, this is a slightly exaggerated version of the truth.  The reality is that all employed get to voice what they want and then the individuals that hold true authority over the establishment have the final say. The color palette that was actually chosen is depressing. The colors might be complimentary to some but not to most.

As mandatory fashion goes, the fit of the ensembles is important, or it should be. Two styles of pants and several styles of jackets are available for you to claim as your own for the set. If you have a slightly odd body style you are going to be in a serious bind, these styles and fabric do not drape well on larger figures. Common sights in regards to the ill fit of the uniform are low slung arm holes, knee length shirt hems, baggy legs and saggy rears.

Because the uniforms are produced by an outside company, Shoulder Pads Inc. (SPI for short), your employer has professional seamstresses from SPI fit all employees for their new uniforms.

The professional seamstresses that came in and reviewed how you looked in the sample pieces and made the notes for your set were incompetent. The only thing that was measured was your inseam. Nothing else of importance was looked at.

When trying the offending object on and you can tell there are issues with the fit, shouldn’t the “professional” also see there are issues? Trying on a suit jacket and feeling the sleeves pull, not being certain on how it is supposed to fit, you ask the “professional” and they say that no the pulling is normal, do not believe them. This is not normal! This most likely means that the jacket is not the proper style/size for your body. Due to the fact that you have never worn this type of apparel before, you are not sure on how the items should fit. You mistakenly trust the “professionals.” Speaking to your employers will not do any good. They will tell you that you ordered it that way, therefore, you are stuck. You are going to be forced to wear a set of ill-fitting and ugly polyester monstrosities for the next few years.

Congratulations, you are now a card carrying member of the Polyester Power Suit Club!

Welcome ladies and gentlemen

I want to put a bit of a disclaimer on this thing.

 I am not perfect and neither is my writing style.

I do not follow a straight line of thought most of the time. My thoughts come in bursts of energy. I might be discussing movies or art and in the midst of the conversation, I along with my conversational companions will jump from topic to topic until we find ourselves in a new and strange area of discussion. Most of the time we find a way to connect all the dots to create an ever widening field of interest. The forward mode of conversation is normally an interesting path, but the reverse mode is an entertaining enchantment that will keep us busy and delighted for great lengths of time. (Read: confusion and laughter, often crying until it hurts)

I am not closed minded on any topic that I am aware of at this time, but if I come to the point where I realize that I am, in fact narrow-minded on a topic I will be the first to point it out.

I will not limit my opinions to a politically correct format. I will try to refrain from outright name calling but there will be occasions that may more than likely require strong negative word choices that may likely offend some people. So, if cursing and foul or crude language disturbs or offends you, it is a high possibility you will not enjoy some of my entries. However, I guarantee that there will be no usage of racial or ethnic slurs. That type of behavior in my opinion is unwarranted and unwanted.

I love all people. They make the world into an interesting place to live. This old place just wouldn’t be the same without them.

I love hearing from people, so please feel free to comment or question anything I choose to write about. Or if you have suggestions let me know.

Whitney