There was an interesting article today about how most Americans want an easier way to fire teachers, but since I already had this rant going in my head, I wanted to run with it.

I went to one of the local warehouse clubs (not giving them a shout out here, since gas is three cents cheaper today then it was yesterday when I actually bought it.)  I find when I am out in public, that most people wander around with their heads at least part way up their asses, and today was no exception.   Ok, I should have known better than to wander down the toy aisle when there was actually a child in it, my bad!

I went through one of those self checkouts, which I usually find to be quicker than a traditional cashier and most people avoid it like H1N1 was all over it, so that helps as well.  As I exited the register an older woman (hard to tell the age since the 60 of today looks a lot better than say the 60 of my grandmother, honestly I would have said my mother but if she ever finds out about this blog I’d be in a bunch of shit) exits from a register ahead of me.  She walks a little bit, but then stops next to a gentleman on one of those electric shopping seats and they chat for a minute effectively blocking me from exiting the store.  Then the man starts ‘driving’ and she follows with me behind her. He parks his cart and gets up and she moves forward, and then he follows her and somehow I am still behind them!  Now honestly I am not trying to bash or badmouth older people or people with handicaps, but do you think these two practiced this skit at home?  He walks ever so slowly in front of me and they do the same routine in the foyer, so I don’t get to actually past him until we are outside the club.  After I loaded my car and started to leave I noticed that Laurel was actually parked in front of the doors and was helping Hardy load the groceries. 

I started driving back to work and as I approached the main road, this “older” lady pulls out in front of me and slows down!  Now, I don’t care if you pull out in front of me, but MOVE!  I’m a woman on a mission; Sammy Hagar wrote a song about me, “I CAN’T Drive 55!” As I pass her I scream out, God lady I don’t care if you pull out in front of me, but move your FREAKING car!!  

The road I was traveling on is two lanes one each side, I have car 1 (I’ll refer to as “slow”) in the right hand lane and car two (“slower”) in the left hand lane, except somehow slow is slower and so I have to resort to the bobandweave theory of driving, speed up pass, speed up pass just so I can’t get in the correct lane and move along at a good clip.

Then I got behind a car with a bumper sticker that said, “Autism Awareness.”  A thought came to mind, but some things are better left unsaid.

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about the TSA and their “x-ray” machines as well as the people complaining about getting groped.  In fact, my daughter who will be flying home for Christmas told me she wanted to deal as minimally as possible with the TSA.  When I asked her why she said, “I don’t want someone touching my junk.”  Go through the machine was my response, but she said she didn’t want the radiation (for lack of a better word.)

As fate/luck would have it I went to the airport today to pick up a friend.  Normally I pull up and wait at the curb for a few minutes, if I am there too long a guard comes over and tells me to go around the airport.  That’s what happened today, but it was much quicker than normal.  So after I did my tour around the airport (5 minutes for anyone who is wondering) I got to the curb to find my friend waiting.  After he settled in, I said I’m sorry I’m late but the guards were kind of hinky today.  How was it dealing with the TSA?

Fine he said, I went through the machine, they saw the metal in my knee (he had a knee replaced last year) and they cleared me. So naturally we started talking about the “pat down.”  Of which I’ve heard numerous complaints.  He told me when they “pat” you down, they actually grab you and squeeze.   That got me thinking, so I have two choices?  I can either pollute my body by going through the machine or I can be groped by a stranger.  I wondered, how does this work,  can I choose the person who gropes me?   Maybe I can request a Johnny Depp look-alike, wouldn’t that be cool?  Of course then I may have to see where I can have a cigarette after it’s over.  Should I offer him one as well?  Maybe it would be the start of something special, I would go up to the airport day after day trying to get a pat down.

Of course I jest, but what about people with small children,  I mean they tell us that x-rays are safe, but when I go to the dentist they put a LEAD cape on me!  At the hospital if I can’t prove I’m in menopause then they will make me take a pregnancy test, but these machines are safe?  So if you don’t want to expose your child to the harmful rays of the machine, they can be groped by a stranger?  I cannot imagine having to make that choice.  So I decided to do a little investigating.

I went to the TSA website and did a little reading, if I understand it correctly, you will only (and I use the word lightly) be asked for further screening if you set off the initial metal detector machine.  There are steps you can take to make sure you don’t set the machine off and they are listed on the website.  I also discovered that your “pat down” will come from a member of the same sex…there goes my Johnny Depp fantasy, but I may still pick up a pack of smokes before heading to the airport, you never know when you might get lucky!

So apparently there is a critic, Alastair Macauley who writes for the NY Times and he did a review of “The Nutcracker.”  I couldn’t find his column but I did find a quote on Jezebel where he said the ballerina Jennifer Ringer who is playing the part of the Sugar Plum fairy, “looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many.”  Naturally there was an outcry from the public as Ms. Ringer has admitted to having an eating disorder in the past.  Mr. Macauley defended himself with these comments.

As I said, I couldn’t find the column in question, but I did read his response to the outcry.  He does make a point that he has referred to other performers (all males) by various words used to describe someone who is heavier than is perceived to be normal.  Are people pissed off because he is calling a recovering anorexic fat? 

I cannot speak for the general population, but I can speak for myself.  I don’t believe a critic should be making comments about people’s appearances, regardless if they are male or female; fat or thin.  His job as a critic is to critique the performance, the staging, lighting, sound effects, costumes etc.  Not the physical appearance of the performer. 

Since no-one knows what another person’s life journey is about, we should be careful who we throw stones at.