Thank heaven for children - especially the ones that are not mine

Now, that's not really as bad as it sounds, I promise just bear with me.

When I had children, I knew, at the moment I saw their little faces scowling up at me in horror from the trauma they had just been subjected to that I was a parent and as a parent I was in charge of protecting them and preparing them for the world at large.

As a parent I find that it is my job to ensure that, when in public places or just being in public- in general- I am constantly vigilant in reminding them to be polite in obvious ways i.e., pleases and thank yous, excuse me, keep your mouth closed when you chew, pay attention to those around you-

And the not so obvious, we do not run in public unless appropriate, we will not throw a temper tantrum in the store over anything, we will not scream or cry uncontrollably in public and we will act as appropriately to the situation as we can and if we can't then we will leave.

I know, that as they grow these lessons (and the millions of others my poor children have thrust upon them daily) will follow them.

Okay, okay I'm getting to the point of my title.

Just when I feel like I MUST be failing my children - at a moment of high stress over their behavior or sour attitude, where I'm sure I'm turning gray completely on the spot and pulling my hair out all at once - I am almost always confronted with the inevitable presence of ......SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILDREN!

Its at these moments of being subjected to someone else's children who are wreaking their havoc on the world via various outlets, IE - behaving DEPLORABLY or expressing their little individual personalities that make a diva look gracious and calm- it is at these precise moments that I look up to the heavens and say a small prayer of thanks for my questionably well behaved devils, because at those moments I have just been reminded that it could be worse.

My children are mine.  The good, the bad and the ugly, I love them whole heartedly no matter what - not because it's my job, not because I'm supposed to, not because I have to, I just do.  Regardless of their foibles, they are children still (for as long as I can keep them that way!) and they will continue to grow, cause trouble, and constantly evolve, but then that's the adventure and no matter the grays, no matter the hair loss - the trip is more than worth it.  I suppose its part of my job to just try to contain the collateral damage to the general public until they learn to contain it themselves and to help them persevere. 

As always thanks for reading!

Here we go with the fat people again . . .

Okay - I know I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to the fattys, being one myself and all, so I try to be objective when I look at these types of attacks on the "large and in charge" portion of our society, but come on folks REALLY????

Let me start by saying right here and right now - I know how I got here - I know what my size is - and I KNOW that there are things I can do to adjust the issue.

I could pander to the masses and say - but I have a thyroid issue, but I have immune system issues, but I come from large stock, but I'm big boned, but but but but....well that's all well and good for some, but being who I am I don't tend to excuse myself with an ailment or issue- okay I don't ALWAYS try to excuse myself - in fact most of the time I berate myself for being this size and not doing enough to fix it to a societal accepted norm.

As I get older I try to come to grips with who I am and evaluate where I'm at. Am I happy - YES - as happy as your average bear, there's always issues but overall I'm happy.

Am I healthy - According to my doctors - YES - I'm a big girl, they would of course like to see me lose weight (as would I, cause let's be honest I'm a big girl but I'm not stupid), I exercise with my treadmill (sometimes more faithfully then others but I do it and I don't use it to hang clothes on - not EVER) I watch my intake - again sometimes it's worse than others but I don't gorge out on fast food every day...heck not even every week... I don't drink soda (most of the time) I don't snack in between meals, unless it's fruit or veggies, but I'm not perfect and I know that - goodness knows I KNOW THAT.

I am what I am, you can like it, love it or leave it. It's totally up to you. I don't force my bigness on others and I don't expect everyone to say hey you're not fat you're just pleasantly plump (as a matter of fact please DON'T ever say that to me, for your own safety) but I also don't expect to get called out on a plane by some snooty stewardess or pilot and be told "hey you paid a fortune for your seat fatty but you ain't flyin' unless you buy TWO seats so get off the plane."

I don't care who you are, fat, thin, short, tall, white, black, disabled physically, disabled mentally, parent, grandparent, old, young or in between. I have to say here and now - to me only, of course, because I would NEVER try to express the views of anyone other than myself- that the above "deplaning" is discrimination pure and simple.

Over the last few days, few thousand tweets, and few dozen media outlets I have heard more and more people speaking out against the fattys and that my dear reader, is the why of this rant- you poor, poor unsuspecting reader you!

