Would It One Day Matter?

I don't like a lot of things I would actually say my hate for certain things is on an even keel with things I love. This blog post is about one of the things I hate is uncaring, unfeeling people.

Living in a college town has been very challenging for me, I should write a book on my adventures. We live in a very nice part of town and we don't have many students in our area. The students that do live here I think are more in the graduate school level, so we are not witness to many parties or late night shenanigans.

At the end of the school year our dumpster becomes a treasure trove. I am literally left speechless as to what is thrown away. Many of the items I take to the Vina Moses Center and many other items we keep. T has scored brand new clothes, an office chair, Oakley sunglasses, Pioneer sound system, coffee table, DVD's, books and I recently scored an awesome Dyson vacuum cleaner. I have the entire family involved now in dumpster hunting.

Yesterday I found this recipe binder in the dumpster. It looked new as the plastic wrapping was semi attached.  When I opened the binder my heart sank. One of the college girls who moved out threw this away. This binder of recipes was lovingly put together for her by her grandmother. Every recipe had a story. This must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together. It was a gift to her in 2010 and one that was never used.

I don't follow this person on Twitter, but I know who she is. I was thinking of keeping the binder and one day if she ever posts that her grandmother has passed away I would send her the binder. Would she  even care?

A few weeks ago I spent time with my cousins on the East Coast. I picked my Aunts brains for all her recipes and wrote them down and they are now in a database of family recipes. Over the years I have collected everything that my Mother bakes and creates as I want those to be passed down to future generations.

I am sad that this girl didn't care enough to save this binder and that she couldn't see all the time and effort that was put into making this for her. Judging by the letter in the front of the binder her grandmother was very involved in her life.

When I see things like this I have the itch on the bottom of my feet to go into Ninja Bitch mode. I hope that one day she will realize what she threw away. I guess until then the only person important to her is the one she sees in the mirror.

How very sad.

Conversations, speech and observations.

Before my Naturalization and Oath ceremony a member of DAR was walking around asking us all individually where we were from.  The gentleman next to me, Eli, was from Israel and this is how the conversation went.

Ms. DAR:  So where are you from?

Eli:  Israel

Ms. DAR:  Oh, I just got back from your country and found it incredibly disturbing.

Eli:  Disturbing?  In what way Ma'am?

Ms. DAR:  The whole Israeli Palestinian thing you have going on.

Eli: Oh

(Eli slumps back in his seat and Ms. DAR moves on to her next victim in her red cheesecloth Mumu and slippers ~ not kidding on the slippers!)

Me:  Eli, I am so sorry.  Unfortunately even though we are about to become American Citizens we will always be seen as an Israeli and South African.

Eli:  But why today?  Why when we are about to take an oath and give up all allegiance to the country that raised us?  Why would she be so negative?

Me:  Ignorance

Ms. DAR was the speaker and in her speech she progressed to tell us (all 170 of us swearing in) that in America we speak English and that English is the only language of America.

Really!!  Uh Ms. DAR do you not know that in order for all 170 of us reaching this stage we had to pass a test of proficiency in English?  We all know that English is the spoken language in America, we may be immigrants, but we are not ignorant.  Oh and by the way Ms. DAR how many languages do you speak?  I am fluent in two and Eli, yes that man you made feel horrible, is fluent in FIVE!!

Sometimes one needs to really take a lesson and KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

Ms. DAR had her group hand us all brochures about the American Flag.  When I was handed mine I was advised that I need to read this as this is how we take care of the flag.

Okay?  If you are going to hand out material about the American Flag maybe you should have taken the time to read it.  I am trying to find my pictures that my husband took of the stage as the American Flag was posted INCORRECTLY!!  My friend, Bob (retired Air Force Colonel) who was at my ceremony, went and told the usher that the flag was posted incorrectly.  The stage manager went down and changed it, but when the little Girl Scout posted the Colors, she did it incorrectly.  Don't you think this would be something you would make sure you got right at a Naturalization and Oath Ceremony?

I need to check my material that DAR's peeps handed out, maybe it wasn't in English.