Random Acts of Forehead Slapping

Carefully avoiding the mirror!


I am definitely not above making the occasional less-than-cogent-thought response. Often, I do it without paying attention to the conversation stream which forces the conversation to go backwards to the point at which I wandered off the trail. As such, have not set myself up as a critical observer just because I can pronounce "jewelry," "nuclear," and the elongated form of "etc." correctly. However, there are times that I have serious doubts about people in general...and today seemed to be one of those days. The following is a list of things I heard today that gave me great pause when I considered that people were serious.

1. "It's too hot." Of course, it was almost 40 degrees above normal for this time of year, but can anyone seriously doubt that the recent heat is merely an aberration, soon to be replaced by cold rain? Even saying something like this in jest makes me think it really IS too hot, and the speaker has been out in it far too long.

2. "I had to come out today to vote in this primary election in order to protect the constitution and eliminate anarchy." In this country. anarchy. And I think the constitution is safe enough with the panel of judges we have now (as well as the security shown on National Treasure!)

3. "Businesses need to send more mailers out so the USPS can keep going." More. junk. mail. That's JUST what this country needs...as if spam wasn't enough. What this country really needs is more elections: candidates and special interest groups of all ilk seem to boost the economy incredibly during an election cycle. Heck, let's do this ALL the time.

4. "America is just not ready for a white First Lady" Robert DeNiro said this today. And you doubt that this nation has become one of total intolerance? Maybe the constitution DOES need protecting.

5. "I forgot." Having gone to some extent to set up a meeting between two of my students and the director of a nursing home for an extra credit project, the student a) on the first possible day, called almost eight hours after the arranged time to call, promising to call the next day and b) simply "forgot" to call the next day in order to set up something specific...as if administrators have absolutely nothing to do all day but wait for someone to call. This student was not 75, either, but 21...no memory loss excuse. Well, no excuse at all, really.

Honestly, in many ways, it would be a blessing if the Mayans were right...as long as the world ended on time and not three or four days later.