Tag: laws

Posted in In my humble opinion...

Sunday Poser #122 Get a Hobby and Leave Me Alone

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

“We shouldn’t have to!” is my immediate response.

What we do, as long as it’s legal is our own business. But as new laws are constantly being created, (That’s what legislatures seem to feel is their non-stop goal.) there isn’t going to be much that IS legal soon.

Civil disobedience is the only ethical approach to too many laws, I’m afraid.

But there are definitely people in my life who can’t seem to avoid offering their “two cents” on what I do and it’s annoying. What happened to hobbies and volunteer work?

On the other hand, I will defend what I say until it becomes clear that I’m wrong or that the other person simply doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Opinions are all we have many times. If you can articulate the thoughts and experiences you used in creating your opinion, go for it. We might learn something important. But if you have an opinion, express it, and can’t or won’t defend it, you’re just wasting everyone’s’ time and trying their patience. I refer you to the ‘getting a hobby’ suggestion above.


https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2023/03/05/sunday-poser-122/

Posted in In my humble opinion...

A Nice Man

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre
Make America Great Again Embroidered Cap - Red

I met a wonderful older gentleman in the grocery store this morning.
We almost collided at the end of an aisle, where he paused and said, “Go ahead. Ladies before beauty.”. He had a delightful twinkle in his eye as I giggled.
He paused a bit longer saying, ” I said that to one lady and she called me a rascal. It’s fun to tease.”
I agreed that cheerfulness was always welcomed.
Well, I had watched his eyes so I hadn’t actually ‘looked’ at him.
We met again at the checkout. Actually, I chose that particular checkout to chat with him again.
This time I saw he was wearing a MAGA hat and a Trump 2020 mask!
I wasted no time telling him how much I liked his mask and he broke into quite a story.
He had an accent that I was sure was German.
He said, “Our country is being destroyed. “
He’d come here from Europe, had a sponsor, was supposed to have a job, and became a citizen following every legal step.
“I’ve been made a fool with these open borders and illegals given everything.”
Again, I agreed and said a few things about the move toward Marxism and not being allowed to speak without a hateful reaction.
Then he told me about a recent disgrace he’d had at, of all places, church.
Here’s a paraphrase:
“I was at church a few weeks ago and had removed my hat. A lady, who was recovering from a stroke, was having a difficult time getting out to her car. I offered her my arm and helped her. She was very appreciative and said I was such a nice man.
The next week, I met the same lady but this time I had my hat on. She grabbed my arm in a fury and gouged it leaving bruises.”
I don’t know about you, but that kind of unhinged intolerance HAS TO STOP!
As I left, he said, “What we going to do?”
I said, “You keep on wearing that hat, and I’ll keep on wearing my shirt.” I had to lift my sweatshirt to show him my Rush Limbaugh Tribute t-shirt. He smiled saying, “He was a very good man.”.
I told him that I won’t be silenced either and we need to keep speaking up. He agreed.
What a nice man!

(BTW- I tried to grab a photo of a MAGA hat in the free photos offered for blogging. All that came up was women in sunhats. Oddly, that image wasn’t considered a current topic. Keep speaking up people. 😉 )

Posted in Sideshows

Marriage: Just What’s in the Cards?

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

A standard deck of 52 playing cards was hanging out on a lovely table in a  worn but comfortable case when a deck of Star Wars collector cards came along. The Star Wars cards were the same size and weight as the playing cards.

“We know you play rummy and it’s a popular game indeed. You get to have a fine cover and are better cared for than we because Star Wars cards are not as popular. Actually, we are just starting to become noticed and desire the same treatment as you. Being kept in a case and played on a felt table is the dream of all cards. It is the best way for cards to be treated.”

The 52 looked at the Star Wars cards. “I had not realized that all cards were not cared for in the same manner. You certainly deserve fine treatment. Come sit beside me. I’d like to help you find a nice case to hold you too.”

The Star Wars cards frowned. “I want to be just like you. Let me slip into your deck and share YOUR case.”

“I don’t understand?” said 52. “If you slip into my deck all the rules will change. I will have to become crowded and the old games, that I love, will take on a new meaning. The new games will take years to develop and we will both lose our original identity.”

