NOT being hungry

as well we should, we talk a lot about (and, i hope, do a lot about)the problem of hunger. one thing i do, for example, is every time i go to kroger, i opt to "round up" my total to the nearest dollar, with the extra money going, where i live, to the mid-ohio food bank.

but, as i was rounding up yesterday, it struck me that those who provide me my food never get the time of day. we're always so focused on giving our time and treasure to some hungry person out there that we never stop to think about - much less thank - the people right in front of our faces who are shelling out food to us every. single. day.

like the guy who stocks the shelves. when you get right down to it, we should probably be more grateful for him than anybody else in the whole wide world. when was the last time you walked into a grocery store and hoped and prayed and held your breath that something would be on the shelves?

or the check-out person. what a thankless (but shouldn't be) job. she gets the distinct pleasure of conducting perfectly legal, usually friendly business with you, in the interest of filling your mouth and stomach, and you're standing there simmering over how much it all costs and being pissed off that you're gonna have to go home and unload all this crap.


last year, for every day during advent, abby and eli had charlie and olivia do something good for another human being, often for the ones that are typically overlooked and taken for granted. like the guys who pick up their trash - they made them a big "thank you" sign and gave them each a candy cane.

and one day, in the cold and the rain, eli took them to kroger and they gathered up all the wayward grocery carts in the parking lot - you know, the ones you're supposed to put in the corral but you don't - and then they went inside, found the guy whose regular job it is to gather wayward grocery carts, and they gave him a homemade thank you card. and a candy cane.

those kinda guys. we take 'em for granted. we get so caught up in giving to or working for a charity that we forget the whole other side of the hunger coin - the haves. and especially, the ones who make it easy for the haves to have it.



so,thank you, kroger.

thank you, farmers.



and thank you, abby and eli. i'm stocking up on candy canes right now. 

everybody wanted me to be angry.

everybody wanted me to be angry when my husband left. but i wasn't. not that i didn't have my moments - i'm human - but mostly, anger isn't what i felt. and even when it was, i tried to replace it with something better. i tried to replace it with love.

for the most part, i have succeeded.



anger is a very popular emotion these days. everybody thinks it's essential to being "healthy." which is sad - because it hardly ever does any good. and even when it does, most of the time (if not all of the time) the good that it does could have been accomplished another way - a better way - by being loving instead of being all pissed off and alienating folks - including, usually, the very one(s)you are hoping your anger will motivate to change.


in other words, if you can kill more flies with honey than with vinegar, why do you keep using vinegar?


because you think anger is righteous. you think you're entitled to it. maybe you think you're setting an example for others (oh, you are. believe me........you are) and maybe you think you're being somebody's hero. maybe you think you're standing up for not just yourself but for whole groups of people as in, say with my example, for all wives who've been dumped by their husbands.

and, ok, maybe your anger is righteous. maybe you are entitled to it. maybe (no, definitely) you are setting an example. but with your way of handling things, i don't want you on anybody's fire department.

one of the angriest things in the world is fire. it literally rages out of control. but other than destruction, what does it accomplish?


and how do firefighters fight it? with matches? or with cold water?


do you consider a firefighter who enters carefully, selflessly - and yes, lovingly - to be a wimp? i don't. i consider him to be exactly what you're trying to be  with your anger........on top. the winner. a hero.

vindicated.


buddha said, "hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love."


if you don't believe me......


believe him.

some things are just plain weird. they can also be just plain great.

what you need to know before you read this post: donna rankin is my mom. "the floodies" is her nickname for the last name (flood) of her (and my dad's) best friends. a.j. is the wife in the "floodies." marti is their daughter. nancy (not me) is their other daughter. i've been friends with her since we were itty bitty. my mom writes better than she thinks she does. and so, this is what "i" wrote for "her."  ok.........GO!




(donna rankin doesn’t like to use the phone so donna rankin makes nancy rankin use it for her.)

“call the floodies, nan, and tell them to be here at 8!”

“I don’t wanna call the “floodies,” mom, YOU call the floodies! they’re YOUR floodies!”

i don’t know how many times i heard that during my growing up years. i probably heard it at least 40 days and 40 nights. (get it? 40 days? 40 nights? floodies? FLOOD? never mind.)

but…….because I heard “call the floodies” so many times in my youth, i really wasn’t too surprised when i heard it again last night…….”NAN! QUICK! write a little thingy about a.j. for me, will ya?”

“a little thingy? what kinda little thingy?”

“marti’s getting a book together for a.j.’s 90^th birthday and you’re the writer in the family, not me…..write me up a little thingy, ok?”

“well……”

“oh, come on, nan! just a little thingy about how a.j. and i have been such good friends through the years. through thick and thin. i can’t write……you can write! just write me up a little thingy and then you print it off and i’ll add a little hand-written note at the bottom. you know…….explaining that i can’t write but i am smart enough to ask you to write. and i am also honest enough not to try to pass somebody else’s work off as my own.  I don’t want a.j. to think i’m a plagiarizer.”

“i think a.j. knows you well enough, mom, to know you’re not a plagiarizer.”

“well.”

“so……..o.k. I guess i can do that. i hope i can.”

“oh, you can. nothin’ to it. just write about what a wonderful friend a.j. has been to me all these years. you know…….how we’ve been through so much together and we’re just two good friends. just two, good, good friends. you know. ever since you and nancy were little, for heaven’s sake! write about that. write about how a.j. has been my best friend for as long as i can remember, but, i won’t take the credit…..you’ll get the credit!”

“well…….o.k…….this is sorta weird, but………o.k.”

“oh, it’s not weird. just say what a good friend to me a.j.  is.  i can’t put it into words like you can. you’re the one who’s good with words, not me. just say how she has been my best friend for all these years and how I wouldn’t know what to do without her. it’s not weird at all……… best thing ever, actually.”

hello…….mrs. flood? this is nancy rankin……..

:)

of course i have an opinion about facebook!

someone remarked to me today that he doesn't understand why so many people feel the need to voice so many of their opinions via social media.

i don't understand why more people don't.

i don't understand being on facebook and never saying anything. it's like going to a concert and keeping your ears closed. or, at least, one of 'em.

it's like subscribing to a newspaper and never reading it. or only reading a section or two. if all you want is the sports, buy sports illustrated.

being on twitter and never saying anything is like going to the pool and never getting in. 

what the hell is the point of that?

it's like going to a party and sitting in the corner.

it's also a little creepy, if you want to know the truth. it's like you're a ghost or a spy or a peeping tom or something. it's a little creepy.

they call it social media for two reasons. and only one of 'em is.....

media.