Honor Thy Neighbor

I live in a highly populated area on the outskirts of New York. Each house plot is approximately 60' x 100 '. Not too bad of a size. This allows for many families to live on the same block. Yet. when I go on vacation through rural America, and see the vast acres of land that separates each family, I can't help but think if they feel lonely, being so far away from other people. What if there was an emergency. Not the kind that needed police, but the kind that needed a friend. Who would they call? My son moved into a new house this week and we are watching the neighbors walk past us while jogging or walking their dogs. Not one of them have looked up at us to make eye contact so we could say hello and introduce ourselves. Maybe they think we are the hired help fixing the house up, but never the less, we are still people. Then I got down to thinking....... I am living in the same home for 30 years and could not tell you the names of the people 4 doors down the block. We go into and out of cars and never take time to stop and say hello to each other. Kind of sad.Today when I am back at the house working, I will make it my business to be the one to break the ice and say hello and see what reaction I get. Maybe being close has nothing to do with distance, but with state of mind.

Bad Business

I have been getting my dog groomed in the same place for the four years I have him. The people are nice and the prices are good. The other day, I got a call from a new dog grooming store that just opened up in my neighborhood. A young man informed me that the old groomer was no longer in business and that his shop was the new place for grooming. I felt bad, as I liked the old groomer, but sometimes business go out. I was not ready to make an appointment yet, so I took the new stores telephone number and said I would call back. Now... here comes the funny part. Last night I get a call from the original groomer, offering me a $10 discount for the next haircut, as a holiday gift. Hmmmmm....... I thought they were out of business. I told the old groomer about the phone call I received and she was shocked and angry. That is bad business. Someone must have stolen her database and called her customers. She said she would look into this and thanked me for the information. I then called the new place and asked them why they would call me and lie. After a lot of double talk, saying the person that called must have been confused, I told them to take my name off any list they had. I also informed them that I told the other groomer what went on. Do people really think they can be dishonest and not get caught, eventually?

No Strings Attached

Many years ago, while standing on a soccer field, watching my son play ball, I saw a man talking to himself. All of the parents stared at him, thinking he was delusional. When I looked closer, he was holding a brick like object to his ear. It had an antenna coming out of it. Someone said it was device called a Cell Phone. We all stood there with our eyes wide open, utterly amazed at this invention. How could he be on the telephone, in the middle of a soccer field, with no wire attached? Of course that was a very long time ago and cell phones are now an extension of our hands. Are we really better off since their invention. Sometimes I think we are not. We lost a lot of our privacy and independence by having cell phones. And a lot of excuses too. We can no longer say "I tried calling you, but no one was home". We are at the beck and call of family and friends and there is no where to hide. We lost our "Me" time. Time to drive in your car and just think. Time to take a walk totally interrupted. Children do not have to learn to solve life's problems anymore, because all they have to do it "hit the cell" and ask mom and dad for advice.  We have become a rude society. Eating a meal with one person while talking to another. Not to mention texting. I want to return to the olden days when relationships meant more than technology.

Air Quality

Everyday most of us surround ourselves with many people. Some are friends, some are co workers and the rest are just random individuals we encounter in an anonymous way. I breakdown these people into three categories: The Air Fresheners, the Regular Airs and the Air Suckers. Lets start with the Air Fresheners. I love this category. The minute they walk into a room it is like a burst of fresh air has blown in. It has nothing to do with they way the smell, but with the aura they bring with them. I equate them to flowers and plants. They bring with them, more oxygen. They are easy to be with and make the encounter pleasurable. It is almost like a high. You breathe easy. The Regular Airs are just that. It is like breathing. You don't really think about it, it just happens. Now I come to the Air Suckers. The minute they walk into the room the air is sucked out. They drain every particle, until you feel like you are going to black out. It is almost like a hand covering your mouth. You can no longer breathe.The funny thing is that the Air Suckers have no idea they are doing this. They do not even realize that they are suffocating the life out of everyone they come in contact with. I hope when I walk into a room people think I am a breath of fresh air.

It's the small things

I am a happy person, by nature. I was born that way. I see the best in people. Sometimes I have to dig real deep to find it but I always do. I call myself a "spin doctor". I can take any situation and spin it around until I see the best in it. I am a full glass person not a half empty one. My point today is that I can be nice and kind and caring, and it doesn't cost me a penny. It is one of the few things you can still do for free, and feel good about it. The only down side of being this way, is that it is so disappointing when others only see the negative. Today I had a wonderful encounter with someone I barely know. She did something kind for my son. She didn't realize that her small gesture would mean so much to me and him. When I told her just how much we appreciated what she had done, she cried. It was just one small thing, but it meant the world........

A Child Was Born

A child was born this morning. He arrived into the world at 12:01AM. He was welcomed by a warm and loving family. He will be brought home to a safe and secure environment. From that moment on, nature will take it's course. No one seems to really know how much Nature vs Nurture plays a part in our development. Children from the same home can turn out very different. If all variables are the same, this should not happen, but it does. Are our core personality tendencies formed, for the most part, in vitro. In the 1970's there was a television documentary, filmed in England, called "Give me the Child". It was an anthropology study that traced 10 children from the age of 7 until the age of 35, each one being interviewed individually and in the group, every 5 years. The theory was "Give me the child at 7, and I will give you the man". It was amazing to see that the qualities the children showed at 7, were the same ones they showed at 35. The introverts remained introverted. The outspoken remained outspoken. One child that was a terrible troublemaker, had his last interview done while incarcerated. How much power do we really have over our destiny? A child was born this morning..........

Just Your Average Joe

My son just bought a new house, so the topic of schools came up. I had not thought about school systems in years, as my children are grown. He happened to purchase his home in the same neighborhood he grew up in but in the "better" school district. It got me to thinking...... we all place a lot of importance on grades and ranking but in reality, does a better school district lead to a better adult life? From what I see, it did not. I always wanted my kids to be "Average". Not the best, not the worst, but dead center average. Being the best brings along with it, a higher level of stress. I remember the children that wept when they got an A- on a test. Grow up! Life at it's best is about a B. Being the worst brings another kind of stress. Struggling to get a good paying job is not easy and without a good education you are in a deficit. Average is like the middle lane of the highway. You have the freedom to have movement. Some days you do things better and some you don't.