Okay, so one of the "comments" I heard was that obese (cause we wouldn't want to offend and call them fattys - oh wait I already did that so oh well) Fattys don't move fast enough if there's a crash or crisis....hmmmm I say to myself, we don't move fast enough. That's one of the excuses as to why fat people should have two seats...really? What about the elderly who can't get out of their own way and get to get on the plane EARLY because they can't move fast enough? Sorry grandma, but OFF THE PLANE

But, lets move on, another comment - "I wouldn't want to be stuck next to an obese person on a plane that expands over into my seat and I shouldn't be subjected to that- I paid money for my seat and I should get my seat." A valid point! I say - okay so that being said - I also want my seat! Without being forced to sit with a screaming baby as a lap child with its mother next to me who didn't have to buy a seat because the child was under age. I'm sorry mom and baby but OFF THE PLANE!

I want to be able to enjoy my seat so all the tall people who take up the extra leg room behind my seat and bang into my back the whole flight - Sorry too tall Jones OFF THE PLANE!!

Also, with those same tall people, the ones who sit next to me but their legs are again to long for the little space they get and their knees in and have to spread out to fit - Sorry - OFF THE PLANE!

People who snore, people who read with the light on while I try to sleep, people who leave the window shades open, people who don't shower and smell really bad, people who drink too much, people with poor taste in music, people with diseases that are contagious - I want them all identified and OFF THE PLANE!

Now mind you I know this is ridiculous and even as I write it I smirk to myself and say - in some instances - it's not the same thing, but really removing someone and publicly humiliating them AND charging them for two seats so that you don't get complaints from the people who sit around them, that's just as ridiculous.

Indeed something must be done, larger seats, adjustments in seating arrangements so that larger people could be near empty seats (I know an empty seat on a plane is just TOO much of a financial loss for these multimillion dollar transportation companies) something else can and should be done.

One group of people - and excuse the pun - a LARGE group of people should not be excluded from air travel if they have the money for a seat. They may not have the money to extravagantly spend on two seats or even a larger first class seat, but they shouldn't be penalized for that, there should be something more that the airlines can do, because let me tell you with the US's 31% or 59 million obese people staging a "no fly" policy there would definitely be and impact to the country as a whole.

I mean, look, if I have to pay for two seats on my budget I would never travel. If I never travel that's lost revenue for some resort/hotel/destination, never mind what a fatty like myself would spend on food for and during said vacation! (come on that was a joke it's okay you can laugh)

Now consider this - what if it's not just me, but lets say a few million of the 59million decided to not fly because of this discrimination, how long do you think the travel industry would be able to take the hit.

Food for thought. - pun intended :-) I crack myself up!

As always thanks for reading, my rants are mine and mine alone but feel free to criticize or comment :-)

a LONG pause....

Happy Valentine's Day! Almost.....

The holiday season has once again come and gone. Revelers are done reveling, partyers are done partying, and people are beginning to shake off the doldrums of the happy holiday season. Or are they?

I suppose on a personal note this is the climbing out of the funk time. I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, but Valentine's day signals for me the beginning of an awakening of sorts. I suppose it comes from my rooted east coast up bringing.

The holidays bring joy and happiness back there but they also bring snow, sleet, hail and hibernation. So while we celebrate we also bury and wait. Valentines was always a point for me where it was time to move out of that hibernation and on to bigger and better things. Granted, it was a bit early back east to be that optimistic in February, but spring it was a comin' at this point - so I shook off the hibernation and moved forward with hopes high and optimism for the coming spring/summer season (which - where I am from - was always a beautiful time).

Now, I still have this awakening-ish feeling at this time of year but shouldn't it be a bit different living in a "resort" type area now. Here, the "hibernation" time of year is the summer - no one comes to the desert in the summer and with good reason - 120 degrees does not make for a fun time - that being said I find myself pondering - my "awakening" here should really be the holiday period. From September through about May it is GLORIOUS here. There is a chill around the holidays but I'm using the term very loosely compared to where I come from. So I wonder why, after 12 years, I still find myself "hibernating" during the holiday season and renewing right around February 14th. Could it be true that we are what we are - no matter where you go, no matter what you do, the area you "came from" is the area you are always a part of, emotionally, psychologically, physically and all those other allys?

I will continue to ponder . . .