Christopher Yandle

I just got a kick out of my boss.

I work at the Arcata/Eureka airport as a car rental agent. The airport is in the middle of a $7 million renovation so there's "pardon our dust" and "Danger - Construction" signs all over the place. At the moment, I'm literally surrounded on both sides by yellow "caution" tape because to the right side of me they're installing a new baggage claim area, and on the left they're ripping down the old merchants hall to install the new flight desks and service center.  So yes, my work place is currently very much a construction zone.

We just moved from the condemned merchants hall this week. The new merchant area has these weird, colored cement floors that are supposed to look like an over view of the local area. It's a lot less pretty then we thought it would be, but it's better then what we had. Point is, though, that it's CEMENT.

So... we have a wide open area with cement floors, rather pointy mettle chairs, snuggled between two construction zones. Not a place for rough-housing children, right?


TL;DR: A trio of little kids were running around in the airport where I work, on solid cement floors in the middle of a construction zone. When my boss told them 4 times to stop, the mother, who some how couldn't be bothered to control her children decided to try to control my boss instead.

What's funny, to me, is that my boss has two kids my age (I'm 22) and is very stern. She often ends up parenting -me- even, and since this mother was probably about my age, it was very interesting to watch her try and put someone about old enough to be her mother in her place.

PS. I'm on the company work station right now, and it barely has the processing power to keep up with my WPM, so please excuse any minor typos.

My apologies if this has already been discussed, but I read this today and it disgusted me:

"From the City & Region staff at The Boston Globe
Breastfeeding bill passes the House
July 22, 2008 08:18 PM

By Globe Staff

Women who want to breastfeed their babies at the restaurant, the store, or in the park would get protection from being hassled under a bill passed today by the Massachusetts House.

The bill makes it clear that women who are breastfeeding can't be charged with crimes such as indecent exposure or lewd and lascivious conduct, said Representative David Linsky, the Natick Democrat who championed the bill. It also makes it clear that places of public accommodation, such as restaurants, hotels, or stores -- cannot prevent women from breastfeeding their children or tell them to leave the premises.

Supporters say Massachusetts is one of only three states that don't have such a law.

The bill will now go to the Senate, where a slightly different version has already passed, said Linsky.

Linsky said he hoped the House and Senate could resolve the differences between the two versions by the end of the session and send legislation to the governor's desk."


Kids in restaurants already make me uncomfortable and edgy (read: nauseated and annoyed), and now patrons are forced to watch breastfeeding mothers do their private business in a public place.

Yes, breastfeeding is natural... so is defecating... so is sex. Just because something is natural does NOT mean it should be permitted to occur in the public eye. And, believe it or not, I am not even militantly child-free. I enjoy brief encounters with well-behaved children, and their families. I also have no problems with breast-feeding or any preference when it comes to the subject. I just really don't believe that everyone needs to see it.

Thoughts?

So... I was walking back to the department I work in after lunch when... I ALMOST TRIPPED OVER A REMOTE CONTROLLED CAR. WTF? What kind of parent lets their kids play with that kind of toy in a grocery store? O__o

Thankfully, when I told the kids mom that someone could have gotten hurt, she took it away. But still! He shouldn't have been playing with it in the first place in a store!

Roughly paraphrased [due to bad memory] conversation with coworker-of-awesome from this morning:

[I have no idea what we were talking about anymore. note: she's a proud, loving mom-not-moo. yes, I realize I'm a total spaz.]
Her: ... when you have kids, you know, if you decide to have kids-
Me: *gawk*
H: ? I mean, some people don't want to have kids, and some people-
M: No, no, it's just, I'm not used to hearing that from people. Normally people, especially ones who have kids, they just can't even comprehend choosing not to have kids, they act like you're insane or, you know, confused..
H: Well, I definitely know it's not for everybody, trust me! I definitely understand why some people would choose not to have kids*, it's definitely a choice! I totally respect it : )
M: *secretly thinking "please marry me"* ... That's awesome [*XD*]

*May I just interject how awesome it is to hear a parent say this? Normally they get defensive like there's hellfire at their back if they don't act like parenting is all rainbows and sunshine.


