I get a lot of things in the mail that are politically connected. I get surveys asking for my opinion on different things like health care, cap and trade and other hot topic issues. Imagine my surprise when I got a survey from the Senior Citizens Council. The letter began “As a senior citizen, you know the danger that Social Security is in.” Well, no, I don’t know because I’m not a senior citizen. I do know Social Security is in trouble and I seriously doubt I will receive any of the money that I have paid into Social Security. This letter and survey didn’t get me thinking about Social Security, but what is it about my name that says senior citizen. When I went in the hospital in February, I had to have a CT scan. The technician was surprised when he came to get me from the ER. He said I thought you were an elderly lady. What??? Now I am getting surveys for senior citizens. This is my second mailing in the last few months. I am only 36 and although sometimes I feel old, I certainly am not a senior citizen. After 9/11, I seemed to always be called out for extra security checks when I would fly. I thought maybe my name sounds too Eastern European and I could have been a spy. I guess I could be a senior citizen spy. Hey I would get some good discounts.
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Stop staring at us
I have two very rambunctious boys. They can be good and sit still, but when confronted with a huge tree house inside of a McDonald’s they get a little wild. Today this scenario happened, a huge tree house inside a McDonald’s. We went to breakfast with my mom before we started our drive home. When we got there, there was nobody else sitting in the play area. Then an older couple came in and sat down. I thought it was odd that they would pick the play area to sit and have breakfast. While the boys ran around, they gave us dirty looks. When I took Baden to the bathroom they watched me walk all the way there. It was rather uncomfortable. As we were getting ready to leave, we walked past them and the man said “good”. I took this to mean good they are leaving. I don’t normally confront people, but this time I turned around and said do you have a problem. They looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces. The woman said no I don’t have a problem. I said well obviously you do because from the time you got in here you have been watching us. I know my boys were running around and yelling, but you are sitting in the kids area. If you don’t want to be around kids, sit somewhere else. I turned around and walked out. I was so mad. First of all, the boys would be enduring a 6.5 hour ride in the car. They needed to be able to run around before we got in the car. Second of all, they were sitting in the kids area where normally there are a lot more kids than just my boys. They should be thankful it wasn’t a whole slew of kids. My mom told me I surprised her when I turned around and said something, but she said sometimes you just have to speak up. You are so right, Mom.
Thoughts on Patriotism
“Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.” – Calvin Coolidge
“Patriotism is is our obligation to those who have gone before us, to those who follow us, and to those who have died for us.” – George W. Bush
“No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people.” – Arnold Schwarenegger
“The strength of America is her people. You. Me. Us. Our hopes. Our dreams. Our ambitions-and most important, our goodness” – J.C. Watts
“We are Americans first, Americans last, Americans always.” – John McCain
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BH & AH
Since having surgery in April I have found myself referring to before I was in the hospital (BH) and after I was in the hospital. It’s funny to me that I refer to things in those terms. I so wanted to get out of the hospital and now it has become a huge part of my vocabulary. I have had Crohn’s Disease for 14 years now and finally had to have surgery. I knew going into it that it would be worth it. I wasn’t prepared for the three abscesses and three drains that I had to deal with over the course of three weeks. Now that I am healing and feeling better every day I still use the word hospital to refer to before and after my surgery. I don’t even want to step foot in a hospital, but hospitals have been a big part of my life the last six months. So the last six months have been before hospital and after hospital. That’s how I remember things. This year I was in the hospital for a total of 31 days. That’s a lot and something I wasn’t expecting. I am looking forward to the time I will be able to stop referring to things as BH and AH, but until then I am thankful for my health and the ability to heal.