Get your ow
n diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

10:50 a.m. - November 04, 2005
So Many Thoughts, So Little Time
It�s a lazy fall day here in BFE-land, and with that my mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thoughts, or something like that. Some are serious, some are not. Such is life in the heartland.

(Didn�t that last sentence sound like a documentary, or a cheesy commercial for a Farmer�s State Bank, or something? Man.)


All of my watches had dead batteries, so Thursday it was time to get that situation rectified. I know I could go to Satan�s Discount Store to get this done, but my wife recommended a small jewelry repair store here on the main drag in town. So I went by there after work to get them all fixed. I had three watches that needed batteries, plus Mickey Mouse needed a new watchband.

(Yep, even though Disney is Smiling Evil Behemoth Corp., Ltd., I have a Mickey Mouse watch � I think I�ve had this one for years. Anyway, kinda fitting don�t ya think?)

I�m on a time crunch, because Liz has to go pick up my great niece from day care, my sister from work, drop them off at home, go help my Mom out, and then get her hair cut last night. (Yeah, there are tales to tell on why she had to do this � in due time, gentle readers � in due time.) So I need to be home at 4:45.

I saunter into the store, tell the proprietor what I need, and he�s on it. Four batteries and a watch band, stat. (Marvin the Martian needs two batteries � what, are you shocked that I have a Marvin watch as well?? You don�t know me very well, do you? You make me verrrry verrrry angry. So I�m going to blow up the Earth with my Illudium PU-36 space modulator.)

As he�s working away, I notice that he�s married to someone I work with semi-closely here at the College, though I don�t really know him. Small town, small world.

When he�s done, I get out my credit card. He says he just takes cash and check. I then notice that there�s no �Visa� or �MasterCard� sign on the front door, so I get a little nervous. I�d like to have these watches so I can wear them, and I don�t have time to run back home to get a check for him because Liz needs to go. So what do I do?

Before I have a chance to think, he says.

�Well, you can drop me a check tomorrow.�
�Oh! That�s nice � you know I work with your wife at the College.�
�Well, you can just drop a check to her, OK?�

Wow!

Now would they do that at Satan�s Discount Store (SDS for short)? Nope. You�d have to walk the walk of shame without your watches. (Of course, they take plastic, but you can think of a scenario where you forget your wallet, can�t you? I did in the grocery store once after everything was bagged up and Katie was ready to go. I had to entrust her to a kindly Darlene-brand check out lady and dash out to the car for the plastic.)

But he was perfectly alright with me taking the watches with only a promise to pay him today.

I walked that check over to his wife as soon as got in and got settled.


Speaking of this here town, a couple of stores are leaving downtown. They�ve put a lot of work into revitalizing downtown, yet a couple of stores are closing their doors, including the only real men�s clothing store.

I think a lot of this is related to the fact that Target closed. Many people will not shop at SDS. In fact, the last time I was in there, the majority of people in line with me were dentally challenged and a bit�well�ripe. Some Crest and Ivory Soap would work wonders, and you know what, they SELL it there.

A lot of people will drive up to Lafayette to go to the Super Target, and while they�re up there they�ll do a lot of other shopping. I don�t understand why Target didn�t stay here � it was a small store, sure, but it always had a lot of customers there.

So now we don�t have a men�s clothing store in town, but by gum we�ve got six car washes. (Workin� at the car wash, yeah!)


Thanks to everyone with the well wishes yesterday. We are all agog with excitement about the big day. In fact, on Sunday, we have a little get-together with other adoptive families. Our attorneys always put on a picnic or an outing for all the families that they�ve helped over the years, and this time it�s going to be totally free.

However, one of the local news channels had a report about Indiana babies being adopted by people in the Netherlands. These babies are African-American or bi-racial, and they are being adopted by people there because our attorney can�t place them here.

That made me sad, and angry.

Our daughters are both bi-racial, and they are the most precious thing in the world. I know some people are very specific at times with what they are looking for in a child if they have to adopt, but from my experience I would not pass up what I have right now, no way, no how. When asked about if we had any racial preference, we immediately said no � we would take any child and love them and care for them.

In this report, there was one agency that said they never got a call from our attorney, but I wonder how accurate that is, really. I know our attorney is one of the leading adoption attorneys in the nation and busted his hump for us and our birth mother. I wonder how good that agency is about screening parents and making sure of all of the particulars about someone who wants to adopt.

They also had a report from a local African-American couple who adopted a child domestically. The woman was very realistic, and said that it was sad that these children had to go to the Netherlands to be adopted. She said that local African-Americans should make the choice for adoption. Then, she added that she could understand some birth mothers being very comfortable with that, because the babies would face much less prejudice over there than here.

That gave me pause.

Earlier in the week, I was reading a Sports Illustrated article about the African-American players who broke the color lines in college football in the 60�s, and all of the crap they had to endure. It was rough and harsh for them, and chilling to realize that most of this stuff happened after I was born. It wasn�t that long ago that blacks couldn�t dream of playing for Alabama, Tennessee or Ole Miss.

So with that fresh in my mind, when I saw this report, I started to get upset. I can�t believe that there are morons around who still harbor feelings like that.

Then I recalled one of the journals I clicked on around here (I don�t remember who or what, but this person is not a reader of mine) and it was one of those infamous lists like �243 picayune things about me�. One line said, �I know there are differences between races, because I have experienced them.�

The only difference is the pigment in the skin. If you have had problems with people from other races, it�s because they are people just like you, and idiots abound across all lines of sexes, races, creeds, and colors.


Of course, you just have to laugh about some things, even when they are inherently evil.

(Note, a couple of the links below may offend people, not because they�re pornographic, but they�re just�well�.they�re just wrong�)

I read about a news segment regarding a teeny-bopper singing duo. They were interviewed by ABC about their music, with the hope it would bring them a larger audience.

The band?

Prussian Blue

And here�s an interview excerpt with them. (A sympathetic interview, mind you, not the ABC report).

Now, what�s really sad is that there are parents that have brainwashed their kids like this, so at this tender age they not only spout this nonsense, they sing about it.

But what�s funny is that they really thought that the ABC interview would give them a lot of new fans, and spread their �message� so that they could convert people to their cause.

Their attorney said that they had to go into seclusion, because of the (understandably) negative reaction.

Here�s the ABC News report.

Sometimes you just gotta shake your head.

 

previous - next

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!