Sitting here

I’m sitting here at Wendy’s having some Chili and Asian Style Buffalo Wings. I have had a cold for the last week, and am back at work, but not ready to get back to the gym.

I forgot to put a book in the car, so I’m sitting here looking at the back of the little placemat they put in your food tray. On the back they suggest that you have Family game night, and then they give you a few ideas, and that’s all fine, but I have no kids, so the games they suggest, we are not going to be playing, maybe when we get really older.

Also, on the back of this placemat, there is this silly game where they have this drawing, which has a thousand little drawing of animals, electrical tools, car planes, and whatever all jumbled up, upside down and sideways, and you are supposed to have a competition to see how can find the most of whatever they suggest that you find.

So I am sitting there by myself looking at this thing. Category “Things you can eat” so I see a picture of a cow, I think to myself, well I suppose you can eat a cow, but I don’t think of a cow as something you can eat, well not until after you butcher it, process it and all that stuff, so no, a cow is not something you eat.

Next up… a picture of a baby bottle, well you eat what in a baby bottle, but you don’t eat baby bottles, well okay I know technically it’s a drink, but I think they mean eat or drink.
So that one is a no, no eating of baby bottles, next up, a picture of a tomato, that one is a definite yes. I eat tomatoes.

Peaches, yes, oranges, yes, apples, yes, electric drills, no, fishbowls, no, tennis rackets no.

Next up, Salt and Pepper shakers, well one uses Salt and pepper to season your food, but one does not eat salt and Peppers shakers, so that’s a no.

Anyway that’s my day.

Happy Valentine's Day

I clearly remember my first Valentine's Day. I was in first grade. A few days before, my mom asked how many kids were in my class, and we went to a store and bought large packages of valentines -- one for every child in the class. The cards were all the same size and said, basically, the same thing.

When I arrived at school, each classmate had a small box on his or her desk. At some point during the day, I went around the room and gave each child a valentine. There was one for the quiet one in the back, the most popular girl in class, the prettiest and even the boys. This was long before society taught me that such a show of affection had to exclude people of the same gender as me. By the end of the day, everyone had a full box of valentines to take home.

One desk, one box ... the love of a child.

As I grew older, society taught me to narrow my offering of affection, picking only those I chose to be special or worthy. Eventually, I was taught to limit my valentines to only one person. More time went on, and then a card was not enough. To show that really special person what she meant to you, you needed to send flowers, candy and jewelry.

Apparently, as we grew older it took more and more to fill those boxes. Now we absolutely could not give to more than one person. People hire detectives to make sure that the person isn't filling anyone else's. And if you had no one to send you anything, you were saddened by your big, empty box filled only with sadness and despair.

Today, I am taking back from society what it has taken from me. I'm counting how many people play a role in my life, and I am buying "virtual" packages of cards. I have one for every single one of you -- man or woman, young or old, straight or gay, married or single. Each card is the same size, they all say the same thing -- that I appreciate who you are and what you have to contribute to each other.

I invite each and every one to do the same, so that no box is empty and the shy ones, the pretty ones, the popular ones and those who are less so go home tonight with a full box of valentines.

One virtual desk, one virtual box, and the love of a child at heart. I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day. -