Things That Make Me Stop & Say..."Hmmmm?"

As one ages, every day becomes more of a challenge. I used to vault out of the bed, ready to face the day! I charged around dressing, doing all kinds of housework before I actually went to work. I'd leave work and face the afternoon and evening chores like an over caffeined wild woman (and in those days I didn't even like coffee, much less drink it!) I accomplished more in a day than I do now in a week. Hmmmm...we try to stay looking and feeling young...but old age is on our trail, you better get ready...it's coming! And it's NOT going to leap frog over you and hit someone else.

Sometimes now, when my Rainshower CD comes on gently to help me face the day, I am confused and think it's really raining outside. After "coming to" I am almost in a hypnotic state for at least thirty minutes. I can hardly bear to look in the mirror...some old lady is staring back at me and it still scares the living daylights out of me! I don't stride up the hall, I shuffle. I go straight to get my coffee cup and fix myself a cup. It's finally come to this, I think. Everything is just so different "in old age". I make several trips up and down the hall, my houseslippers making that soft shuffling noise. Why did I come in this room? What was I looking for? What day is this? Oh, help me, I am aging...and not so gracefully. Hmmmmm....I am the grandmother...the oldest woman in the family...oh, no...the matriarch!

It's days like this that give me pause to stop and think about some of the ridiculouslessness that goes on in our world. Life did NOT used to be like this. For instance, warnings on your prescriptions. "This medication will help relieve your heartburn symptoms, BUT you may experience increased bloating and gas, severe upset stomach, heart palpitations and in some rare instances, cancer." I'm not sure, but I think heartburn looks like a walk in the park compared to the side effects of the medication taken to prevent it. And then there are the warnings on toys, umbrellas, eggs, pencils, window blinds and assorted other everyday objects that people have used for several hundred years without all this drama! Hmmmm?

Parents who cater to their children like their offspring are royalty. It's like at the magical age of 15 or 16 these kids actually have accomplished so much in their life that they deserve a brand spanking new $30,000 car or truck. Hmmmm?

Of course there are the directions on how to use all the things that make life easier like shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste. Not only are the directions in English, but now they are also in Spanish and French. I have to get on my magnifying glasses to read and then I have to sort through all the languages to locate English. And have you ever had to assemble something and the correct language directions were not included? Try to put together a computer desk with sliding drawers using directions in Chinese. Hmmmm?

People in this country are so desperate to "keep up with the Joneses" that they have charged thousands on their credit cards and then they expect NOT to pay the bills but have the government make the payments for them! Hmmmm?

Now you know I like Bath and Body Works as much as the next girl, but what's with the little plug in Wall Flowers? The "smell good buds" screw in the opposite way. I was always taught Lefty Losey, Righty Tighty...not with B&BW Wall Flowers you don't. Something about Lefty Tighty, Righty Losey that just doesn't seem normal. Hmmmm....The first time I realized it was an opposite screw -in dilemma, I had returned mine for one that worked right. I bet they had a good laugh about that behind the counter.

Have we lost our collective minds in this country? What are we thinking? Have we gotten so technical and so political that we have completely abandoned common sense? A computer goes down and it shuts down the whole business. Electricity is off for a few hours and we check into a motel! Once the lights went out in Wal Mart. I was in the back of the store and I cautiously worked my buggy toward the front. Someone grabbed my arm and a little voice said, "Honey, could I hold on to your arm? I can't see very well." It was a little old lady...talking about the blind leading the blind...she and I finally made it to the check out counter which was mayhem. Nobody could check out because the lasers were off. So there we all stood...paralyzed by non motion...by lack of technology. Something my "non-computer using husband" said suddenly occurred to me. He predicted, " What's wrong with the old ways? One day all the electricity is going to go out and we are going to be in a real pickle!" Well, that day standing in Wal Mart with that lady wrapped around me (the life preserver) I knew exactly what a pickle felt like. It was NOT a good feeling.

All of the above are what I mean when I say, "These are the things that make me stop and say ...Hmmmm?" But what I really mean is maybe it's time we returned to a time of reason and sanity. It needs to start in our own home. Making sure our children understand that a car is NOT a right....making a six figure income is NOT a right....spending like drunken sailors and not paying our debts is NOT a right... we have become an entitled society. Or so we think...."For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Hmmmm?