Cell Phones @ MindSay 
war
Have I ever mentioned that upstate NY has the biggest freakin mosquitos I've ever seen in my life? This is not like being in the south at all. These mosquitos are as big, if not bigger, then house flies. Their freakin suckers are like 1/4 of an inch long! They are out all day, and go in when the sun goes down. Again, not like the southern blood suckers. Normally the bats would have helped with this situation by now, but they don't seem to have returned this year. I was cursing these bats 2 years ago when I discovered they lived in a little metal overhang above my garage door. Now I think I would throw them a homecoming...if only they would come home. Of course there would be a bit of a problem since the bats come out at dusk, and the mosquitos seem to be all gone by then. This particular breed of mosquitos seem to be resistant to repellent. This afternoon we all sprayed down with Off brand Skintastic family something or other. It didn't matter. Those huge vampires little suckers kept dive bombing us. Several would get within an inch of my eye and turn around because of the spray. Others didn't care about the spray and would penetrate my clothing for a pint taste of my blood. They didn't seem to be bothering the kids as much, although Elijah did talk about them all the way upstairs for bed. I had to lie to reassure him that they weren't in the house. Hopefully he won't have nightmares. Tomorrow I have to go to the Agway and try to find something to spray or sprinkle in the yard that won't hurt my children or my garden. Otherwise all outdoor play may be suspended indefinately, and I'll need full body armor to tend my garden. Planting the 20+ sunflower seeds the kids gave up on was no fun with those pesky creatures in my face this evening.
And where do the Girl Scout cookies fit in here? Well, they don't really, not with the mosquitos anyway. Unless I add that we were outside waiting for the troop leader to arrive with money so that I didn't have to invite her into my messy house. Of course she didn't come until the exact minute we were all seated for dinner. So volunteering to be the Cookie Mom has been one of the worst things I ever did. The troop leader and co-leader both took home extra cookies they didn't order. They did this because they have a place to sell the extras. The troop leaders dad owns the local Agway so she sells them there, and the co-leader works at the elementary school. Usually this works out great. Apparently this year someone broke into the school and stole the cookie money. Ask me why said co-leader didn't take the money home with her every night. Go ahead, ask me. I have no freakin clue! That's why! So now we have around $200 missing stolen and for whatever reason she may not be held accountable. This money may have to come from troop funds cause the cookies have to be paid for somehow. Anyone besides me think this is ridiculous? I don't care how much money co-leader has, she should have to pay it back. It would basically be considered personal property, not school property, so I don't think the school insurance will cover this. Actually, selling these cookies on school property is probably illegal, although I don't know for sure. Add to all this that I did not take proper inventory of the cookies to start with. They were counted out by several different people, AND not all extra orders were accounted for. By extra I mean troop moms needing more cookies, going to said troop leaders to get them, and not being properly written down so they could be taken from one persons inventory and added to anothers. I have 5 people who still haven't turned in their money even though we said it was due last Wednesday, 1 person over by $24, 1 person under by $24, and no, the money wasn't accidentally swapped. Normally it wouldn't really matter as long as the troop total was the same as the total due, but since some of it was stolen, and the inventory from this person is a bit skewed, it all makes a big difference. OH, there's one more thing.......the main person incharge of all cookie orders from all local troops had a fire in her apartment. ALLLLLLLLL paperwork was lost depending on individual troops to hand in proper copies!
Normally my rant here would have made me feel better, but unless you can come over here, count the cash and checks, straighten out my personal paperwork, make the bank deposit, and kill the freakin mosquitos, oh, and find the stolen money, then this didn't help!
Sorry for not answering anyone back about the military ball issue. I'm probably not going to go, just because my husband honestly doesn't care if I do or not. Also, I've read very bad reviews on the "resort" the ball is to take place, and this is the same place we would be staying over night. Truly the only reason to go would be to see how slutty the skinny bitches look!
On a good note, Dale's cell phone finally works in Iraq. He got a text this morning saying something about international something or other. He emailed me about it, and I sent him a text. He got it. After about 10 messages back and forth (we don't have a text plan), he called me. It was nice to talk to him on something other then the MWR phone. He was more himself, and it was very nice. Of course the 20 or so minute conversation we had is probably going to cost us a fortune since we also don't have an international plan. The rate list I found is $1.99 per minute, but I don't know if you have to purchase a plan to get that or not. And it seems that in order to get a plan you have to sign a new contract. Ours is up this month anyway. Sooooo, I can call him!!!!! This would have been awesome a few months ago when I needed immediate answers for something, but it's great now too. He doesn't get a signal within the concrete barriers though. He can walk outside of them and still stay within the confines of safety though, so it's all good. :)
cas reports on a judge who used his power to the max to punish someone who didn't turn their cell phone off in court: "Apparently, a US Judge was so angered by a cell phone ringing in his courtroom that he threatened to send 46 people to jail if no one would own up to it. Security officers did a quick search, but weren't able to find it, so Judge Robert Restaino sent every last one of them to prison, with $1,500 set as their bail.Take that!
