Growing up, my parents were very “old school” with myself and my older sister. If we got a gift, we said “thank you” (gasp!); if we disobeyed or disrespected at school, we faced punishment at home (Gasp!); if we made a mess, we had to clean it up (GASP!); and if we did something very wrong that we knew better than to do, we were (hold on to your mittens…) spanked.

And you know what? I’m glad for all of it. That’s not to say that I loved every second of the punishment part (what child does?), but it taught me that I have to learn a respect for the rules, for other people, for authority, and personal responsibility.

Each of these characteristics seems to be sprinting full-speed out of the collective memory of most people I have come in contact with as of late.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, the graduating class (college) of 2009 is facing the toughest economy and job market in decades. Being a member of that prestigious grouping, I have found myself exercising my fresh-from-the-classroom bachelor’s degree working as a cashier/receptionist (more cashier than anything) for minimal pay and no benefits. I babysit a waiting room, essentially.

I’m serious, I know of kids still in high school that get paid as much as I do. Its just not right.

Anywho, the view from over the counter at work is pretty bleak, but oftentimes can produce some entertaining people-watching subjects. (I’m sure I’ll share more about the characters I’ve met at a later time). Mostly, what I’ve found while looking over the counter has been utterly infuriating. Which causes me to ask the question of the decade: WHEN DID GOING OUT IN PUBLIC BECOME AN EXCUSE TO LEAVE ALL SENSE OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY BEHIND????

An alarming number of people seem to be of the mindset that when they go out to a store, or restaurant, or any public place at all, that they no longer need to worry about trivial things like respecting others, picking up after themselves, etc. Its almost as if the moment they step off their porch, they consider themselves to be godlike, above such societal rules and courtesies that plague us “commoners”.

Some of the things I have seen more often than not are:

1. People spilling drinks or other things and doing nothing to clean it up.

2. Taking a ridiculously lengthy cell phone call when in a crowded room, taking great care to talk AS LOUDLY AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY MUSTER while shooting dirty looks to anyone else in the waiting room that tries to talk to the person next to them. Almost as if the other person is rude for daring to interrupt the phone call from across the room.

3. Parents encouraging their children to play with the courtesy books or blocks or toys (or whatever that particular place offers the young ‘uns), watching benignly as said child throws the toys to the far reaches of the room, and then leave the premises. Without having the child pick up their mess. Without even ASKING the child to pick up their mess.

4. A person walking into a waiting area with other customers already there, quickly snatching up all of the newspapers or magazines off the table, and retreating into a corner with all the papers hoarded to themselves. (To which I think, “there is no way you’re going to be able to read all of that at one time… why not get one section at a time and allow others to enjoy the paper/magazine selections too?”)

5. People leaning back in the waiting room chairs and propping their feet up on the other chairs or on the magazine table.

And that’s where I’m going to stop. Though I could go on. You get the picture. It seems that alot of people are taking the ideology of “value the customer/good customer service” to translate to “treat the vendor and the other patrons any way I’d like, ‘cuz I’m allowed to”.

My OTHER question is, when did this become ok?

I must have missed something.

Its official, everyone! I am a college graduate.

Weird.

And I am happy to report to you all that I did NOT trip walking across the stage! Woo-hoo!

I tripped walking TO the stage… and subsequently spent a majority of my walking-across-the-stage moment muttering “left, right, left, right, left…” to myself. Eventually, I found myself in front of the university president, and couldn’t help but exclaim “Ha HA!! YESSSS!”

And received probably the funniest look ever from the poor, unsuspecting guy. Ha.

All this happened on Friday. Today, I spent my day writing a new resume, and applying for jobs.

Prayers are very much appreciated, as I’ve spent the last few months reading news articles saying anyone looking for a job right now is basically throwing wishes into an empty well.

But here’s hoping!

Hey guys!

Sorry for the brief absence… I’ve been really focused on school for the past few months. And I have the eye twitch and stress pimples to prove it!

Woo-hoo!!

I’m brought out of my academia-induced exile to ask your opinion. Both of you. If you’re still there. Ha.

I seem to be having a situation with a friend of mine that is occurring more and more frequently. And I want it, nope, scratch that, NEED it to stop.

Otherwise I can’t be held responsible for my actions. Just a friendly disclaimer.

Here’s the situation: this friend is from a family who has acquired a great deal of wealth in a relatively short time. When we met, she was on the same economic playing field as me. Anywho, I have been nothing but thrilled for her each time she’s brought over another new car to show me, or called me over to see her large new house, or some other expensive toy. Sure. Maybe a little envious, but I mean, COME ON! You should see some of this stuff!

Back to the point.

Recently, I found out through a third source that she had bought tickets to see one of our favorite comedians live. We’ve both talked for months about how badly we want to see this comedian… so I (jokingly, of course) messaged her with “beg pardon! you’re going to see this person without me?!” To which she responded, “You can’t afford it, though.”

