February 23, 2009
Yet Another Reason to Boycott McDonald’s
If you've been a reader here for a while, then you know that I have a love/hate (mostly the latter) relationship with McDonald's. McDonald's used to be my Thursday savior. I used to pick up food for dinner on Thursday nights because there simply wasn't enough time to make dinner and get to karate on time. In recent months, I convinced Big I that eating McDonald's food before going to karate really made no sense at all. Karate is about being healthy and strong. McDonald's, despite their best marketing efforts, is not.
Tonight, I heard about this story. If you can't see this video, you can go here to view it. You can also go here to read more about it.
For those too lazy to click, a 21-year old McDonald's employee named Nigel Haskell was shot several times while on the job at McDonald's. McDonald's is denying his workers compensation because of the circumstances surrounding his being shot. Was he dealing drugs on the job? Joining a gang perhaps? No. While working his shift, a male customer got up and began an argument with a woman. He hit the woman in the face and Nigel, being a good samaritan, ran up to the jerk, a convicted felon and 1st class something-that-rhymes-with-glass, tackled him and dragged him out of the restaurant. He also stood at the door preventing the man from coming back inside. The man went to his car, returned with a gun and shot Nigel several times.
Nigel has had to undergo three abdominal surgeries. His medical bills top $300,000 and McDonald's says they won't pay because they say they explicitly tell their employees NOT to be hero's.
Take away the fact that they never give me my requested sauces. Include the fact that they frequently give me sprite instead of my ordered diet coke, and that I can't get a McTasty without cheese to save my life? I am so done with McDonald's.
What kind of world are we living in when we discourage good samaritan acts? What was he supposed to do? Stand there and let another man beat down a woman in the restaurant? Wait for the police while the guy kills her as others try to eat their french fries in peace. Or maybe we should all just turn our heads, allow a man to hit a woman, and maybe even drag her out the door to the car where a gun is waiting, so things can go from bad to worse.
We already live in a society where people are afraid to step up and help other people. Now this. McDonald's, you should be completely ashamed of yourselves and your stupid policies. I can guarantee you that the only nuggets my kids will be eating from now on will be coming from my freezer.
Won't you join me in boycotting the anti-good-samaritan restaurant? I would attempt to raise money for Nigel's medical bills here, but I am convinced that no judge will allow McDonald's to shirk their duties to their employee. Nigel Haskell is a hero who deserves to have his medical bills paid in full.
Was Nigel hurt while working at McDonald's, on their property?
Yes.
Case closed.
McStick your not-helping-people "policy" where the sun doesn't McShine McDonald's.
If you're going to read this, then you might as well go here and read this and then join in on the conversation.
February 21, 2009
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
When Big I was three years old and she told me she wanted to take karate, I couldn't have been more thrilled. Her interest is what got me involved in the first place. How cool was it that we could take karate side by side?
As time wore on though, I continued to get more into it and she, well, she began to lose interest. Kata stayed in my head and went in one ear and out the other with her. She walked her way through a couple testings, but she hit yellow belt (7th kyu) and she hit a wall.
Wansu presented new challenges for her and it seemed that with every move she learned of the kata Wansu, she lost three from the first two kata.
While standing beside her in class, I got frustrated. Why wasn't she being sharp in her movements? Why was she just walking through it? Why wasn't she putting more effort into it?
When I got injured, I took her out of the regular karate class and put her in the Safety Kids program. There she was able to review basics and get things into her head that didn't seem to stick the first time around. She also learned a lot of good skills about stranger safety, but her heart hasn't been in it for a while.
I don't know if it's because of my injury and inability to do karate alongside her, or if she's grown out of her interest, but her interest is gone.
She's been telling me for months now that she wants to quit. She says she's not any good at it. She watches the other kids "get it" and she just doesn't. She's been even more vocal about her dislike of karate with Mr. BBM. When he takes her to karate, he gets a sob story the entire ride home. We wanted her to stick with it. We wanted to teach her that she can't just quit everything. We wanted to instill in her a sense of hard work paying off, and let her get through this stagnant time. We wanted to watch her emerge out the other side, triumphant that she was able to learn and improve.
We told her a few weeks ago that she needs to practice, that she can't expect to be good at something when she only does it once a week for an hour. She asked me for help a few weeks ago, but every time I offered to run through kata with her, she found something better to do.
