Bloggin’ Along

The following is a letter I wrote and sent to our local paper–The Californian. (dated January 17, 2006)

Recently singer Harry Belafonte referred to the President as the world’s greatest terrorist. Why do some celebrities continue to show absolutely no support for our president? I realize that many of the Hollywood elite are card-carrying liberals, but come on—can’t we, as a country , just stand unified in support of one thing?

Many celebrities have a lot of political influence in this country. They want the public to support them in their endeavors, why can’t they support their government? Right or wrong, as our President, George W. Bush deserves the support of the citizens. I’ve got news for Mr. Belefonte and others. My president is your president. You are a citizen in the United States of America and enjoy all the benefits of that citizenship. Support your government.

My letter ended here, but I wanted to add something. I believe that celebrities who are so verbal in their non-support of the government cause potential terrorists to see us as a divided nation, which is horrible. I don’t claim to like everything the government does, but I am not going to stand on my soapbox and down them, because I love living in the land of the free.

            I am so tired of worrying about money. Where is it going to come from? How am I going to pay that bill or cover this check? Sometimes it just ruins my day to have to start thinking about this garbage as soon as I open my eyes. However, I can’t help but wonder what I would worry about if I had no money concerns.

            Let’s pretend that I won the lottery. Now in my opinion winning more than 4 or 5 million dollars would be a big pain. You would have to hire somebody to manage your money for you (investing, donations, etc.). But, with a manageable amount like 4 or 5 million—well, I could work with THAT!

            I would donate money, spend money, save money and just plain ol’ give my money away. My money concerns would be gone, temporarily. I say that because after all is said and done I don’t think I would like having so much money. My whole lifestyle would change—think about it. Nothing in the world would be beyond my reach. There would be nothing material to want or save for or even need.

            Where I would get the most satisfaction is from giving it away to people who have helped me in the past or are in need or people who have just been nice to me.

            All of this is just a big pipedream. However, it was fun to think about while it lasted.

      When my daughter was very young (she is now 24), I decided I would teach her to be independent and smart and curious and to be kind to others, respectful of her elders and have good manners and to avoid all of my mistakes. The she would be the perfect child—“TA-DA”. Boy, was I a new parent or what? I just wanted to protect her from some of the pitfalls of life. One of my main areas of concern was that she know how to spend and save money in a practical way. I wanted her to know that money was something you usually earned and wasn’t to be used frivolously.

            Before she was born, I recall reading an article that said the children of the famed Rockefeller family were taught very young to “spend a little, save a little, give a little”. I didn’t expect my daughter to become wealthy through saving her allowance and babysitting money, but I wanted her to think before she spent it. I decided to use that method with her.

            When she was about six-years-old I started out giving her 75 cents a week for doing her chores. I explained that 25 cents was for her, 25 cents was for her piggy bank and 25 cents was to put in the offering plate at church. She understood the quarter for her and the piggy bank, but she questioned why she had to put her money in the offering plate. I said that money was for God. Her natural answer was “How does he get the money?”

            Did she think the money was sent to God’s bank in Heaven?Maybe she thought that the pastor put it in an ATM at the back of the church. Thinking fast I said “Uh, well the, uh, money goes to the pastor to do God’s work”. There that sounded pretty good. She looked impressed.

            We were sitting in church that week when the offering plate was passed. I put in my money and looked expectantly at my daughter. I whispered “Put your quarter in”. She looked at me like I was insane and said “No, it looks like God got enough money today”. My mouth flew open.

            On the way home for church, I was pondering how to explain why she should have put money in the plate. We went to the grocery store and as we walked past the gumball machines my mouth opened and automatically said “no”. However, she didn’t ask this time but instead walked over to it stuck in her QUARTER and said “I didn’t need your money mommy, I saved my own!!”

            What are you gonna do?          

            My chosen career path in life is that of a teacher. However, I probably would have been better off as a drill sergeant or a therapist or a director or someone’s boss or…I can be just a teensy bit demanding. Give me a break—just because I only want the BEST for those I come in contact with or love or know or work with or teach or meet in the grocery store…If I don’t tell them when something is wrong who will?

            Okay, before you think I am a total you-know-what, I am just kidding. Yes, I like to tell people what to do. That is my job. Teachers do that. Write your name here, read this, complete this, color this, take your finger out of your nose, wash your hands. However, when you work in a place where EVERYDODY has my personality (such as in A school), then you can have problems—which is why there are classrooms. A classroom is a teacher’s haven. She is the drill sergeant of her own platoon. If her soldiers (aka students) follow her orders she has it made. Her ego is pumped up and she is nominated for Teacher of the Year…

            Gather a group of demanding teachers at a faculty meeting and you can have a recipe for disaster or success. Our staff meetings involve food (gather teachers together for any length of time past a ten minute recess and you will have food) and listening to the principal speak. Because of the demanding nature of teachers the key here is for the principal to talk fast, TELL the teachers what they are going to do and don’t ASK them what they want to do. The meeting will be over in record time. If he ASKS anything, the teachers will pause in their face stuffing and proceed directly in to drill sergeant mode and the principal will be nothing but someone to clean up the mess when the meeting is over.

Well, I cannot believe that I finally was able to figure out the whole blogging thing. I plan on making frequent posts (as I love to write), especially since I am now officially on SUMMER VACATION!!! Expect to see more from me in the Blogging Arena. Thanks!