|
Week after week I seem to find something to bitch about. Which to be honest, is why a majority of you read this column. You want to see if my complaints match or reflect yours. Many of you have told me that much of what I say is how you feel, but generally keep to yourself.
But this time around, in this holiday season, I thought I would reflect on the things that I am thankful for. I mean we all should be doing this on Thanksgiving shouldn’t we? A time for giving thanks and inner reflections of the past year. This is really not my forte, but I am going to give it a shot. So please bear with me as I try to reach inside and find enough things to be thankful for to fill this column.
First of all I am thankful for my wife. My wife is always supportive of whatever I want to do even when I am writing about things that she doesn’t agree with. And every week she acts as my first editor on this column and acts as my second set of eyes. Thank you Stacey for your love and support. My life would not be the same without you.
My kids, Rachel and Alex, for doing so well in school and your chosen sports. I am assuming that your scholastic genes came from your mom because I was not half the student that both of you are. I have no idea where your athletic abilities comes from, but every time I watch you two pick up a ball my heart soars and you make me incredibly proud.
I am thankful for my parents and sisters for always being there, if not in body, in mind. Even though my parents are rarely in town, and one of my sisters lives with her family in the land that time forgot, I mean Sacramento, and my other sister is busy with her life, I know I don’t have to see them to know that I am in their thoughts as they are in mine.
To my Grandmother Nonie, who on January 15th turns 100, for being such an important part of my life. The little lessons she taught me in my summers at the lake have never left me and never will. Nonie lives in Victorville nowadays near my Aunt who tirelessly and
selflessly watches out for and helps Nonie. Week after week she is there to make sure Nonie is comfortable and for that I am extremely thankful to Aunt Barbara.
I am thankful that I live in a city that has such great teachers, at least for the time being. I say for the time being because the school board in our area seems to be hell bent on changing that for the worse. Whether it is through money, benefits, or just ignoring their accomplishments. The latter being the most astonishing because it requires nothing more than a few kind words. Every one likes to get an “atta boy” once in a while.
Hmmm, I seem to be running out of steam here. I could, of course, go with the “well I have my health” or “I’m glad to be living in these times” but that would be a little too schmaltzy and predictable. I think I will have to go in a different direction if I ever hope to get to the end of this article by my pushed up holiday deadline.
How about this, things that I WISH I could be thankful for? Let’s give it a shot and see where that takes us. First, I wish I could be thankful for a world where there was no war. Where American service men and women didn’t have to die while trying to rebuild a country we attacked that we mistakenly thought had weapons of mass destruction.
I wish I could be thankful for the driving skills of the people in this area. That they would all take care and precautions while driving in front of our schools. That they all have drivers’ licenses that were valid and could understand what a speed limit is. I wish they knew what a stop sign was and where their turn indicators were located.
How thankful would we all be if the grocery workers and teamster unions cared about the people who patronized the businesses that made their paychecks a reality, and ended their strike? At the beginning of their strike we were all worried about how they would look at us if we crossed their picket lines. Now that they have done the truly despicable and used the Thanksgiving holiday as a bargaining tool, they ought be worried about how we will be looking at them. I would be thankful if their meaningless chatter while I am checking out would cease because their actions have demonstrated that they care less than one iota about me and my needs.
Well that should do it. I am thankful to get those last few “wishes” out of my system. It should also satisfy my hard-core readers as well because it is kind of a “best of” things that piss me off on a regular basis. But I did forget to mention the plague of bridal shops in Temple City but I thought I would leave that out of this one. Opps, I guess it slipped in anyway, my bad.
There is one other thing that I am thankful for at this particular moment in time. I am really thankful I am not Michael Jackson.
The Shrub Speaks: Marge [MacDonald] says she's frustrated that Washington has not delivered a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. She says, “I'm tired of the talk.” This is her words, not mine. -- Orlando, Florida, Nov. 13, 2003
B.D.’s Response: Once again, Dubya showing his mastery of the English language.
|
