Tag Archives: humor

Let Freedom Ring!

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One thing to be said about living in Massachusetts, most of the time the bleeding heart’s win and sometimes they lose – and when they lose in a big way, I want to sing the National Anthem until everyone’s ears bleed!

The Board of Health in the sleepy little town of Westminster, MA (more trees and deer than people = sleepy) tried to ban tobacco in town. Apparently the Board members have not heard of the Boston Tea Party where people get mighty ticked when you mess with their rights as citizens.

Nearly 500 people packed a hearing at a local elementary school on Wednesday night held by the three members of the Board of Health. Passions ran high, and the hearing became so unruly that the board chairwoman could not maintain order; she shut down the hearing 20 minutes after it began.

The crowd started singing “God Bless America” in protest as the board members left under police protection. Angry residents circulated petitions demanding a recall election for the board members.

Tobacco is not illegal and trying to ban it from town, thereby forcing its tobacco users to buy in the adjacent town, simply takes money (and according to recent studies more than just a few pennies, try one third of their revenue on the whole!) out of the local retailer’s thinly lined pocket.

Roughly 15% of the town’s populations (as of last week) have signed a petition to stop the madness with only 17% of the townspeople admitting they use tobacco products. Even the town selectmen have voted unanimously to oppose the ban!

Here is what one towns person had to say:

“They’re just taking away everyday freedoms, little by little,” said Nate Johnson, 32, an egg farmer who also works in an auto body shop, as he stood outside the store last week. “This isn’t about tobacco, it’s about control,” he said.

Is it unhealthy? Science has proven it time and time again, yes it most certainly is. Is it proactive to try to keep the youth from lighting up and creating more health care financial burden on the future citizens? Yes, that is true too.

But the Board of Health has completely overstepped their boundaries and even stated that they have a moral obligation to try to stop the young people from smoking. Really? Since when? Is Westminster now a dictatorship with the Board of Health presiding?

I am not for tobacco products, I have my own vice; wine. And if I lived during prohibition times I would set up a speakeasy in my cellar, secret entrance word and all.

So to the smokers and townspeople in Westminster, MA I say – –

LET FREEDOM RING!

 

this is just one of the many articles you can find online about this subject but is being cited as to where I was fired up enough to write about it and lifted some of Ms. Seelye’s info.   http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/disgusted-by-smoking-outraged-by-a-plan-to-ban-tobacco/ar-BBejwhZ?ocid=mailsignout

Press 1 for English

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Welcome to Venting Vendredi – pull up a seat…

At some point during this past week, I read a blog that addressed the American’s distain for having to press 1 for English. She was very accurate in pointing out the U.S. does not have an official language, that is 100% true.

So where does that leave us? Very frustrated.

I would hazard a guess that all the fuss and complaining about calling a company and being greeted by the prompt – press 1 for English -may have has something to do with the fact that the only other language presented in the prompt is Spanish – seems a little biased don’t you think?

If society wants us to believe that the U.S. is a melting pot (to co-exist, to welcome diversity) that should accommodate all races, than you have to actually accommodate them, otherwise it is prejudiced (some may say racist) resulting in (wait for it…) pissing off a whole lot of people. English is not the official language, nor is Spanish. The government, the companies, society, etc. do not have the right to cherry-pick two languages to represent the country as a whole.

Do the hundreds of thousands of people on the Mexican border, throughout southern California, parts of Florida and many other areas with a heavily populated Spanish/Latino culture justify Spanish as the second language choice? The northern border counts too. Drive through parts of Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire and you will see signs in both English and French. Visit the Ogunquit shore in the summer and you will be surrounded by both vacationers and residents speaking French.

What about Chinatown in Boston, New York, Chicago and elsewhere? They don’t count either?

THAT’S why people get pissed. Because offering only one other choice is insulting to all the other races and cultures in the country.