One man, according to the report, told the judge: "This is not fair to the rest of us." To which the judge replied: "I know it isn't."
He was later removed from his bench and the hearing was put to a hiatus."
Saturday night, the wife and I went with some friends to see 30 Days of Night, the new movie about vampires terrorizing the town of Barrow, Alaska, for…thirty days of night.
I knew we were doomed as soon as I walked in and saw about twenty other people in the theater. You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all had a movie ruined by at least one jerk that thinks he or she is the only person in the theater. I knew that in a crowd of twenty there had to be at least one. I wasn’t counting on sixteen. Unfortunately, that sort of thing happens more and more these days.
Children too often are brought to movies they don’t need to see. Surprisingly, no rugrats turned out for 30 Days of Night, but how many other times have we tried to enjoy a little sex and violence while enduring a nearby child talking incessantly, kicking our seats, or crossing in front of us every five minutes on their way to and from the bathroom? It’s really fun when a kid behind you soils their diaper, and no one has the decency to take them out. People with children should stick to Disney movies, or stay at home and wait for the DVD.
I realize you can’t really blame a child for acting like a child, but adults who act like children in the movie theater just need a punch in the mouth. Why can’t anyone sixteen or older go to the toilet by themselves? Every time one of the gals in the last row got up to go Saturday, four friends followed suit, stomping down the stairs like a herd of Clydesdales.
Cell phones are another annoyance. Perhaps the only thing more irritating than the woman two rows down gabbing all through the trailers was the bozo directly in front of me constantly flipping his phone open and shining that damn blue light in my face. He apparently had opted to go to the movies rather than attend a wake, but someone at the funeral home was kind enough, or, rather, tasteless enough to email him photos of the body in the casket, which he had to look at over and over, and then pass around for the other members of his party to gawk at.
Don’t you hate it when people decide to eat their evening meal at the movies? The couple behind us couldn’t have had enough hands to carry everything they bought at the concession stand. I listened to crinkling wrappers and rattling bags throughout the first half of the picture. One of them must have been a messy eater, for constant wiping with noisy, rough paper napkins could be heard during most of the second half.
One thing I failed to realize going into 30 Days of Night was that it’s a comedy. It must be. Every time a vampire took another victim, practically everyone who was guilty of any of my aforementioned grievances hee-hawed like a jackass. The more gruesome the killing, the funnier it was. I fail to see the humor in someone’s throat being ripped out, but then that’s just me.
I’ve yelled out “Shut up!” once or twice in a theater, and I’ve turned around and glared at many a person who thought I enjoyed having the back of my seat kicked; but remember that episode of Seinfeld where George decided to do the opposite of what his instincts told him to do? A guy behind George in a theater kept bugging him, so George turned around and basically went postal on the guy to the delight of the other patrons.
Perhaps if more of us had George’s gumption, going to the movies would be a more pleasant experience than it has become; and better yet if more people used a little self-control and common sense. If you engage in the sort of activities I have described, just bear in mind that no one paid $7.50 to watch you.
© 2007 by J.D. Lewis
This is day 3 of the 3.5 day conference. By now, assuming attendees have been to all the sessions, we've been told 14 times to shut off our cell phones and pagers during all sessions.
During the late-morning session today, some guy's cell phone went off. He muted it and ignored the call. 2 minutes later, his phone went off again. This is upsetting. He messed up, but then didn't take the necessary measures to prevent his mistake from happening again. To just add to the mess, the guy answers the phone while still in the room with a loud, session-stopping, "Hello, this is Jim." He then made his way out of the room.
Jim. Let's have some words, shall we? When someone calls you while you are at a session, they are making a decision to interrupt your very expensive session. When you choose to take that call, you've made a decision that it is all right for that person to interrupt your very expensive session. As long as your phone is on vibrate and you answer the call outside of the room where the session is occurring, you've done nothing wrong. But by not setting your cell phone on vibrate, you've made a decision that it is okay for anyone that calls you to interrupt the very expensive session not only for you, but for 200 other people as well. I don't even know what to say about you taking the call while still in the session. That's just incredibly rude and you've shown no respect for those around you.
Jim... You, sir, are a douche.
I had a busy weekend. I volunteered at Dala's store for Harvest Fest. Dala has a policy: no talking on cell phones while you are in her store. It's not an infringement on anyone's rights, it's just a nice thing, to promote some peace and quiet while other people are shopping. You can have your phone on, but she asks people to take their calls outside or just turn their phones to vibrate if you absolutely have to have your phone on while shopping in her store. Dala never yells at anyone in the store for talking on their cell, we just walk up to the person doing the talking and quietly, politely ask them to comply with the policy. In fact, I'm surprised that more stores don't have such policies. There's nothing more rude than walking into a store, or room, or getting on a bus when there's more than three people all gabbing away on their cells. I've over heard conversations better left private. It seems like as soon as someone's on their cell, they become oblivious to the rest of the world around them, and talk as if no one else can hear them. Worse yet, people's voices tend to be very loud while they are on a cell, as if they're making sure the party on the other line can hear them clearly, but it does nothing for those of us not on the line. What you say on your cell phone can be and will be heard by those of us who really don't want to hear it. It's annoying. Talk about infringement of rights -- what about the right to some peace?
