What would ushering in the holiday season be without The Dropkick Murphys?
Speaking of holidays….
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Department Of Trying Not To Snarl At Children…
…who nevertheless deserved it. Dateline: last night. We had a great group of Halloween visitors to our porch, with four notable exceptions.
We had seventy-one trick-or-treaters. I know this because I keep track, every year, which helps us estimate how much we may need for the next year’s Halloween stash. It’s fairly easy to do: instead of counting the trick-or-treaters, we count the remaining candy/snacks, as we know how much we start with and we give one to each kid. And it’s a pretty good “one” – e.g. an assortment of full size candy bars or mini boxes of animal crackers, single serving bags of pretzels and potato chips. This year the count would have been 75 if I’d just counted the remaining treats but it was actually 71, as a group of four were double-dippers. The DDs were two girls and two boys, approximate ages…8-11(?). A girl in a green sequined dress (“Ilsa” from Frozen…I ask each trick-or-treater to identify their costume if I can’t guess it outright), a blonde girl in a pink…something (“A unicorn,” she said, although I never would have guessed), two masked boys, one a transformer and another who was some kind of…storm trooper?
They returned to our house a mere 10 minutes after their first visit (not a good strategy if you’re trying to cheat the system). They tried to blend in among another group of trick-or-treaters. I held out the bowl for the first group, who, like all the others kids up until then, were cute and enthusiastic and kind and thankful as they chose their treats. Then the DDers pushed their way to the front, and I recognized them. “Uh…you’ve already been here,” I said to Ilsa. “No, we haven’t,“ she lied. “Yes, you have – I recognize your costume, you’re Isla,” I said. The unicorn also denied she’d been to our house earlier, even as I also identified her costume…even as stormtrooper boy grabbed a bag of chips and quickly backed off our porch. “No, you’re the unicorn, and your group was here earlier,” I said. The second boy (transformer) hesitated; I could sense his embarrassment from behind his mask as he whispered to the two girls, “She’s right; c’mon, let’s go.” Ilsa averted her eyes as she spouted her second denial, and grabbed another candy bar. “That’s rude; it’s one per person,” I said. The unicorn also grabbed a treat from the bowl, sassily proclaiming as she skipped away, “Well, we’re getting another one no matter what.”
Unicorn, my ass. Greedy little bitch.
(Oh, and after that, moiself reached and and put a bag of pretzels in transformer’s hands as he stood there, looking chagrined. “Here,” I said. “At least you were honest about it.”)
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Department Of Fun With Radio Ads
With two ads, to be specific.
Dateline: last Monday, circa 11 am, driving to Trader Joe’s. Ad#1: My car’s radio was on but the volume was quite low; I missed the first few seconds of the spot, which was from a company supporting a sporting tournament. What I made out was the ad’s narrator proudly announcing that his company was sponsoring “…a fecal tournament…”
… Which, I discovered when I immediately cranked up the volume, turned out to be a FIFA [1] tournament.
Ad #2: Driving on to TJ’s, with the volume at normal listening level, I did not miss the next ad. It was a PSA, actually, for a group whose goal was to raise awareness for prostate cancer screening. I am aware that one of the obstacles in getting men to see their doctor for a prostate exam is because of their fear that, should cancer be discovered, prostate surgery is known to cause of a variety of unpleasant side effects. Perhaps the most common side effect is the nerve damage during a prostatectomy which can cause incontinence. [2] Which is why moiself thought, at the end of the PSA where the sponsor’s name was given, that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to announce that the prostate cancer testing sponsor was Depends.
Just sayin.’
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Department Of They’re Forgetting A Really Important Factor
Moiself was reading an article (source forgotten, as I got caught up in the subject matter) about why many young(er) Americans – labeled as Millennials, Gen Z and Y, et al – say they do not plan to have children. This caught my attention, for both broader cultural and also personal reasons.
A close friend of mine has noticed, and discussed with moiself, how rare it is that the offspring of our particular peers are having children. This concerns us both, particularly when we consider how the having-no-kids reasoners are thoughtful, empathetic, politically and scientifically aware, intelligent, well-educated, and otherwise just the kind of people you *want* to be raising the next generations.
