On My Soapbox

Forewarning...no quilty content here, just attitude (and bad at that!)

Few things really get me going to the point of confrontation, but I was damn near that point today.

I had to make a dreaded trip to Wally World (AKA Walmart). I despise that place. The workers are either mentally disabled or just plain incompetent. Why? You wonder...thread is cheap there. Much to my frustration though, checking out I discovered I had forgotten one of my fabric scraps and was missing one of my key thread colors. Doggone it! Gotta go back out this weekend. Anyway, I digress for a moment over my hatred of Walmart. Approaching the car in the parking lot, with my 4 year old trying to get into the van, a lady comes out of nowhere and into the vacant parking spot beside us. She parked about a foot from the car, yacking the entire time on the cell phone so that she had to turn her car with one hand. I was dumbfounded - If you can't put your phone down while you are driving, at least (1) get a ear piece or (2) look at the road enough to see that there is a KID getting into the car. I swear if he had reached out his hand, he'd have touched her car (or lost his arm). Dumb Bitch.

Just about that same time, I saw a pick-up truck pull into a spot 2 spaces down from us. I probably wouldn't have paid it any attention but I saw the infant carrier in the center front seat. In Maine, children under age 8 and under 80 pounds must ride in the back. Have these people no concern for their baby?? I think that once you learn you are pregnant, you MUST do the moral right thing and ditch your freakin' huge Republican (Oh, I didn't slip that slam in, did I??) honky-tonk truck for something safer, legal and respectable for a new family. Just unbelievable, I say! And then, it only got worse. In Maine, as of September 1, we have a new law that bans any smoking in a vehicle that is carrying children. It's a wise legal change. Afterall, children have no voice in protecting their own health. Cigarette smoke is just plain disgusting. Anyhow, as we are pulling away, the two adults are standing at the bed of their truck, just where the cab ends, both smoking. I notice that the back window is WIDE open, and the baby must still be inside. Again, have they no good sense or respect? I should have recorded the license tag and reported them.

Whew... Idiots make me really type fast! I took my kids to a local dairy farm which has ducks and geese and small animals, as well as nice wooden outdoor toys to play on after the Walmart escapade (and other errands). There was another little girl there a month older than Sophie (26 months). I noticed she looked a lot older than 2 and was most definitely a chunky little thing. Now I have nothing against a darling chubby kiddo, but OK, she was borderline FAT (I give her 35lb), which is just plain sad to see on a 2 year old. To me, unfortunately, this means she is not fed or exercised correctly (or both). She and her gramma were having a picnic. Gramma pulls out a bottle of juice, a bag of BBQ chips and a peanut butter & fluff sandwich. I roll my eyes. OMG, do any parents feed their kids properly?? Or is this just another area that I am high brow about?? Mine have milk with all 3 meals, a protein, starch and fruit/veg at lunch and dinner. Breakfast is the only meal that we on occasion have a low-sugared cereal, although usually my crew fusses if they don't get oatmeal! They are expensive to feed this way, but these habits are so critical! It is just no wonder that this society is not healthy when they are taught that chips and pure sugar sandwiches are lunch at age two!

OK, my conscience is clean now...naptime is approaching and I can retire to my sewing space and make some progress on something that people are actually interested in coming to this blog to see!
Cheers-