How can you accommodate all the other languages? How about using the dial pad to spell out the language you wish to use? Companies use this type of system all the time. “If you know the last name of the party you wish to be connected to, please dial the first four letters of their name…” There has to be more than just Rosetta that has multilingual software to help the caller get to a person to assist them.

Let’s get some smarty-pants MIT students on this pronto!

Bugs Bunny, my hero

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After writing my last post and reading some of the replies, I started thinking of how much things have changed over the years. We touched upon rocks under swings, cuts/scrapes/bruises/stitches are a badge of courage, and the Big Wheel in all its glory leaving road rash for years. Let’s not forget the classics: climbing trees where chunks of wood are too big to be called slivers never mind losing footing and falling 6-8 feet to the ground knocking the wind out of you, or the timeless game of Red Rover calling your arch enemy of the playground to come over whilst taking a ‘clothesline’ to the breadbasket or if you were lucky enough with the timing actually get the kid across the throat to see both feet catch air… ah yes, good times.

Today however, I saw the ‘singing frog’ from Bugs Bunny (got a little peeved) and realized how much we really have dumb things down, wrapped the children in so many layers of bubble wrap and blankets, and handed out one too many ‘everyone is a winner’ trophies for t-ball resulting in the idea of being just a little daring, a moment of ‘what if I…’ is completely out of the question or at least very rare.

Bugs Bunny was, and will always be, an icon to me and many other children that grew up in that era. He was quick with his snarky remarks for any and all occasions, taught us about classical music, opera and ballet (whether you knew it or not), and made sure we laughed the cereal milk straight out of our nose, all while dodging anvils falling from the sky, a crazy hunter with a speech impediment, and a duck more daffy that your Aunt Ida.

As children, we ‘got it’. We knew that anvils would not fall from the sky. That if an airplane lost its engine airbrakes would not stop it from crashing into the ground. We knew stepping on a steel rake would indeed hit us in the head causing little birdies to fly circles around or worse a broken nose. And most importantly, he taught us how laughter can bring us to a happier place no matter how grim it may look.

After all, who isn’t just one wrong turn in Albuquerque away from trying to get to Pismo Beach?

Deconstructing the misconception of the Bostonian

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The amount of articles citing Bostonians as being racist, snarky, and just downright rude, could not be further from the truth. Bostonians, and I lump people from several different parts of New England into this category, are more loyal than any watch dog you could purchase.

Why are we so sarcastic, stoic and snarky upon first meeting? Well, simply put, we don’t know you. You see, there is a bit of a test that we put people through before we can call them a ‘friend’ in the true sense of the word. Not an acquaintance, not someone we just met or a work mate, a true friend, and we don’t use the term often, so when we do; you know we mean it. That is how serious we are about it.

It is a timely procedure, yes, you can equate it to a job interview where you are required to return a few times before you are told you have the job. You will be asked a hundred questions about your past, your relatives, and your high school. You will be made fun of, you will be tortured with relentless jabs and ribbing, you will be reminded of the horrible mistakes that you have made and not let you live them down, and will laugh at you… just like any family member would. And we expect the same in return. After all, if you are not receiving such a ‘roast’ you better run; it’s a clear sign that you are being tolerated but not liked.

We will not give you the ‘no there is nothing wrong with our friendship’ smile, while promptly texting and FB’ing everyone what a d-bag you are. We will not tell you that the awful Member’s Only Jacket is making a huge comeback and you are on the cutting edge. We will not agree with your choice of sport’s team, especially when one of our players turns rat and leaves the team for yours.

We are going to hit you smack in the face with the truth, because although it hurts more for the first few seconds, it won’t follow you around like toilet paper stuck to your heel.

We need to be sure that you are going to stick around, because when times get tough, when the ‘stuff’ hits the proverbial fan, we need to know that you ‘have our backs’ as much as we will have yours.

It is not unlike many families motto; I can make fun of my family all I want, but you say something, and you will get your ass handed to you.

So you see? We are not some heartless, sardonic, people; We have a heart of gold, sprinkled with a little sea salt.