This morning, we had a conversation about kata. "What do you think it's all about?" I asked her. "Do you know what the moves mean?"
She shook her head no.
I sat her on the couch and asked Mr. BBM to come help me. I walked through Nai Hanchi Shodan, and showed her that it's not a dance, or a series of silly moves. I showed her the bunkai and smacked Mr. BBM around and down for a while to demonstrate.
"Do you see what it is now?" I asked her.
She said yes. She stood up and we walked through her kata a couple times. But about 15 minutes into it, she started whining and complaining.
"Karate isn't my thing Mommy. I don't want to do it anymore" she said as she walked away crying.
I so want it to be her thing. I think it's so important for young girls to be able to defend themselves. I wanted to keep her in class, hoping her interest would grow and emerge once again; but it's time that I've realized that at least for right now, it's not going to change. She doesn't want to do it. It's time for her to quit.
So, this week will be her last week. You can't always get what you want when you're a parent regarding your kids and it's high time I realized that.
March will be her first month off in four years, and it will be my first month back. I'm tired of being a 1st kyu. It's time I got back to working on that Shodan. Maybe watching me fight my way back will inspire her to return at some point. I can only hope.
In celebration of my return and to continue what I started last year, March is once again "Admired Martial Artists" month. There are some returning contributors and possibly a new one or two as well. Check back for details soon!
February 20, 2009
Family Plagues and Tissue Lint
You can tell when this family has been through a plague. Tissues follow Lil C around like a dusty dirt cloud that just won't quit. Medicine cups are constantly being ground up in the garbage disposal. My personal favorite? I've been washing and drying a lot of tissues lately. Tissue lint is always good for making a fashion statement.
Yesterday I went to campus and when I began talking to my class, they looked at me strangely. "I know," I told them, "from now until the foreseeable future you're just going to have to deal with the fact that your teacher now has a man voice." I seriously could pass for Barry White right about now. It's not a comparison I ever hoped for.
I've been on a healthy cycle of Nyquil at night followed by coffee to help it wear off in the morning. Also, inhaling said coffee steam to help with the congestion. While Mr. BBM and Big I have moved on from the sickness, Lil C and I have the head and chest cold that just won't quit. We're sick of canceling playdates, but we know it's not polite to share our germs. I wanted to be back in the dojo by now. It's going to have to wait until I can breathe a little better.
Every year, within a few weeks of my birthday, I start getting sick. By the time I'm better, my allergies have kicked it into high gear and I'm miserable until June and beyond. My Mom is an RN and works at an Allergy/Asthma office. She's been pesting me to get tested for years. Getting tested though, involves needles, lots and lots of needles, and the one time I made the appointment, I chickened out and canceled.
This year though, I think I'm just going to have to go through with it. My clothes can't take being covered in tissues anymore. I'd like to be able to breathe through my nose before June.
Head over to The BBM Review before Monday. Leave a comment and get entered to win one of three gift bags from Yo-Plus! Head there now for details. Check back because we have another giveaway coming soon.
February 18, 2009
Stockwater Tea, Julio Iglesias, and Downtown Drownings
Edited: New One Added Below
I watched American Idol with Mr. BBM last night. Either we're getting old, or the people are just really lousy. There were a few stand-outs, but most of the ones who stood out, were standing out for all the wrong reasons.
Did you know that spandex pants, worn with sneakers, a halter top and a cumberbund is the new thing? Think it was unique to just one audition? You would be wrong. I don't know where these girls got the idea that spandex and sneakers is hot, but it's really not.
"You know, it's a real shame I'm not younger and I don't have a good voice," I told Mr. BBM. "I have star quality. I can dance and perform better than most of these people." I have a video to prove it.
If you can't view this video, go here.
Mr. BBM almost blew his drink out of his nose, and not because I lack star quality either.
"Do you mean 'Stockwater Tea'?"
"What?"
"Don't you remember that?" he asked me.
"Oh," I said, recalling another one of my lyrical follies.
When we were in college, we went to see the Evita movie. The movie itself is for another post. It involves old ladies and wet popcorn and pure nastiness, but like I said, for another time.