“I don’t care. I am as valuable as you and want what you have, NOW. You are so arrogant 52. If you do not give me your comfort, I must assume that you just hate Star Wars cards. I thought you were nice?”

“Please, it is unkind of you to think in order to have a nice case and fine table that you need to take mine. I would be happy to help you establish your own table and I want you to know all the same “card comforts” that I enjoy. But taking mine is not the answer. I’m comfortable with rummy and, in time, you will be comfortable with your own game.”

The Star Wars cards stormed off while calling 52 a prejudiced, selfish deck.

The End

BTW- The Star Wars cards went to court and were awarded occupancy in 52’s case, at least in Massachusetts. Needless to say, 52 decks everywhere are angry and no one is exactly sure how to play rummy in Massachusetts. At the very least, the games are way more complicated now.

Posted in Kid Story Ideas, Sideshows, Words 'n' such Poetry

Ought to be a law…

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

My dog is SO cute,

There must be some laws,

Against all that pleasure

On four little paws.

If he were illegal,

That wouldn’t be good.

So I disguised him on purpose

For walks in my “hood”.

He wore black rimmed glasses

And kept his ears down.

And I only walked him

When cops weren’t around.

If you have your own pup,

Then you aren’t surprised,

By that power of cuteness

In two soulful eyes.

All dogs have that something,

So keep yours in sight.

Those cuteness police

May be out there tonight!

Posted in Sideshows, Weekend-Contemplating Alone

Laws and Order

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

So here I am with writing time…

I recently noticed that my right foot must be larger than my left because I can’t slip it into my tied  sneaker OR my right sneaker just may be a factory “second” and is a fraction smaller than my left. Whatever…

I have learned to embrace the unevenness of the world. Many people have what I call “Perfect Order Syndrome”. You know who you are. I’ve watched you mow your lawn and plant your flowers. Red, yellow,blue…red,yellow, Yikes! Off you go to the nursery for blue. Have you guys noticed the “perfect” randomness of Nature? Many things must appear “out of place” to the syndrome sufferers. Wow! It’s like what I imagine a dog’s sense of smell is, an overpowering input of too much information!

As much as I poke fun at gardeners with plans, I am as bugged by a crooked wall hanging as the next guy. If only to relieve the “fun house” effect for my senses, I will straighten as I go. How each of us perceives the world on an individual basis is very intriguing to me. Guess this is why we put our interests in best friends. They are our closest fit and the proof  that our personal quirks are NOT crazy.

What IS crazy anyway? Out of the norm? I’ve yet to find two individuals exactly alike so how could we have a notion of a “norm”? The American Kennel Club is a perfect example of the hazards of searching for a norm. The breeding of dogs for special traits and norms has created “monsters” and weaklings in the canine world. The many breeds are human curiosity and a natural atrocity! Most purebred dogs would perish in the wild,as would most modern citified folk too.

Here we come to the human condition. The softening and weakening human beings who expect to be “cared for” by the government. Those who turn on a water faucet and have never considered where the water comes from and that it is a limited resource. Those who turn on a light switch never considering the energy, its source and how it is produced. I’m sure it’s easy to get, once,twice,three times removed from Nature in the city. But I consider it a dangerous trade-off for country “horse sense”. Now, I am not planning on an apocalypse in the near future. My warning is about losing ourselves in the city. Whether we were planted on earth by Aliens or come from Adam and Eve, we are part of this physical world and a rung in the “natural ladder”. Knowing how to “make do” using ingenuity and by conserving our resources has been replaced with, “I’ll just buy another one.”

I’m not one of those super “greenies” who believe THEY can influence and protect Mother Nature. I am a person who believes Mother Nature is the one who knows best. By communing with her we learn the “perfect disorder” of living.

Have you ever watched ants working together or realized the balance of ecosystems? Let me tell you, mankind may affect them but Mother Nature will correct them. Most creatures who have inhabited this earth are evolved or extinct. No exceptions. No welfare, no bail outs, no mercy for the weak. Natural law is the only law that really exists.