……………………..

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……………………..

um………………….

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Hmm. Let me digest this for a quick second.

She informed me I couldn’t afford it, so she didn’t even mention it to me. This is where I began to feel a little hurt. Since when does she know every intimate detail of my pocketbook? When was it ok for her to dictate to me how and when I spent my rainy day money? Least of all, why does my being a little tight on cash mean I don’t even deserve an invitation or the chance to try to wrangle up some money for the ticket?

When I mentioned to her that if money was the only issue I would have liked the chance to be invited and figure it out myself, she responded with telling me I need to stop making her feel bad… that the tickets had to be bought right then and she didn’t have the time to call me “just to hear me say no”.

Um. Ouch?

It ended by her telling me I am “irritated for no reason” and promptly leaving the conversation before I could reply.

Even with this was happening, I could see her point a little. Who wants to invite someone who is usually broke to things like this when they usually can’t go?

But then again, I felt a little indignant. Who is to say I’m so poor right now that I can’t afford one fun night with friends?

Either way, I felt like it should have been my choice whether I went or not, not someone else’s from an outside perspective.

My question to you is, what do you think is the best way of resolving this? Each solution I’ve thought of has the uncanny capacity to blow up magnificently in my face, so I’m hoping someone out there may have some words of wisdom…

Have you had a similar situation to mine happen before? How did you handle it, and what was the outcome?

In the meantime, I’ll wait here on my lovely, beaten-on, slightly-dirty college futon, nursing my school-induced twitch and praying for a day when money issues are yesterday’s news. Kinda like most other people.

Oy.

Ever had one of those weeks where you feel like everything under the sun is being thrown at you at once?

Welcome to my week.

My roommate (the one I share the room with, and the one I am closest to) told me three days ago that she quit her job, dropped all her classes, and was moving out. The following day. I had known she was skipping her classes alot, but I just thought when she reached the preordained number of absenses allowed by the school, she would buckle down and start going.

BUT.

She didn’t mention to me before this that not only had she been skipping, she hasn’t been turning in her assignments. She would have failed everything, killing her GPA. So, her advisors told her to drop. And then her momma told her to come home (part of her punishment).

I’m really gonna miss her. She won’t be back at all.

Then I get a phone call from my Dad today. My Papaw has been having hip problems. The specialist he went to said it could either be a sign of needing hip replacement, or cancer in his bone/joint.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM.

And then, on top of all that, I have three papers due in the next few weeks. Huge papers.

Your prayers are greatly needed and appreciated. Especially for my Papaw. And any advice or words of encouragement would help so much.

Thanks, ya’ll.

It’s been quite a while since I have written anything new for my fabulous two readers.

So sorry.

This is quite possibly my roughest semester so far. Coming up in the next few weeks, I have three papers due, 2 huge projects, and about 5 tests. Therefore, my caffeine intake has increased substantially and I’ve developed a fabulous new twitch and eye squint.

How the boys will swoon…

And because I am technically sitting in class hanging on the professor’s every word I thought I would share with you a forward I received back in high school. I loved it so much that I saved it, and still look over it every so often for chuckles. It did not have an author’s name on it. I wish it did: I would love to thank him for the laughs and understanding. . . The author nailed the plight of 99% of college students who write papers.

Without further ado…

How to Write a College Paper

Author unknown

1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

2. Check your email.

3. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.

4. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate.

5. Check your email.

6. Stop off at another floor, on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend hasn’t started the paper yet either, you can both walk to McDonald’s and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you her paper, typed, double-spaced and bound in one of those irritating see-thru plastic folders, drop-kick her.

7. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

8. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

9. Check your email.

10. You know, you haven’t written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You’d better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.

11. Look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

12. Listen to one side of your favorite tape and that’s it, seriously, as soon as it’s over you are going to start that paper.

13. Listen to the other side.

14. Check your email.

15. Rearrange all of your CDs into alphabetical order.

16. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if she’s started writing yet. Exchange derogatory remarks about your teacher, the course, the college, the world at large.

17. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

18. Read over the assignment again; roll the words across your tongue; savor their special flavor.

19. Check your email.

20. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren’t missing something truly worthwhile on TV. NOTE: When you have a paper due in less than 12 hours, anything on TV from Masterpiece Theater to “Sgt. Preston of the Yukon” is truly worthwhile, with these exceptions:

             a) Pro Bowlers Tour

             b) any movie starring Don Ameche

21. Catch the last hour of “Soul Brother of Kung Fu” on Channel 26.

22. Phone your friend on the third floor to see if he was watching. Discuss the finer points of the plot.

23. Check your email.

24. Look at your tongue in the bathroom miror.

25. Look through your roommate’s book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

26. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

27. Open your door and check to see if there are any mysterious, trenchcoated strangers lurking in the hall.

28. Check your email.

29. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.

30. Read over the assignment one more time, just for heck of it.

31. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.

