Language Barriers

OK, I know this blog isn't always serious. But I feel like I need to address an issue that seriously annoys me. It's the one we're I hear people say "If people live in America then they should speak American". First of all, do I really have to point out that there is no such thing as the American Language. If you type "American Language" into a search engine, the only thing your going to find is "American English." "Why" you might ask? Well, It 's because the common language in The United States is ENGLISH. That's write people. Let me spell it for you E-N-G-L-I-S-H. English. To say someone speaks American would make no sense. Would you like them to speak North American, or South American. In either event, you're going to have a problem. America is made up of people who originally, be it through ancestry or more recently, spoke languages other than English.

I actually heard a woman complain about her child learning spanish from a TV show that she parked her in front of for hours a day. Her exact words "I don't want her learning spanish when she can't even speak english yet." It's been shown that children who grow up bilingual actually do better in school. So why, I would ask, would there be a problem with a child learning more than one language during the time when, and it has been proven, it's easiest for them to learn. Wouldn't it make more sense to teach them at that age when they don't even know that they're learning because everything is new to them? I mean goodness, we live in a global society now, and while many countries do speak english now, why not give our children everything we possibly can to help them get ahead in the world?

Don't even get me started on the people that say things like "foreigners come to our country then they should speak english". Let's turn this around. Does that mean that when we visit another country, we should speak the language there? If we go to France, should we all speak french. IF Spain, spanish..Kenya, swahili or Brazil, portuguese? Those same people will look at you with a dumb look and go "No, they should speak english" Well, my question to these people is always the same. "Why? Why should they speak english?" I never can get a good answer. They don't know and they don't think about what they're saying. Why should a French person speak english in a country of people that speak french? and so on. Its ridiculous to think that America is so great that everyone should speak our language just to make our lives easier. Contrary to popular belief, the world doesn't revolve around Americans and our needs. I believe that the United Sates is a wonderful country and I'm glad that I was born here, but I think that many of our citizens are just full of themselves. We rely so heavily on the "look after #1" philosophy that we tend to forget that there are other things out there in life and in the world. Shouldn't we expect the same amount of thought and energy from ourselves that we expect to come from other people and other countries in the world? How can we tell someone else how to live and learn if we don't follow the same advice we dish out. Have we become a society of "Do as I say, not as I do" people? I don't know about you, bu t I aspire and hope that now and someday I can be better than that person who can't see his can't see what's right in front of them and rather than learn something would force others to give up part of who they are so that they can be the same type of close-minded people we're all forced to deal with everyday.

I say, let your children learn as much as they can, be it math, science, other languages, cooking, sports or anything else that will make them better and more intelligent people. If your child is learning a language you don't know, maybe you should take some time out and learn it with them and make not only them, but yourself smarter in the process. And if you find yourself confronted with someone who doesn't speak english, don't condemn them for it. Ask yourself What you would do in the same situation if you are in some country and you don't speak the language. Ask yourself how you would want someone to treat you if the situation were reversed.

And ,on a side note, we are the only country in continents of North and South America that believes we are the only people who can be termed American. Yes we took the term and made it our own, but if you tell someone from South America you are American, you just might get the response of "yeah, me to. Are you North American or South American? Which country are you from?"

Heelys. How old is to old...

OK, this topic was suggested to me by my cousin, who is 13yrs old and just happens to own a pair of heelys. For those of you no in the know, heelys are a brand of sneaker made by a company called, of course Heelys, Inc. They have a wheel stuck into the bottom near the heal of the shoe. When wearing these shoes you can walk and run just like you normally would, but if you shift your weight onto your heels you can roll instead. Now I personally think they're pretty cool. If I was a kid I'd be all over them.

The question of the day, however, is how old is too old to be rockin' the heelys. In the movie "Employee of the Month" Dane Cook's character "Zack" was perpetually wearing and using his heelys. Obviously, it goes without saying that he was too old. But at what age should you stop wearing them. At what age does owning and using a pair just make you look downright idiotic? Well, after a serious discussion with the cousin I mentioned above, we decided that we would give a slightly vague answer to this question. The answer we came up with involves, not age, but education. We decided that if you are in Middle School or younger (that's birth to grade 8) then you're allowed to have the heelys. Anything beyond that, and you really just need to go find something else to occupy your time.