I am not uncaring about others in need. In fact, we are supposed to help each other, like those ants. The one thing that mankind needs to learn is help your own. Taking care of family,friends and neighbors,IS the right thing to do. Our own communities need us. To reach out beyond that cannot be useful to our survival and without survival, who cares how large your TV is? The impending collapse of our capitalist system does not worry me. It could have worked and would have worked if left to “natural selection”. I know how to conserve. I am willing to lose my remote control for the TV. I know many ways to put food on the table. Do you?

Posted in Sideshows

Survivors’ Code

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

To add to my ongoing discussion of rule breaking, I thought I’d make another point. This blog is intended to be a record of thoughts preserved for my granddaughter. I feel the need to make it perfectly clear that occasional rule breaking may be necessary but habitual rule breaking is not what I recommend.

It has been studied that women are more resistant to the breaking of rules. The reason for this would require another post. An example of this follows:

You are carrying a tray of food to your seat in a food court. Someone snatches a valuable from you and runs. There is only a moment to catch them and recover your possession.

  • Women are much more apt to waste time looking for a place to set their tray.
  • Men will more often drop the tray and grab the thief.

Assuming that the item was more valuable than the risk  of injury needed to recover it, these results are startling.

I have always feared that the “good girl” might be her own enemy in a crisis. I feel the need to “try on” options before I am confronted with an emergency.

My mother and father were driving home in separate cars. They got into a playful game of “beat you there”. Upon reaching an island in the road, Dad swerved on the opposite side and took the lead. Mom was horrified. I witnessed it and realized that Dad had broken a traffic rule BUT there was a clear view and no danger of a collision. The worst that would have happened was a ticket for this unlawful maneuver. I stored that away. It had never occurred to me that traffic laws COULD be broken without danger.

A few years ago my alternator was failing and my car was running out of “juice”. I had to get home quickly or would be stranded with towing etc. There was no way I could wait for a stoplight. The lesson of the afore-mentioned traffic infraction came to mind and I exited an “enter only” area which was CLEARLY unused. This saved me a towing charge AND being stranded in the center of the highway which, in itself, may have been more dangerous.

One more example of personal safety versus the law. I may have mentioned this one before but it fits here nicely.

I was apt to go hunting and be alone in the woods from time to time. Most hunters are men. Most men can overpower most women. I told my husband that I was safe because I had a gun in hand. His answer has stuck with me as another lesson. “A gun is no good if you are unwilling to point it at someone and unable to shoot it at someone.” That was absolutely true…he knew me well enough to remind me to practice the worst case scenario before hand.

We all need to practice worst case scenarios or be caught off guard by an emergency. We need to realize that rules sometimes need to be broken to survive.

Posted in Sideshows

Who Rules?

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

I don’t do well with rules. Yes, they are quite necessary but so awfully confining.

Remember doing penmanship in school?

Mimicking retraces and loops in order to write cursive in a manner we could all comprehend. Besides my mother, I don’t know anyone who held on to that wealth after school years.

Remember early forms of art class?

“Hold your paper the long way…”,  “Color lightly…”, “Skies are supposed to be blue…”.  The biggest insult was getting to 8th grade and being introduced to the Impressionists! REALLY? So all that art stuff was helping us how?

Then the most insulting thing ever done to kids was introducing negative numbers after YEARS developing a “number order” picture in our heads!

I didn’t know where to fit them into my “mind’s eye”. A very tragic and unsettling event for me. The only thing that made any sense was the “two negatives make a positive” rule. I was able to remember this by saying ,”I’m not untying my shoe.”  Still, I couldn’t fully understand why the phrase meant that I was therefore tying my shoe. Seemed to me, I didn’t need to DO anything.

Don’t even get me started on rules of English and spelling! I before E except after C…weird!

You want to talk Gravity? THAT was supposed to be the biggest most unbending rule. In fact, it is a LAW! Ahhhhh!

It wasn’t long after this, that I learned that you could swing a pail of milk over your head using centrifugal force! The milk does not abide by that law, in that case? I am SO confused…Mom told me that I must not break a law!

As for me, I’m telling the kids like it IS…

Roll up your sleeves and hold the darn paper any way that you want and do not forget to leave cookies out for Santa this year.