But when I'm at my friend's store helping her out with the crowds that pour in during festivals downtown, I make damn sure I'm kissing the asses of those cell phone talkers. I don't scream at them. I don't talk down to them. I'm not mean. I just ask plainly, politely for them to take their calls outside. Dala has even gone out of her way to provide chairs outside so that people can sit and talk. No one will kick you out of her store for taking a cell phone call. Besides, there's a BIG sign on the front door that clearly says "NO CELL PHONES" but for some reason people miss it because they're too busy with their lives to look up and notice. Even though I ask nicely, there are still those few bastards who will ignore your request and keep on talking. Some even will end their call just to yell at you in protest for even asking. Or they will talk down at you for asking, baraging you with reasons for why they feel it's necessary for them to be on the phone in the store. So far only a rare few get uppity like that, but I was quite unprepared for the reaction of this one young woman...
Dala had some drama which she had to take care of privately, leaving me in the store alone with a crowd. There were over 10 people in the store and five of them were on cell phones. You can imagine the noise, but I wasn't that annoyed. I turned to each, asking politely to take their calls outside. Dala's store isn't that big. Her mission is to make it a place of serenity and comfort. She plays soothing world music and most folks who stop in are very laid back. It's usually during festivals that we get people who are obnoxious, people who don't frequent the downtown area unless there is a sidewalk sale or cheap beer somewhere. Only two of the five I asked to take the calls outside complied. They literally kept on talking and ignored me. So what am I going to do? I can't very well force their phones out of their hands nor kick them out or scold them for being rude lil' turds. One young woman really felt bad for taking a call. I apologised to her and explained Dala's policy. I remember her eyes getting really big, like those of a toddler's, and she gazed into my eyes with such sadness. I told her it was okay. We talked. She eventually laughed. I thought she understood. No tears. No screams. She went on her merry way. I thought we were okay.
Today I find out from one of Dala's friends, L'aura, who also owns a business downtown, that said young woman came into her store crying hysterically. The woman gave L'aura such a tale of woe about how mean I was to her and how I let several other people in the store talk on their phones. She felt that I had singled her out. What she didn't understand was that I couldn't force the other cell phone chatters to shut off. In fact, I've seen other people do the same when Dala herself has asked them to stop the cell phone yakking. I wasn't being mean to this woman, she wasn't being singled out, and further more, I thought I was nice to her. I went out of my way to make her comfortable, plus she gave me the impression that she wasn't upset. She left the store calmly and quietly with no indictaction that she was upset.
What must've happened was she walked away and then thought too deeply about the words we exchanged. No matter what I told her, she took it to a personal level herself, screwed up what I told her in her head and made herself to feel victimized. As she walked further away, that little bit of upset of being told to not do something she wanted to do and didn't think was a bad thing, really started to get to her. The little upset grew into a bigger one because she didn't decide to focus on why I told her to take her call outside, she instead zeroed in on the being told not to do something and took it to a level where she believed I was infringing upon her right to talk on her cell phone. The biggest part of her upset exploded when she reached L'aura's store -- she worked herself up into a big weepy fit. I wasn't being mean to her, she just took our exchange to a level it was never meant to met. It was a misunderstanding. And, frankly, I felt slighted by this woman because she never displayed her upset to me. Instead she went to someone else I knew to complain and weep. It made me look like the bitch. And, trust me, I know when I'm being a horrible bitch. I'm fully capable of being intimidating, too. Anyone who has known me for several years can testify that I can get fouled up into a mighty violent temper which is made all the more intimidating because most people who know me consider me pretty damn passive. I'm not that scary. I'm only scary when really burnt and I don't burn easily. My fuse is long and I am very patient. The woman in question in this case did nothing to set my fire. She didn't even annoy me. She was sweet. I didn't yell across the store at her to turn off her phone. I walked up to her gently and quietly told her to take her call outside.
It seems like there are just some people in this world who make me out to be a monster. I feel bad that I inadvertently made someone cry. There's no worse feeling in the world than to feel guilty for something you didn't know would made someone upset to the point of tears. I'm an emotional person, I know what it's like to cry over the small things, too. I hate the fact that my small request made someone that upset. And yet, can I really stay concerned about it for long? It seems like no matter what I do, I'm bound to displease someone, eh?
And if, for some reason, that very woman reads this blog somehow (you never know) I just want to let her know that she wasn't being punished. Now dry your eyes. It wasn't that bad of a thing!
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