Are y’all worried about Armageddon, in whatever form you imagine it? [3] Have a stake in the future; raise your child “right” – raise her to cultivate curiousity about the way things work, and to be compassionate and involved and with a sense of perspective, and she just may be one of the ones to solve global warming, renewable energy, the pollution of forever chemicals – there is no shortage of good to be done.
Besides, if you and your peers don’t reproduce, guess what kind of breeders the world is left with? Those who have little to no concern for their fellow human beings and especially for the planet, which they view as their deity’s gift for them, and a gift which their theologies tell them is not their ultimate destination, so who cares about a little trash in the rest area ( e.g. Jesus is going to rescue them, so why give a holy fuck about Pacific Islanders’ disappearing lands or starving polar bears ) ?
Aside from the practical (not being able to find a compatible and stable life partner; simply never having wanted to be a parent), the reasons many young Gens give for not planning on having kids vary. From concern for the world in general to themselves in particular, their reasons include:
* financial insecurity (i.e., the high costs of childcare and housing);
* self-awareness about physical and mental health issues ( depression, anxiety and other stress-related issues are documented as being higher in Millennials Gen Y & Z, some of whom wonder if it is right for them to raise a child when they see themselves as not emotionally secure );
* worries about the increasing world-wide population (despite the fact that many so-called “first world” nations currently have a negative growth, as in, low reproductive rates which will not sustain their population );
* worries about climate change and what kind of world their children would inherit;
* for women especially, the realization of broader options/ feeling free from constricting social and gender roles of past generations ( no longer being “required” or relegated to having mother/wife as your primary role in life );
* worries that the sacrifices required for parenthood don’t align with their personal and/or career goals.
When I read this article, and others like it, I’ve found moiself fidgeting at what the author(s) are leaving out, in terms of addressing the many factors involved in raising a family. Who speaks for the positives, for the rewards – both personal and societal – and for the adventure of being part of (cue Elton John) The Circle of Life ?
By saying that, I am not *at all* dismissing or explaining away those legitimate concerns which lead some people to choose not to have children – concerns I moiself had at one time, and still due to an extent. I was one of those Not Gonna Do It ® people; I changed my mind as the circumstances of my life changed. I later realized that my stance – I’m never getting married/having children – was based on false, or at least inadequate, information (as in, I’d made that declaration by moiself, not as part of a life partnership, and was thus imagining myself as a single parent, which is something I’d never choose ).
I’m just sayin’ that there’s one thing, one Really. Big. Thing. that the naysayers are leaving out, when it comes to having children and raising a family:
How much fun it can be.
Found a compatible partner….
….and was still joyfully surprised by what fun was in store.
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Department of Employee Of The Month
It’s that time, to bestow that prestigious award upon moiself . Again. The need for which I wrote about here. [4]
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Freethinkers’ Thought Of The Week [5]
“Along with the usual secular values (such as appropriate tolerance/intolerance, morality, critical thinking, appreciation for reason and science), don’t forget to impart social graces, playfulness, and humor. Those go far in our short existences.”
( Dale McGowan, professor and author of Parenting Beyond Belief:
On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion )
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May you appreciate the season that is upon us;
May you remember how much fun difficult things can be;
May you be joyfully surprised by what’s in store;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
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[1] The acronym is for Federation Internationale de Football Association, the world’s professional soccer governing body.
[2] Usually temporary but sometimes…not.
[3] Hopefully with regards to global warming and how we are trashing our only home (planet This), as in, visible and tangible, and not silly religious apocalyptic scenarios.opefully
[4] Several years ago, MH received a particularly glowing performance review from his workplace. As happy as I was for him when he shared the news, it left me with a certain melancholy I couldn’t quite peg. Until I did.
One of the many “things” about being a writer (or any occupation working freelance at/from home) is that although you avoid the petty bureaucratic policies, bungling bosses, mean girls’ and boys’ cliques, office politics and other irritations inherent in going to a workplace, you also lack the camaraderie and other social perks that come with being surrounded by your fellow homo sapiens. No one praises me for fixing the paper jam in the copy machine, or thanks me for staying late and helping the new guy with a special project, or otherwise says, Good on you, sister. Once I realized the source of the left-out feelings, I came up with a small way to lighten them.
[5] “free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists. No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.” Definition courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, ffrf.org