I really enjoyed that movie, and Mr. BBM bought me the soundtrack. I know, shocking, considering my favorite song right now is "Blame it" by Jamie Foxx. Anyway, I used to sing along with the soundtrack regularly. There's a song called "Buenos Aires" but it should really be called "Stockwater Tea" since those are the words I sang along with that song.
Listen for it. . . "Just a little bit of stockwater tea. . . "
If you can't view the video, go here.
One day, Mr. BBM corrected me and I knew there was no point in arguing. "Stockwater tea" truly made no sense at all. It just sounded so right when the words came out of my mouth!
My other classic lyrical mishap is from the song "Take my Breath Away." There's a part of the song that says, "Through the looking glass I saw you," but to me it was always belted out to the tune of "Julio Iglesias saw you. . . " I don't know. It just made more sense. Looking glass vs. Julio. Julio clearly wins.
If you can't view this video, go here.
Listen for yourself. Doesn't it sound like she's singing about Julio? I swear I'm right about this one. I had a little singing duo when I was younger and I'm fairly certain I have audio proof of this lyrical mishap.
A more recent one? Kevyn Little's "Turn me On."
View the video here if you can't see it here.
"Let me hold you. . . "
What do you think it says after that?
I'll tell you what it says, "Downtown, that's my body." I totally thought they were dancing in a club downtown as in. . .
"Let me hold you downtown" and then "that's my body." You know, this doesn't really make sense now that I'm writing it out, but whenever I sing that song, it's not "girl caress my body," it's "downtown that's my body." Always has been, always will be. Also, the part that says, "let me charm you" that's right after that? For some reason, I used to sing still sing "let me drown you." I don't know why that would make sense. It certainly doesn't, but that's how I hear it people. Just is. Drown you in love maybe? I don't know.
These lyrical mishaps started quite young. My Dad was a big Tom Petty fan and we were often listening to his music. Remember "Refugee"?
Click here to view if you can't see it here.
My words when I was little: "It don't really matter to me baby. Everybody gotta fight to be free. Oh, yeah, a little appendectomy." I mean, yeah, totally fight for your right to a medical procedure. I think my Dad almost drove off the road laughing when he heard that one. This one makes total sense. It says right in the song, "someone must have kicked you around some." Can't being kicked around cause appendicitis? I'm just saying.
Finally (and I'm sure there are more that Mr. BBM will think of as soon as he reads this), is one I can't really take credit for but think it's fabulous anyway. My sister-in-law used to get frustrated trying to sing along with Rusted Root. Who wouldn't? Those lyrics are more confusing than the Doodlebops!
The song "Ecstasy" is especially troubling, and you look lame if you're at their concert or trying to dance to it and you don't sing along. So, she came up with this for the chorus. . .
"I want whole wheat, with a little bit of turkey meat and mayo."
Listen and sing along. Totally works and trust me, it makes more sense than whatever the heck they're saying. I can't embed this one, so you'll have to go here to listen.
So considering that most of those people on American Idol last night couldn't sing anyway, maybe they should just let me on. At least they'd get a few laughs from the lyrical mishaps.
What's one of your biggest lyrical mishaps? Feel free to share below so I don't feel so stupid and alone.
February 17, 2009
Time for a Clone
One of my favorite classes last semester was the one where I paired students up, gave them random silly topics and told them to let their imaginations run wild as they rushed to create and present compelling introductions and conclusions for their assigned speech topics.
Last semester, my favorite group told the class that crop circles were not formed by aliens. They were formed every time Chuck Norris sneezed. It was hysterical. The entire class cracked up and it's a moment I don't think any of us will soon forget.
Today we had a few more of those moments. I had this feeling at the beginning of the semester that I was going to like these kids, but I didn't know if they could live up to how much fun my group was from the first semester. They proved me wrong today.
One group discussed tsunamis and a student told a "true" story about surfing a wave that landed him on top of a skyscraper. Another group impersonated a sleazy furniture salesperson. A third group told us the movie "Signs" was real and that we should all go home and create "booby traps."
I have to say though, the best one of the day was about cloning. The clincher at the end of the speech. . . "If you're feeling alone, it's time for a clone."
Classic good classroom stuff.
From the way the class responded, something tells me this student will be known from here on out by that very unique quote. There is absolutely no better feeling than when you take an important lesson, make it fun, and it's a smashing success.
Wait until they see what I have planned for them Thursday. . .
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