Deserving of Compassion. . . I Think Not
I consider myself a compassionate person. I take it to heart when good people are going through bad things. I try to help people whenever I can whether it's inviting new Mom's to dinner when their husbands are away or helping someone craft a professional resume to find a new job.
But if there's one person not deserving of compassion, it's the Lockerbie Bomber. He was released today so that he can die of prostate cancer at home. Because of him, 270 people didn't get to die at home. They had to die in a fiery crash. They didn't have a choice and now this pathetic excuse for a human, does have a choice. Many of the flight victims were college students who would never realize their full potential in life, whose parents have continued to miss them and grieve for them all these years.
Abdel Baset-el Meghri served only eight years of his life sentence. I read an idea somewhere online that when they release him, they should line up the families of his victims and that if he can make it through the line of them to his transport, he can go home to die. That sounds a bit more like justice to me.
Allowing a convicted terrorist to die in his home surrounded by his family is ludicrous. Most terrorists are willing to die for their cause anyway, and now Scotland has released one who knows he's going to die anyway? Not smart. Showing compassion to a dying terrorist doesn't earn normal people any points with terrorists. It just shows them our weaknesses.
***On a very different note, time is running out to vote for your favorite Summer Serenade video. Do it here.
Also, please swing over to Victoria's Secret and throw me a vote. You don't have to register, just click "love it." You can vote once a day until the contest is over. Let a girl in a gi win a VS contest. Awesome. Thanks to those of you who already voted!
That’s How You Know
You know it's time to go off the Prednisone that has been making you beyond cranky when. . .
-You step on the scale and the only thing that comes to your mind is "Woah" followed by regret that you allowed your kids to talk you into buying the 3 ft. high container of cheese balls at the grocery store, which you ate in like two days time while your 3-year old pleadingly told you to "take it easy" and "leave some for me."
-You hear your 8-year old coughing all night long and the entire morning and you flash to the scene from "The Witches of Eastwick" in your head. You know, the one where the husband puts his wife out of misery and beats her with a fireplace poker thing? You contemplate putting her and yourself out of misery because if she coughs one more time, you will totally and completely lose it.
-Your husband walks around outside with you so you can explain your landscaping plans and when he turns his head for one second, you accuse him of not paying any attention to you ever and swear at him under your breath, except not really under your breath, as you come back inside and tell him you are so done with his attitude problem.
-You pack up earlier than you planned at the pool when the Banshee's mother arrives and fails to discipline her child AGAIN after her banshee hit some kid, and you know that you have to leave or else you might possibly take the banshee Mom and drown her in front of a pool full of onlooking Mom's and kids.
I warned my allergist that someone might die when he put me on Pred. Today is the last day. As long as no one pushes my buttons, people may survive my roid rage.
754 Reasons To Hate Your Inbox
754.
The number of antihistamines I'm currently taking? Not quite.
The number of times I've told the girls to stop fighting? Close.
The number of times I've hit Mr. BBM with a knife hand and told him to roll over and stop snoring? Actually I believe this number is nearly 1000, so no.
754 is the number of spam emails I had this morning in my recruiting email inbox. Are you kidding me?
Here's what I don't get. How do these people make any money? Who does this for a living? Is their primary goal in life to waste people's time?
This morning I had emails saying I needed to update my bank accounts at three different banks where I don't even have accounts. Nice try schmucks.
I also had emails telling me I can improve my performance in bed and "rock her all night." Um, no thanks. People who have girl names generally don't need drugs to harden certain appendages and I'm definitely not looking to rock any "her."
Maybe it's the Allegra in me that's making me particularly cranky today, but I am so sick of this spam crap. And for the last time, I don't have any relatives who left me lottery winnings in Nigeria. Not buying it.
Today I have more important things to do than delete spam. I need to psych Lil C up to get a very much needed haircut. I need to quit procrastinating and finish my syllabus for my class that starts in just two weeks. I need to open my jaw really wide every five minutes or so to reestablish hearing capabilities in my left ear.
Take your penis products elsewhere people. Not interested.
The “Big Ben” Backlash
Ben Roethlisberger has been one of my favorite football players through the years, like when he's on my fantasy team and putting up killer numbers or when I'm playing against someone who has him and he's having a rough game, for example. When I opened up a news website the other day and saw that a woman has filed a civil suit against him claiming sexual assault, I was completely shocked. Other players in the NFL? Maybe I could see it, but with him, I guess I'm having a hard time.
Part of my problem with it is that the woman waited a year to file a lawsuit and she didn't previously file criminal charges. I have a very strong feeling the case will be settled discreetly to quiet it, or completely thrown out of court because without evidence, and after a year? That's a seriously long time to wait. Plus, because of who he is, it is easy to think that the woman is just out to get money.