I have never heard this attitude before. So I just had to share my joy with people who understand XDDD

i've had the same two cats for about seven years now. every time my mom comes over, she calls the male "she" and the female "he," and screws up their names something fierce. my boy is named ashitaka, and my mom calls him all manner of silliness like "takiasha" or "ashiashi" or any other combination of the four syllables except the correct one.

today, after she said "where's tashiaka? she's hiding!" i said "yet another reason why i'm not having children. you'd just mix up their names and genders."

So a couple of weeks ago, there was quite a bit of activity in this community regarding the Department of Health & Human Services and their new proposal to redefine some methods of birth control as abortion.

well, some of the members here provided links to contact your local representatives. i sent out several e-mails, not expecting to get any kind of response, other than the auto-reply "Thank you for your commments, etc., etc..."

To my surprise, I got an actual response, so I just felt I should share:

July 25, 2008

Dear Tamara,

Thank you for contacting me about the Freedom of Choice Act. I appreciate hearing from you on such an important issue because it enables me to better represent the beliefs and values of our district.

I am pro-choice and I share your concerns that the Supreme Court's recent activities could be a clear indication of where the courts are headed when it comes to a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. The Freedom of Choice Act would codify the Roe v. Wade decision and go even further to ensure the government does not infringe on a woman's reproductive rights. Please rest assured I am studying this bill closely and will keep your thoughts in mind should it come up for a vote on the House floor.

Once again thanks for writing. I encourage you to continue to contact me about issues that are important to you.


Sincerely,
Ed Perlmutter
Member of Congress

now, granted, it may very well have been written by an assistant, but i dunno. it just made my day and gave me a *tiny* bit of hope. especially living in Colorado, where, as i've mentioned here before, residents will be voting on an abortion ban this coming November. and i didn't really mention the Freedom of Choice Act specifically, but I'm glad he mentioned it, as I wasn't too familiar with that prior to writing him (guess i need to do more homework next time... ah well).

has anyone else received any actual responses? just curious.

EDIT: i also found a more recent article related to this topic on ABC News, for those interested.

Comments, suggestions?

Some day I'll update this with my DVDs, but having only 10gigs left I really couldn't do that :( (And they're in another state... Even more sadness!



Also, is there a good forum to go too for reviews and such? Thanks in advance :3

( The long winded introduction )

Anyway, my introductory story/gripe is movie related.  Went to see The Dark Knight a few days ago.  Our theater is in a very outdoorsy-tourist town, so the theater was only 2/3rds full during the matinee.  It's a small theater, so we're sitting in the back row (no chance of being kicked).  The film starts, and 3 kids come in.  The oldest couldn't have been 13, and the other two were markedly younger.  Probably 9 and 8.  Of ALL of the empty seats, they climb over 7 people to get the the three empty seats in the corner next to us.  We were pissed, and I knew what was going to happen.  Within 10 minutes, the two youngest are giggling and hitting each other, and bouncing around in their seats.  I stood up, hovered over them like impending death, and said "Each of you is going to shut the hell up right now, and not make one goddamned sound through this whole movie!  Do you understand me?" 

"y-y-yes sir." 

The couple next to us and in front of us turned around and thanked me.  The best part was that the film was obviously way too scary for them, because the youngest two were cowering in their seats the entire time.  I think if I hadn't yelled at them, they might have even left the theater on their own.  They were probably too scared to cross in front of us. Oh well ... that's okay.  A good traumatic experience should keep them quiet at films in the future.  What kills me though is that people are always waiting for someone else to discipline unruly kids.  I don't mind being the "someone else" who is mean enough to call out kids on bad behavior.  I suppose that means that I'll be the old codger on the block who yells at kids that trample his lawn.  Bring it on!

So anyway, hi everybody.  And to all of you 30-something childfree couples/academics out there.  Fear not, our numbers are legion. 

The school holidays have made me realise how intolerant I find children. I live in a city centre so even nipping out for milk makes me interact with them.