32. Lie face down on the floor and moan.

33. Check your email.

34. Leap up and write the paper.

35. Type the paper, and while you’re at it, check your email.

36. Complain to everyone that you didn’t get any sleep because you had to write that darn paper.

 

Genius, no? I think my favorites are 27 and 32.

The news just broke yesterday that John McCain has chosen his running mate, a young governor from Alaska named Sarah Palin…

So many questions jump instantly to mind.

1) From what I have read, the lady has very little experience with politics. She has only been governor of Alaska for less than two years and nice though she may be, has never battled the craziness that is DC. Her experience before being governor? Mayor of a town of less than ten thousand…

2) She is relatively unknown to any of the political-savvy people involved in the election. Which may or may not be a good thing. On the upside, no one can talk bad about her or start a smear campaign, because, well, they haven’t heard of her. Judging from some of the harsh words from the past that the sudden “supporters” of Obama have had to eat lately, this could be AMAZINGLY beneficial.

3) Does the matter of Ms. Palin’s gender have anything to do with her nomination? With Hillary out of the running and not all of the female population rushing to Obama’s camp, the female vote is still really strong, and also very open…

But like I said in the title of this post, this is NOT a political blog AT ALL. Just some thoughts I’ve got floating around my head.

One last question though: if you had to go TODAY and vote for McCain or Obama, with ONLY the information we’ve been given up til now, who would you vote for?

I had a beyond frustrating interesting experience in the parking lot of a large national chain store not long ago…

This store is in a semi-rough part of town (the part where a small-statured, by-herself girl should probably not be after dark) and it was, conveniently, close to dark. So, naturally, I was trying to find a spot that was not in, you know, THE OUTBACK OF AUSTRALIA.

After some searching, I finally spotted a small group (3 people) getting into their car. I pulled up so I could get the spot when they were gone, hardly believing my luck.

That’s when the driver guy caught sight of me over the top of the car as he was getting in.

He paused, looking at me sitting there patiently with my blinker on, with PLENTY of room for the car to get out. After making eye contact with me, he leaned over and said something to his two female companions. At which time…

They all got OUT of the car, crossed their arms, and turned to face me.

Their engine was still running. Their doors were all still open. They were just standing there, glaring at me.

Ever the optimist, I assumed they just didn’t quite “get” that I was waiting for the spot, so I smiled at them, then gestured that I was just waiting, no big deal.

The glares and arm-crosses continued.

A few shocked moments later, I pulled away in disbelief. In my rearview mirror, I saw the group laughing with each other as they watched me drive off, got into their car, and pulled away with the knowledge that I would never make it back to the spot in time to grab it.

REALLY?!?!

Ok, so, a month without a post??

So sorry!

Things have been so insane! I never really got a summer break from school. I ended up taking 15 hours this summer (5 classes) plus working around 30 hours a week. I needed to take a break from everything that I could afford to NOT do for a while. But I’m good now. Nice and sane.

Pffffttt.

Here’s just a quick update:

–Our apartment is slowly but surely coming together!! We’ve got ACTUAL decorations on the wall. Shocking.

–I am entering my SENIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE. Yeah. Still don’t know quite how to feel about that one.

–I started a new waitressing job (no longer working at the daycare) that I’m liking pretty well. And yes, for those of you who are wondering, I HAVE spilled a beverage on an unsuspecting patron. Thank you for asking.

–I am still broke. Some things never change.

It feels so good to be posting again. I’m excited to get back in the groove of everything!

See ya!

Its been a while since I’ve written any blog entries. Things have gone back and forth between routine and crazy so quickly that I can’t seem to catch my breath!

I made my schedule for school for next semester. It’s looking to be pretty crazy, but still manageable. I’m glad I got that out of the way and got enrolled in the classes I needed.

However, now I’ll have to quit my job.

I work at a daycare right now, and they want for you to commit to a set schedule of Monday through Friday, whatever hour to whatever hour. Which will not work for me for fall since I’ll be in class pretty much all day and into the evening on certain days.

So. I’m on a job search.

And fighting with my sister.

And stressed in general.

Its a good thing tomorrow is Sunday!! I need a recharge! One that only God can give me. I’m so glad I have Him to turn to.

I have so much I have to do in the next few weeks, it seems a little overwhelming. Is it just me, or does there always seem to be so much more to pay for than there is money in the bank???

For instance, here are just a few things I have to get done:

-buy groceries (it seems like I’m always in need of groceries, even when I’ve just bought some. Darn that whole need-to-eat thing!)

-DECORATE!!! Seriously. This place is still very very blank. You would cry.

-sign up for and pay for fall semester. oy.

-pay rent.

-pay bills.

And on top of all that, I just received an email saying I need to apply for my MAY graduation soon. And pay the fee for it, of course. Is it just me, or does that seem ridiculously early for a graduation date that is still 11 months away??

My gameplan: win the lottery.

No problem.