So let me repeat this for you one more time. IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO BE IN OR HAVE FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE...ETC. GET RID OF THE HEELYS. YOU'RE TOO OLD. It's like seeing someones 40yr old mother trying to wear the same clothes as her 18yr old daughter. Or that old man who never figured out he was old and is still up in the club trying to hook up with the ladies who are a 3rd of his age. Let'em go. JUST SAY NO.

nothingness

Ok, I haven't written anything in almost a week. I have no one to blame but myself, the heat and humidity (which is awful right now) and the fact that I'm damned tired from driving back and forth to Indianapolis too many times. I'm not sur that I could be any mroe tired. Last night I went to sleep at 7:30 pm and woke up about 5:30 this morning. Not once did I even roll over. My right arm was asleep up to the elbow. That's just ridiculous tired.

What do you see?

What do you see when you look at the people around you? Do you see the titles that they have? Things like mother, sister, brother, father, boss, teacher, fireman... There are so many and most of us hold several of them. How often do we look at the person that is standing right in front of us and actually see that person. Not who we think they are, not who we think they should be or what they might be later in life or even what we want them to be, but who they actually are. How many people can say that they have someone in their lives who really truly knows them and what makes them tick, who they are, who they want themselves to be? How many people do you know that you can say they understand you? I think life is hard enough alone. Maybe if each and every one of us would take a moment to truly see someone, we could make someones day a little bit better.

House shoes are called that for a reason

Originally, slippers were made for Japanese people who did not wear street shoes inside their homes. They were made for a specific purpose, to be worn inside the house. When they left the house, the house shoes would come off and the street shoes would go on.

Now that we understand the origin of the slipper, we can see that it was actually a good idea. I, myself, think they were a wonderful idea. No dirtying up your carpet by walking around in the same dirty shoes you’ve been wearing outside all day. But this is where the bomb drops. Like many other great ideas, the house shoe has become way overdone. In the past ten years or so, people have begun to wear their house shoes (not ones that look like they might be actual shoes, but obvious ones) outside of the house. Now I can understand running out to the car, or if there’s an emergency and they’re the first shoes you find. I can even see having to run and drop someone off somewhere when you’re not getting out of the car. But it’s gone TOO FAR! If I see another person walking around the grocery store, the mall or going to the movies in a pair of house shoes I swear I’m gonna have to bitch slap somebody. The only reasons other than those I already mentioned, to be wearing your house shoes outside are that you’re homeless and it’s the only pair of shoes you own, or else you’re really poor and, once again, it’s the only pair of shoes you own.

There are several other shoe problems in the world that deserve an honorable mention.

For instance, light up shoes should not be worn by anyone over the age of 8. I once saw a 3 ½ inch pair of clear heels that lit up. Do I have to say hooker shoes? The light up flip flops were kind of cool to… ‘til I saw a 35yr old woman wearing them in a size 10 instead of the kids they were meant for. . Do I have to say more about this trend of lighting up adult shoes?


And those awful flip flops with the giant flowers on the top need to go the same route. I once saw a woman who had to be somewhere between 50 and 65yrs old wearing them on a Sunday and yes, they did match her royal purple church clothes.

Do I need to say more.
I think not.

What's Next?

I’m sitting her staring at the cursor, blinking black against the white page of a Microsoft Word Document trying to think about what I want to write about today. My coworker says the random topic should be “what’s next”. I say of course, “what do you mean what’s next” and he replies just in general, “what’s next”. And it hit’s me that when you stop and think about it, what’s next can really be a very valid question that applies to just about everything. I mean, when you wake up in the morning, isn’t the first thought you normally have “what’s next” What do I do next. Who do I see next. How long do I have to lay here before I have to tackle what’s next in my life. What do I eat next? Who do I talk to next? Where do I go next? What do I see, wear, touch or feel next? Who do I love next? So many things in our lives revolve around what’s next. Maybe, just maybe, we need to stop rushing through life worrying about what’s next and spend just a little bit more time thinking about what we’re doing right now. Then maybe we’d all be a little happier, more relaxed and better able to deal when what’s next actually comes along.

A Home without Books...

One of my favorite quotes is "A home without books is like a body without a soul". It just strikes me as one of those really important things. We learn form books. It's part of how we gain the knowledge and the knowhow to be better than we are and better than we thought we could be. I never can understand how it is that people don't read. Not can't read, Not don't know how, but won't read. Knowledge really is power and I'm starting to wonder what the world is going to be like when people start refusing to read. I cringe every time I ask a kid what they like to read and they answer "OH, I don't read" or "I don't know how to read" even though they really do know. I wonder who's fault it is that we have a generation growing up that chooses not to read. It's not all of the children. I know plenty that love to read as much as I do, but how will our world be, what will it look like once these children who want everything to happen automatically without working for it. I'm not saying that reading would make everything better, but smarter, more well rounded people will definitely make the world a better place.