So I was in the local supermarket a few days ago buying that night's dinner. Mum, Gran and Boy were behind me in the queue. For some reason this supermarket has their chip and pin machines at the back of the checkout beside the belt. Most supermarkets have them at the other side of the checkout. Anyway I turn round to put my card in and Boy (who was about 7-8) was right under the pin machine and blocked my way slightly. Most Moos go bloody mental if you dare speak to their children so I said "Can you ask him to get out of the way please?"

To this Moo tutted loudly and said "There's a nicer way of asking!" Turned to small Boy and started clucking and saying "It's all right darling, don't worry, it's OK." Good god, I felt like I had asked him to expose himself to me or something! He wrapped his arms round his mother and looked up at my with big brown eyes. To which I snorted "Pathetic" and marched off with my shopping.

You can't win. You ask the child to move - Moo gets angry. You ask Moo to ask child to move (in my opinion he shouldn't have been that close, he was almost up my arse!) - Moo gets angry.

Can we win?!

Okay, so I'm on my way to uni today, and I hear this moo berating the bus driver (Background information: there are public buses that run from the city to the suburb where the uni is every 10 minutes or so.  There are also shuttle buses, run by the same company, which go directly to the uni, and are free for uni students, as long as they show their student cards.  Between 11am and 2pm, only uni students are allowed on them).  Moo wants to get on the bus, but isn't allowed to, because it's a pm uni shuttle.

Moo:  But it's not even half full!

Driver:  No, not yet, but I'll be picking up more students on the way, so we'll need all the space for them.  The public bus will be along in a few minutes, you can catch that one.

Moo:  But that one isn't free, I'll have to pay for the tickets!

Driver:  Yes, but this one is only free for uni students.  So you'd have to pay anyway.

Moo:  But I have kids!  I have to take them home right now!  And I can't afford to be wasting money on bus tickets!

Driver *is at a loss for what to say*:  Well, the public bus really is only a few minutes away. . . 

Moo:  Oh, this is ridiculous!  The world doesn't revolve around uni students, you know!  Do you realise that some people are mothers?!?

Ew.  As if being a mother automatically makes you more important that being a student. People like that piss me off something royal.

I was thinking about this for a while, but I wanted to know what you thought the most random, or goofy anime opening or ending is (song of sequance).

For Song: I want to do more: Mahou Tsukai Tai
For Intro: The Second opening to Pani Poni Dash



Yeah... that's me.

( Lengthy )

Doesn't disturb you to find out that someone you used to know is pregnant or had a child?

A girl who I sort of knew, who dated some of my friends and always lied about her age (she was 16 when she was 13 and 18 when she was 16) and was overall a shady person just had a baby a little while ago. And she's JUST turned 18.

Also, a girl who was crazy obsessedly jealous of me to the point of trying to date all my ex boyfriends and trying to livejournal stalk me...well I found out from an old friend that she is pregnant.

These things scare me. It's just SICK that their offspring will have to be subjected to their crazy antics.



Also, I was at work, working with a girl whom I don't usually work the same shift as. She is the same age as me (20). I commented on her tie (we're waitresses) and she said it was her husbands. So I said, "You're MARRIED?!" and she said "Yes and we have 2 little ones!" And then I don't think I said anything, I just had a look of horror on my face. But I guess the one thing she's lucky about is that she doesn't look like she popped out a couple.

I was comparing policies across employers, my dad just retired from the Canadian Forces(and went back to the same job as a civilian) so I took a look at their policies and was surprised to see they are the least sexist out of any employer I read:

Your pay in the Canadian Forces is based on your occupation and rank. All service personnel, men and women, married or single, are paid on the same scale.

...
Parental Leave
The purpose of parental benefits is to facilitate: the care and nurturing of the child by both parents, whether biological or adoptive; and a period of bonding between parents and their child.

To ensure recruitment, employment and retention of suitably qualified women and men, the CF, as an employer of choice, will provide maternity and parental benefits that assist both female and male members to balance the demands of military service with family responsibilities associated with the birth or adoption of their children.

