All I Need to Know

From the Autobiography of my 11 year old son....

On School...

I remember the first day of school... I never liked it though. Well, except JK and SK. My mom said It'd be fun, but she tricked me. But now I'm stuck in an educational jail. (Blah blah blah more stuff.) I think there's no reason to go to school. We can learn stuff on the Simpsons.

Now there's a scary thought. Everything my son needs to know, he can learn from the Simpsons. DOH!!!!

Wii Would Like to Play...

My eleven-year-old son recently purchased a Nintendo Wii game system with some birthday money and savings. Yesterday I spent about an hour playing bowling, tennis and baseball on this system. Having done this, and physically experienced the after effects of playing these interactive games, I have come to the conclusion that the 'Wii would like to play' slogan should be changed to something along the lines of:

Wii would like to play...and still have the use of our arm the next day.

Free Leftovers in the Kitchen...

Free leftovers in the kitchen...
Timbits in the kitchen...
Birthday treats in the kitchen...
Coffee break beginning now in the kitchen...

The flurry of activity that these sorts of emails at my workplace cause, as droves of people rush to the kitchen to get their 'free eats', is nothing short of overwhelming sometimes.

Sad how an email along the lines of:

"Petition to urge our government to take action against the $10 Billion US a year crime of human trafficking (up to 4 million people worldwide per year) available in the kitchen for you to sign."

...doesn't invoke quite the same reaction.

Earlier this week, I attended an information session about human trafficking, where I learned some really horrifying things, such as:

• human trafficking (the buying and selling of human beings) is the 3rd largest industry in the world (after weapons and drugs)
• global revenue from this industry is approximately $10 billion US per year
• up to 4 million people per year are victims of this crime
• most victims (often poor, uneducated, and desperate) are promised jobs and a better life to go with these traffickers, only to be forced into slave labour, prostitution (and other forms of sexual exploitation) etc.
• human trafficking (in and out) happens in CANDADA, with about 1500-2200 people per year being trafficked into the United States
• approximately 25-30% of these trafficked people are children
• etc. etc. etc.

Perhaps not everyone shares my feeling of horror at the realization that 'slavery' in its many forms is worse than ever in the world today. Or maybe it is simply easier for some people to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn't happen and doesn't affect their lives. Perhaps I don't have the right to be angered by the fact that so few people are willing to do such a simple thing as sign their name to a piece of paper that says they don't accept this crime and that they would like steps to be taken to stop it. But I can't help but wonder what reservations anyone would have about doing it. Surely, the average Canadian citizen can not be supportive and accepting of this kind of treatment of human beings. And if they are not, why would they choose not to sign a petition against it? Maybe they feel it will not make a difference, that the problem is too huge to be controlled and that their signature will not make a difference. Who knows? But what if it could make a difference? For the little effort it takes, isn't it worth attempting to do something rather than nothing?

To say that my request for people to sign this petition had less than desirable results would be pretty much the understatement of the year. I guess maybe the email should have read...

FREE TIMBITS WITH EACH SIGNATURE...

What's with Teenagers Nowadays?

My teenage son (almost sixteen) just got his first job. He has worked two whole shifts and is already complaining about how much he hates having a job and how it takes up too much of his time. By the time he takes the bus to school, attends school, takes the bus to work, works, and then takes the bus home, there is no time left for him. He is also complaining about how he needs to hang out with his friends etc. Funny how a few weeks ago he needed a job and needed money. Now this job (that only pays $7.50 an hour) is somehow unworthy of his time.

I spoke to another friend of mine whose son (roughly the same age) has been working for about two months now and has had similar complaints. The job takes up his 'me' time. The weekends are for him - to relax, play video games and sleep. He shouldn't have to work and he shouldn't have to use his own money to buy clothes or anything like that. He is already planning to quit the job (though his mother has told me that won't happen) to take the summer off.

It blows me away when I compare what it was like when I was that age. From the age of 15 on, I have pretty much always worked. My mother didn't have to push me to get a job. I wanted to have one. I wanted my own money and I wasn't afraid to have some responsibility. I often took a bus to work right from school and worked until 10:00 at night. I managed to keep up my homework and get good grades. I still managed to have time with my boyfriend and my friends, in spite of having a job. I bought most of my own clothes and things and I saved my money to pay for most of my college education. When I finished college (back in about 1988) and got married at the age of 20, my first full time job paid less than what my son now earns as minimum wage. Now I realize this is going back a few years, but come on. $7.50 as a student for a part time job is nothing to sneer at. What the heck does he expect?

It scares me when I think about how kids expect to have everything given to them these days. They don't think they should have to work for anything they have and they should be paid lots of $$$ from the get go. There's no such thing as working up to a decent pay or working hard to earn it. After all, just by being born, it is apparently their God-given right to be paid top dollar for minimal effort.

What the hell have we done to our kids???

On the Bright Side...



He doesn't cost a lot of money in haircuts!

I'm Addicted

I admit it. I am a total Prison Break junkie.

My mother began watching season one of Prison Break last year and kept telling me how great it was and how much I would like it. I was tempted to start watching it, but I had missed the first number of episodes and figured it wasn't worth starting having missed the beginning. Then I started hearing more buzz about it and wondered if I had made a mistake in not starting (even if it was a bit late). At the end of season one (second last episode), I put it on for a few minutes while I was waiting for another show to start and got sucked into it almost immediately. Then season two started and I contemplated watching it, but once again talked myself out of it. After all, we had missed the whole first season....

As season two continued, I heard more and more comments about how good it was and that it was even better than season one. Now I was really curious. So, when my sister was looking for Christmas present ideas for us, I mentioned it to her and they bought it for my husband (and me -smile).

OMG - what an incredible show. We started watching it on boxing day morning and managed to squeeze in two episodes before we had to leave for the day. When we got home that evening, I think we watched about four more. I didn't want to stop. Every episode left us hanging with something big. Well, even with me working on Wednesday and Thursday last week, we managed to complete the series by Friday. That was 22 episodes in four days.

I can hardly wait to watch season two. Too bad it's already half over. I am a complete junkie. How will I ever manage waiting a whole week for the next episode to air? AHHHHHH.

A Simple Statement That May Haunt Me For The Rest of My Life

When I was a young teenager (around the age of 13-14) me and a group of my friends had this total fixation on a group of guys we didn't know. For some reason, we seemed to have some idea that they were something pretty special (I think we can blame one particular friend at that time for filling our heads with that rubbish). Once we finally got to know them, they pretty much ended up being typical teenage boys (and total jerks). Big shock!

I remember one time, when one of them was trying to insult me and made some kind of comment about betting that I didn't wash between my toes. Well, I had never really given a lot of thought to whether or not I was washing between my toes when I bathed/showered, but I was fairly certain that I did. It was a stupid comment, but at the time it still bugged me.

It is now 25 years later and I haven't even seen the person who made the comment in about 23 years, but I still too often think about it as I am showering and washing between my toes. I think that one simple (yet totally unfounded and stupid) statement (and the memory of that dumb boy and his friends) will haunt me for the rest of my life.