Flashback Fridays/Backseat of a Caddy

Back when I was about, oh I don't know, maybe 9ish and my brother was 11ish, we were sitting in the back seat of my dads huge Condillac fighting. I don't know where we were going, but the whole family was in that car and we were going somewhere as a family and we were gonna have fun...damm it! That was usually the tone of our family outings. My brother was picking on me as usual and I was whining. I'm not a whiner in general, but I never defended myself either because I was afraid I'd get in trouble. He was poking me and pretend smacking my head and anything else just to annoy me. My dad driving, my mother shot gun
and two loud obnoxious kids in the back, probably in our family outing clothes on our way to some place where I'm sure me and my brother had to act decent to each other and be polite.

Well, in situations like this I usually would hear "stop that" or "knock it off" and the traditional, "don't make me turn this car around, cuz I will", nope, didn't hear that one either. What I heard was "well, hit him back",
Well, it was like telling me it was Christmas all over again. I now had a reason to hit my brother, a defense and better than that I was ordered to hit him. So, as told to the family in the ensuing years to come, I doubled up my fist, swung my arm back and belted him right in the stomach, in which he promptly started to cry and whine about how it wasn't fair because mom had told bunny to hit him and that if he had permission it would then be a fair fight....blah, blah, blah. I vaguely remember doing this and what I do remember is being scared after because I knew there was a payback coming. We continued to bicker and give each other the stink eye all the way to our destination, but If these two kids were mine I might have kicked them out of the car and floored it outta there or at least thought about doing it.



Update: I wrote this entry because at the time, there was a news report of a woman back east who was so upset with her children fighting in the car....she dropped them off on the curb and instructed them to find their way home. There was a lot of debate about it. I for one, never had this problem since my daughters are 15 years apart. I have two only children.
I'm just sayin"

An "aha" moment

I may not be the brightest bulb on the tree and sometimes it takes me a while to see the obvious, but the other day I had a "light bulb" moment. I was watching TV and a reporter was interviewing a recently released convict who raised "rolling pigeons"...yeah, they actually roll. He'd been out of prison for 2 years and was determined to not go back. Having only been interested in pigeons, he decided to use his passion and make a difference in the world...starting with his community which was in dire need of help. He enlisted local teens to help him make pigeon coops and in general, feed and tend to the birds. Eventually, he had ex gang bangers and thugs off the streets and helping him and the community all at the same time. He now writes articles in "pigeon" magazines..(who knew?) and holds competitions for rolling techniques and whatever else these birds do.

So....

Having said that, it kinda dawned on me that animals are kinda magical in so many ways....Yeah, I know....I'm slow sometimes. Animals are a very intricate and personal addition to our lives.
Studies show they bring down our blood pressure, make deppressed people happier and they are our eyes and ears. They are your partner when you are lonely, they keep you warm and they save lives. It's amazing how important all animals are and not only domesticated ones but wild ones too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hippy dippy animal PETA type gal, although I have always had cats, I can separate animals from humans unlike the animal fanatics who take things to the extreme. But it's truly as if animals are here for a purpose in so many ways...just like people. I don't know why I just thought of this...told you I was slow!

NO EXCUSES!

Roman Polanski jumped ship and high tailed it to France where he has been hiding for over 30 years, probably with the help of friends. Yes, he raped a 13 year old girl, I don't care that her family was in the same house at the time and I don't care how sophisticated she thought she was.....It's rape, he didn't finish his jail time and he needs to be brought to justice. Even if it was consensual...which it wasn't, still makes him a child molester. I don't care how sad his past was, I could care less how talented he is as a movie director, I am stupefied as to why the victim herself says let the matter rest and I have absolutely ZERO sympathy or tolerance for such behavior. And not only does he need to be punished for what he did to this girl, he also left the country in hopes of never being brought to prosecution which in it's self, is a whole other offense. I am pretty tired of the criminal being portrayed as the victim and the victim portrayed as a consenting girl. No matter what he thought was gonna happen, no matter what the judges actions were, he needs to do time for a crime he confirms he did. I'm just say'n!