Tim HortonSo I was out with Marlene today. She wanted to go through the Burger King Drive-thru at the corner of Long Pond and Ridgeway. At that corner, they are building a Tim Hortons AND a Starbucks with drive-thru capability.
Marlene: Do you know what is the stupidest person I've ever met?
Me (annoyed): No, Mom. WHAT is the stupidest person you've ever met?
Marlene: That they're building a Starbucks next to a Tim Horton's. That's so stupid. The traffic will be even worse on this corner.
Since Charlie was crying, I didn't follow up on the conversation. Now that I've gotten around to thinking about it, I wonder who the stupidest person is: Tim Horton or Starbuck?
C is for CookieWhen I was home caring for Charlie, before I went back to work, my mother would come over to help. One day, my husband sent me a link to a news story about Cookie Monster. Sesame Street had introduced a new muppet to encourage children to eat fruit and vegetables. This new muppet sang a song to the Cookie Monster called "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food".
This greatly upset Marlene.
"The PC police!," she said angrily. "They got to Sesame Street! Now they'll retire Cookie Monster." She was quiet for a moment. "Cookie Monster was part of your childhood, Kim. Now it's over."
(Dear reader, please note there was nothing in the article about discontinuing Cookie Monster.)
A week later, my mother brought over a package of Pampers Bibsters. Bibsters are disposable bibs, that happen to be quite expensive. I felt uncomfortable using them because they create an unnecessary waste. I told my mom this and she rolled her eyes at me. Maybe I was becoming too PC, too. I told her to keep them at her house.
"Do you know why I bought these?", she asked.
"Because you are pure consumer? Really, I don't know, Mom."
"Open the box. Look who's on the bib! It's Cookie Monster."
"Yeah, so?" I asked her.
"These will be collector items some day, since they are killing off Cookie."
I didn't even want to go there with her. I think she envisions Cookie Monster dying of some gluttonous condition, maybe overeating or a heart attack. I don't think Children's Television Workshop would do that.
Since then, Marlene has bought Charlie a Cookie Monster t-shirt. She reminded me that, this shirt would too be a collector's item.
According to Marlene, it's the end of Sesame Street as we know it.
Revisiting an Old Argument
I haven't written in over a month because, between work and caring for Charlie, I haven't the energy. Charlie has been trying because he has colic. He screams constantly. This is important to remember; my patience has been on edge for quite some time. This led to last night's argument.
My family came over after my brother, Pat's, eighth grade graduation. My father bought enough Chinese food from Yummy House to feed a small state. Although Charlie was good during most of the day, he became fussy around bed time. Mark and I took turns eating and caring for the baby.
It was almost nine o'clock when I sat down to dinner. My family had pretty much eaten and were sitting around talking. I'm not even sure how the topic came up, but someone, Peter, I think, mentioned hookers.
Peter: I saw a woman walking down the street yesterday without a purse.
Me: (rolling eyes) God, Pete, you assume the worse. (to Marlene) Mom, I don't even believe your theory about hookers not having purses. I think you are making it up.
Mom: (horrified) It's true! Hookers don't carry purses. I saw a crime report on the news and some guy was on Lyell Avenue. And they asked the guy how you can spot a hooker and he said they don't carry purses! Peter saw it with me.
(Peter nods in agreement.)
Me: (angry) Well, that's just swell! You know, I have somewhat useful hobbies; I knit, I cross stitch and I write. Peter inherited your hooker-spotting techniques.
Mom: You're just jealous.
