I brought my camera along to Wal-Mart today just in case I should spot somebody whose bizarre appearance in the shopping aisles would qualify them for the People of Wal-Mart” website; candid photos of shoppers who, shall we say, stand out from the crowd. Actually, I’d never do that no matter how strange others may appear. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if my picture would pop up on there showing me in my black stretch pants with the stripe down the side and a black hooded sweatshirt that had been a little too big until Linda ran it through the dryer. Anyway, I looked as if I could be the subject for a Johnny Cash song.
“In Wal-Mart, eh?”
Yes, I confess that’s where I bought my new glasses, a few groceries and a couple Christmas gifts today. It’s also where I got a new flat screen TV a few months ago. I’d rather shop someplace else that carried more American-Made stuff but that’s not what our grandkids had on their lists and I also simply can’t afford to ignore cheaper prices.
I spotted many of you in there too..so don’t judge me too harshly.
I’m back at Dunn Brother’s Coffee Shop having a brew of the day from Guatemala and dealing with a headache; a dizzy feeling, actually, from the new glasses I suspect. I hope it’s just a matter of getting used to the minor corrections that were diagnosed and not something else like a Chinese optmetrist with an axe to grind.
I came close to colliding with two fellow cart pushing Wal-Mart shoppers today at an aisle intersection; both were staring at their cell phones which brings me to the latest attempt by the National Transportation Board to ban cell phone use by drivers of motor vehicles in an effort to force them into paying attention to the road. My first thought when I read about it this morning was..okay do whatever you have to do to ban people from texting or surfing the web or playing games while driving but you can’t stop them from talking on the phone..especially if it’s a hands-free phone. What’s next.., banning radios from vehicles so driver’s aren’t distracted when they want to change stations? Or how about GPS systems? No way they should be visible to the driver. In fact, PASSENGERS should not be allowed; especially kids in the back seat; too distracting. Make no mistake, texting while driving is just plain dumb and extremely dangerous and I’d be in favor of anyway to legislate its elimination..but to outlaw drivers from all cell phone use just isn’t realistic. This is one of those proposed laws aimed at making proponents feel good about themselves but it’s not necessary and totally unenforceable. I’m afraid, though, they may speak out with such force as to pressure the feds into withholding highway money (legalized extortion)from states that don’t comply.
At the risk of sounding like the old guy yelling at kids to get off my lawn, l just don’t understand this constant need to be texting in the first place… or tweeting for that matter. Why isn’t calling and speaking directly to people good enough? On our recent trip to New England we toured a couple college campuses, including Harvard.and MIT. I was a bit surprised to see all these brilliant students walking around from building to building without ever looking up from their I-Phones; great peripheral vision too because none of them were run down crossing the streets even though it’s likely most of the drivers were texting or surfing too.
Hey, maybe everybody should be required to get around on motorcycles or snowmobiles..earch requires the use of both hands; problem solved.
Into my third cup of joe now and my headache’s gone. It could be due in part to the wonderful Christmas tunes playing in the background. I don’t mind some of the jazzy versions of Christmas standards but If I never hear another rendition of Deck The Halls by Trans-Siberian Orchestra or an electronic rendering of Mr. Grinch by Manheim Steamroller, it’ll be too soon. Oh, and does anybody else wish they could leave the room whenever someone breaks into a rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas..the song that never ends? I also don’t find songs written in minor keys to be very uplifting or mood enhancing; songs like We Three Kings (which I was forced into singing with my cousin Lawrence and classmate, John Bjerke during the Christmas Church program every year in our youth) What Child is This..or Little Drummer Boy. (pa rum pa pa pum)
Geeze Lund, you sound like Scrooge before his conversion.
Shopping at a busy Chinese outlet store like Wally World will do that to ya.