Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 12)

          

Thirteen Things I Regularly Rant & Rave About

1. Volume - we have enough noise in our life. We don't need TV's in airport waiting areas, music blasting (rather than ambient) at Starbucks or motion-detected ads triggered by one walking by a real estate office in a strip mall (I kid you not). And message to the car companies...if you come up with a car that has a soundproof window between the front seat and the children in the back, you will have a waiting list the day it comes on the market.
2. Children - the older I get, the more I wish I was a little more Ma Ingalls and a little less me. Charles (Pa) would go out hunting for the food and the children knew that lying and backtalk would result in a painful consequence.
3. Clothing - the sizes are outrageous. I am pretty much a size 8 or a medium. But in some stores, I'm scrounging for an extra large because the basis of all sizing is that anorexic-in-denial is a "small". It's wrong...it sends the wrong message to our daughters.
4. Serving Sizes - on the rare occasion where I bother to look at the nutritional information on food I am stunned at what is allowed. You scarf down some individually packaged food because you are in a hurry and reassured because it has 120 calories...only to notice, as you crumple up the wrapper to toss on the floor of your car, that it is supposed to be 2 servings!!! Wrong, wrong, wrong.
5. The Grocery Store - I don't want to go...period!
6. Car Horns - here in Boca, if you aren't halfway through the left turn when the arrow turns green, you get honked at. If you don't endanger your life and the lives of your passengers by jumping across two lanes of oncoming traffic to make a left, you get honked at. I've gotten honked at by another parent going to the elementary school for using my very bad judgment and letting someone make a left turn in front of me because the traffic was backing up and they would never have the chance to make the turn.
7. My Internet Addiction - I love the internet...today my server was down ALL DAY...it was miserable!
8. Dogs - love mine....hate the ones carried in purses, backpacks and yes, strollers, in the mall.
9. My Lost Opportunity - I don't lament much. All-in-all, I think I've made good choices, but if I had one thing to do over again, I would have studied abroad in college.
10. Blogs - I know to each his/her own and all of that...but sometimes I stumble upon a blog and just say, "Why?" I'm sure there are those people who do the same when they stumble upon mine...but at least I give them a chance to win a book every now and then!!!
11. Grammar - it's important. It's not, "Whatever" as my children say when they hear me correct them, telling me that "You and I are going to the store..." not "You and me..." Some grammatical rules are esoteric and can be ignored....especially if in practice they just sound weird. And when I lived in NC, I learned to live with the colloquialisms of, "Might could...", "Fixin' to..." and "All a y'all" because they were part of the patois of the South. But basic grammar...I'll just continue to rant an rave about it because I think it keeps our language civilized!
12. Poor Manners - maybe I secretly long for a Jane Austen-esque world where calling cards and thank you notes are de rigeur, but I cannot abide the lack of basic civility that we deal with every day. In my opinion, anyone who takes your money for anything should say "thank you" on behalf of his/her employer. I am aware that the receipt of my money has no impact on the minimum wage worker who is taking it...but humor me! Maybe I'll come back. Maybe I'll write a hand-written note on one of my many blank note cards telling your employer how impressed I was with your service. Maybe it's just being nice and will make the world a little better. OK, I'll stop before I burst into, "I'd like to teach the world to sing..."
13. Age - it's just not fair. Laura and I were so excited about our ability to video chat until we saw our images and knew exactly what Nora Ephron meant about, I Feel Bad About My Neck.

Di

P.S. Oh...how cool is this! I am the first person to put my TT up an enter it on Thursday Thirteen!

Comments

[Nicholas]

You are soooo f**king right about bad grammar. And a lot of other things too.