Articles have said that she didn't file criminal charges because she feared she'd be fired. If it was me and it really did happen? I would have filed criminal charges, and let Harrah's fire me if they dared. Then sue them for false termination.
I've read various articles about it and some claim that the woman was hospitalized for depression during the past year. Maybe she's just now strong enough to go after her alleged attacker. But even with a background as a sexual assault educator while in college and being a strong advocate for women's rights, the fact that it's a civil case and that she waited so long is giving me some serious pause.
Then again, what woman would want to subject herself to the public scrutiny of making these claims if they weren't true? If you search long enough, there are certain celebrity blogs (and news outlets like the one linked above) that have already published her name, multiple pictures of her, and other identifying information about her. If you think that's bad, you should read some of the comments under the articles about her pictures. I truly hope it didn't happen; but if it did, then I hope she's prepared for the ugliness that's already circulating on the internet because if there's one thing that's for sure, when a celebrity like "Big Ben" is accused of something like this, the backlash against the accuser is going to be massive.
What do you think about the civil case against Ben?
The Banshee at the Pool
I was going to write a post about things that annoy me, but then Mr. BBM reminded me that I would probably need a book for that topic. It's true. I get annoyed easily, but I'm fairly certain it's justified on most ocassions.
Yesterday, we spent the day relaxing at the pool. Big I was off playing with a friend. I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying the age of eight, where she can go off on her own and I don't have to worry all the time. Lil C brought some mermaid barbie dolls and stuff to play with in the pool and I was hanging out with her at water's edge while she played and shared her dolls with her friends.
The mermaid dolls were popular and we were soon surrounded by a ton of kids each eager to have a look and more importantly, a turn.
One little girl in particular came over and immediately grabbed one of the Ariel mermaid dolls and started playing with it. We have two of them and as soon as the other one was put down for a second she picked that one up too. This child couldn't have been more than two years old. She was having a good time when she set one of the dolls down and Lil C's friend picked it up.
When the little girl realized she didn't have both Ariel dolls, she completely freaked out. I have two little girls and I know all about screaming, but I have never heard a child scream like that, ever. The sound was so shrill and piercing that I thought she was going to pop my ear drums. I kindly pointed out to her that she already had a doll, that they were the same, and that she needed to share (especially since the dolls weren't even hers).
She screamed louder in my face and then grabbed my forearm with her hand and pinched me as hard as she could. I removed her hand and told her that wasn't nice. You'd think her mother would have done this, but instead her mother just stood there while her child screamed directly in my ear and the mother told me "she doesn't like to share. None of my kids do," like this fact makes it ok that her kid is being a total jerk and that she's doing nothing about how her child is acting.
As Lil C's friend walked by with the doll, she went at him and hit him. This particular friend has no problem standing up for himself and he landed a nice kick right on her shin. The little girl screamed louder and grabbed my arm to pinch again. Clearly this kid has some anger issues. I was starting to feel like I was going to have some anger issues as well.
Meanwhile, the mother walks away, leaving her small screaming like a banshee child in my care, right at waters edge. Having been a lifeguard for four years, you would never find me leaving my child alone at the edge of the pool. Never. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to grab little arms and pull kids up who had slipped in the shallow water, faces just under the surface, while their parents chatted nearby.
I watched the woman walk completely around to the other side of the big pool while the little girl still screamed in my ear. I started contemplating dunking her. I'm not a horrible person, but my ear drums were seriously about to explode. Lil C's friend would walk over to the screaming kid every once in a while and yell "No!" at her. I clearly wasn't the only one irritated.
After being pinched twice and feeling like I would never hear right again, I told Mr. BBM he was on duty and walked back to where my neighbors and I were sitting. They handed me a beer.
I'm the parent who tells my kids to play with their own toys and to leave other kid's toys alone. I would never let my child take someone else's doll and then let her stand there and scream like that. Had that been Lil C, I would have handed the doll back immediately and walked my kid away, somewhere where she wasn't annoying everyone within a 30 ft. radius. And if she didn't stop? I would have gone home.
I started thinking maybe it was the Mom who needed to be dunked.
The little girl kept Lil C's doll for a good hour. Her Mom finally returned it as they were getting ready to leave; and I decided we won't be getting the mermaids out at the pool anymore, at least not when she's there.
The only thing worse than an annoying kid is an equally, if not more so, annoying parent.
Copyright
© Copyright 2006-2019 blackbeltmama dot com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Follow Me
Blog Designed By
My Creations
Things You Could Care Less About