The CF provide eligible members with time away from their military duties and compensation to care for their newborn or adopted children free from undue financial or duty-related concerns.

These benefits support policies of: gender equity by encouraging both parents to share family responsibilities; and employment equity by encouraging the recruitment and retention of women.

(Emphasis Mine)

So you are paid based on your rank, and what you are capable of doing, not your gender or whether or not you have kids. They don't have maternity leave, they have parental leave. Both genders get the same time off to bond with their new kid, birth or adopted.

I should also add that the base my dad works on just had a full scale military wedding for two men.

From what my dad tells me, when they go for parental leave, no one has to stay behind to pick up the slack. Everyone goes home at the same time and starts work at the same time.

So my mom's pregnant friend was over, and we were sitting around the dinner table chatting... when she started talking about how pregnancy is driving her nuts. Then she looked at me and said that I needed to pay attention to these info. And the following conversation took place:

Me: Oh, I won't have those problems.

Them: Yes you will!

me: Oh no, I'm not going to have kids.

them: Oh you just say that now, you're still young.

me: I'm gonnna have surgery.

them: LIES it's BAD BAD BAD you can't have surgery it's irreversible!!!

me: Well so is birth!

Pregant friend: It's ok, i was like her too. I was so STUBBORN and CONFUSED, but when she grows up she'll realize she wants and needs kiddiez. It's like when i was young i was so PICKY about food and now i'm trying other stuff. When you grow older, your biological clock will start clicking!

mom: yeah when I was young I hated kids too, and now...

me: But I'm not u!

Pregant friend: It's ok, she's still STUBBORN and YOUNG. she'll CHANGE HER MIND

me: If I told you I was a lesbian, will you tell me that i'm gonna change my mind? That it's just a phase?

Them: ...

me: *Gets up and leaves*

Mom: geez, we don't want to argue about your problem.

Me: Oh my gawd... it's NOT A PROBLEM. *goes to my room*

Honestly, I respected HER choice to have a kid, why can't she respect MY choice not to have kids?

So I posted that in my personal online journal...and the comments I got from my 'friends'...

( The comments... )

Just wanted to update everyone on the ratt/poison tshirt contest on KMOD - MY HUSBAND, DUSTIN, WON! YAY!!!! thanks so much to everyone who voted!!! =) he really appreciates it!

however, lynn asks that we all stop emailing him now. =/ oops.

Thanks again!!!!

~!*courtney*!~



*cross-posted to my personal LJ and tulsamusic.

That was the line from my mom when I had called home when I was in Winnipeg last month. My family hosted my brother's long time friend Patrick, his wife AND two of their three kids. It was also going to be an overnight stay as well but wasn't because one of the kids was not comfortable here and they headed home that late evening.

Well, they had a good time showing them around the house and had dinner as my mom put it, they were very on top of their kids. No wonder people have kids when they're young, they can keep up with them!

They and mom had to wrangle those kids to stay in the living room as they were everywhere, especially their toddler who was into his walking stage and he, as my mom said, was not staying put in one place he was everywhere.

Since my childless brother and I don't have kids, we never childproofed our rooms either, I have a very sharp sword hanging on my wall by my window and it is not sheathed in it's scabbard either! My mom closed my door leading into my room to prevent any kid wandering in there and cutting themselves on my sword. I have sinced moved the sword back to the closet instead of displaying it anymore, even though I shouldn't, I have since removed my doors from their hinges and replaced them with a fabric doors.

But the thing was we can handle 5 year olds and up but not the smaller kids in the house as usually they be busy in the swimming pool and not in the house. It is probably the only time that we may have them here as we don't see them maybe every other year or so and usually it is just Patrick that we see.

But mom said it was a good reminder to herself of what she dealt with when she had us and now she looks at my choice of being childfree a bit more better as she occasionally complains about not having grandchildren to play with. Now, she is not talking about grandchildren, even though she is talking about me finding a husband, which is unlikely but as I know it might become likely if I do find the right man who doesn't want kids and that I say will be a hard one to find, especially here in bible belt of Missouri :(.