Monthly Archives: March 2022

A New Low? Who Yells at Kids?

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man love people woman
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I read an article yesterday about Girl Scout being harassed for selling cookies.

Seriously?

I wrote about being yelled at sitting at a booth registering voters HERE. If I was shaken up after being yelled at as an adult, can you imagine how a five or seven-year-old would feel?

The article was called “Girl Scout cookie sellers as young as 5 are being harassed for selling unhealthy food and a conspiracy theory about cookie money funding abortion” by Lela Moore on a website called Insider.

It turns out that young girls are being yelled at for selling cookies because “they make you fat” and they use “palm oil” that means forests are being destroyed. Then there are those who have linked Girl Scouts to Planned Parenthood because one local council had their Girl Scout logo on a Planned Parenthood brochure one time a decade ago.

Here’s an excerpt:

Girl Scout cookie season is upon us, and young saleswomen in uniform are everywhere: holding court in office boardrooms for an afternoon, manning booths outside the local grocery store, or posting cheery video messages on social media, offering door-to-door shipping. You may even have a Girl Scout under your own roof, filling your garage with cases of the chocolatey, caramelly, peanut-buttery goods. 

But Girl Scouts, and the women who lead their troops and volunteer with them during cookie season, say that the organization’s tradition of face-to-face sales is increasingly accompanied by customer harassment.

“I feel like in the last 10 years, and maybe especially since the pandemic, that people are getting even more aggressive with girls and the volunteers,” Oona Hanson, a Scouting parent in Los Angeles, said. 

https://www.insider.com/girl-scout-cookies-harassment-planned-parenthood-abortion-unhealthy-palm-oil-2022-2

Another thing the teen Girl Scouts have to endure is sexual harassment.

When I was in kindergarten, I joined Bluebirds, which was the youngest group of Camp Fire Girls. When it came time to sell the Camp Fire Mints — which were delicious by the way — my mom bought them all. She refused to let me go door to door selling mints. This was in the 1960’s. I was disappointed because it seemed fun to me. I’m sure Mom had her reasons, and she was very strict and overprotective.

What are your thoughts about Girl Scout Cookies? Has our society gone off the deep end with people yelling at the girls selling cookies outside grocery stores?

Ash Wednesday: do you give something up — or give?

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Ash Wednesday ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of 40 days and 40 nights of Lent for many Christians. Do you give something up? Or what are you going to do?

The three things I’ve heard about Lent are to fast on Ash Wednesday and Fridays, carve out more time for daily prayer and do good works.

I get hungry on Ash Wednesday and Fridays, craving a fat juicy steak that I’d normally not care about. It’s a funny thing when you can’t have something, you fixate on it.

Second, I will find time to pray more. If you believe that prayers make a difference in this world, then more prayer should be easy.

Third, there is the part about doing good works. I think that is most difficult of all. Off the top of my head I don’t know what “good works” I can do. I will keep my eyes open and look around me to see small ways where I can make a difference. 

I’m going to Ash Wednesday services for the first time since the COVID shutdown. There’s a church less than two miles from our house that I’ve never been to that has four Ash Wednesday services.

I remember when my daughter was young she said she was giving up piano lessons for Lent. She hated piano. In the past, I’ve given up Facebook, Diet Coke, wine and chocolate. I haven’t decided what I’m going to give up or do this year. I’m working on it.

What you are doing for Lent? What good works are you going to do? Or what are you going to give up?

heartfelt note to a soldier from a gold star child
A heartfelt note from a gold star child to a soldier.

Hey, I’m in fashion!

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Asics sneakers.

I was reading through the Wall Street Journal and saw a fashion trend that made me smile.

Asics are hot. Who knew? I wear my big clunky Asics every day. Despite my lateral move playing ping pong and crashing to the ground last week (I wrote about that HERE) they are seriously the most comfortable shoes I own — well, maybe tied with my Sanuk yoga mat flip flops.

I have a painful arthritic growth on my left foot that I’m surviving with shots of cortisone from time to time. When that no longer helps, the doctor said I’ll need surgery.

In the meantime, I only wear super comfortable shoes. The last time we went out to dinner with friends, I struggled with the dressier shoes in my closet. They are painful! I finally settled on a retro pair of Adidas, which is hardly fancy enough for a fancy restaurant, but it’s that or the Asics or flip flops.

The story I read in the WSJ was by Rebecca Malinsky. Here’s an excerpt:

Why Asics and Salomon Sneakers Are Fashion’s Hottest Shoes

THE LATEST shoe trending among Hollywood It girls and fashion types isn’t a slim stiletto or a sleek, minimalist mule. It’s a sneaker. A chunky, technical running sneaker, to be exact. Mary-Kate Olsen has been seen sporting Salomon Speedcross 3s, high-performance trail-running shoes. Hailey Bieber has lately swapped her Jimmy Choos for a bulky Balenciaga sneaker. And model and author Emily Ratajkowski has frequently been photographed in white Asics sneaks while striding through New York.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/asics-salomon-womens-sneakers-11645640840?mod=life_work_major_1_pos1

I am thinking about donating all my uncomfortable fancy shoes to the local Kiwanis mart. But if I do get surgery, I may be able to wear them again. I’m excited to know I’m in style, rather than just a middle aged frump.

The most comfortable flip flops ever. Yoga mats by Sanuk.

What type of shoes do you usually wear? Are you more interested in looks or comfort? Any suggestions for a dressier shoe that is super comfortable?