Please forgive the upcoming Diatribe. I think my generation was the last as a group to be taught manners. My Generation being the folks from 36-42 years of age. It amazes me and pisses me off how many people are rude. I went to High school and College in alabama. Southerners, in general, I think are stricter about manners and raising their children to have them. I have come into contact with so many people that have no idea how to react in social situations. What is going to happen to them when they start to look for a job? They will probably work at a drive through. So many of my experiences with bad manners have occured with a teenager or a person in their 20's at a drive through. The McDonalds nearest my job has the rudest employees I have ever met. Not to mention that their grasp on the english language is disgusting, but I digress. So for those unfortunate folks here is a list of do's and don'ts.
When some one sneezes please say "Bless you"
When some one says "Bless you" when you sneeze, please say "thank you"
When some one says "Hello, How are you today?" Please respond with "Hello, I am fine, Thanks. And you?' Also Acceptable "I am well, and you?" or " I am fantastic, and yourself?"
NOT ACCEPTABLE! No response. or grunting (grunting is not a response) or "I am good"
It is polite to ask the person how they are as well.
If someone holds the door open for you as you are entering or exiting a building. Please respond with "Thank you" Also acceptable "that is so nice of you, Thank you." or "Thank you. Have a nice Day"
When answering a telephone it is polite to say "Hello" it is not acceptable to say "Yeah" or "What?"
Our world is centered on text messaging, Iming, updating our facebook or tweeting, we are forgetting that there are actual living, breathing people that we come in contact with everyday. Most of our interactions are just a few minutes long. How hard is it to be polite and ask the cashier at the bank or grocery store "how they are?" or to wish them a good day when you are leaving.
When I lived in Montgomery, this was the norm. Every store you went into you were greeted with a smile and a "Hello" When I still lived with my dad, we would sit on the porch and people would wave as they drove by. Even if we didn't know them.
Since I now live in Ohio, I have noticed that manners are a hit or a miss. Hey parents, stop watching tv for a few minutes, and lets teach our children to be polite and courteous. It will benefit them for the majority of their lives.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Memorial Day
Today for so many people is the kick off to the summer. It starts the summer cookout season. John and I are heading to wooster to cook out with Randy. Then we are off to maple heights with Sasha to cook out with Warren and Jim.
Today my family is gathering for a cookout. I of course will not be attending because of the 15 hour drive. I am finding it harder and harder to not be around my family. Even though they drive me crazy. I can;t count how many birthdays, holidays, and special events I have only been a 10 minute phone call. I have missed my neices and nephew growing up. Uncle Jasen is just a person they see every few years.
When I was growing up we were surrounded by Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We had family picinics several times a summer and hung out. My Cousins were some of my best friends. I am saddened that I am not the uncle to my neices and nephew that my uncles were to me. And that is only because of the distance. I have told them that no matter what, they had a home with me and that I would be there for them. I just wish that I could back that up with my presence.
I am getting melancholy I guess because in the not so distant future my sister give birth to Aiden. I again will be a voice on the phone.
I wanted to take a minute and talk about the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we have. My friend Josh is 17 and he is enlisted. This summer he heads out to basic training. I am awed by Josh for many reasons. He is blessed with an amazingly awesome family. I have known Josh since he was 13. Everytime he sees me he gives me a great big hug. He is not worried and had never been worried about what people will say about him hugging a gay man. One time he was going to homecoming, he was asked by a young man if he would go to homecoming with him. He told the young man that he was honored, but he already had a date. He was not grossed out or offended. Watching him grow from a boy to a man has been a treat. I am proud of the man he is becoming. I am glad that he is in my life.
I don't know what it is that makes some people want to enlist and serve their country and their countrymen, and makes some people not. I am one of those that does not have it in me to enlist. I am grateful for those people. When it comes to push and shove, I know I would be able to fight for my country.
Right now it has not come to push and shove. I am proud to be an American. I am proud of the Men and Women who have what it takes to serve. I am honored that they fight for me and my family. Thank you for all that you do.
When I was growing up we were surrounded by Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We had family picinics several times a summer and hung out. My Cousins were some of my best friends. I am saddened that I am not the uncle to my neices and nephew that my uncles were to me. And that is only because of the distance. I have told them that no matter what, they had a home with me and that I would be there for them. I just wish that I could back that up with my presence.
I am getting melancholy I guess because in the not so distant future my sister give birth to Aiden. I again will be a voice on the phone.
I wanted to take a minute and talk about the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we have. My friend Josh is 17 and he is enlisted. This summer he heads out to basic training. I am awed by Josh for many reasons. He is blessed with an amazingly awesome family. I have known Josh since he was 13. Everytime he sees me he gives me a great big hug. He is not worried and had never been worried about what people will say about him hugging a gay man. One time he was going to homecoming, he was asked by a young man if he would go to homecoming with him. He told the young man that he was honored, but he already had a date. He was not grossed out or offended. Watching him grow from a boy to a man has been a treat. I am proud of the man he is becoming. I am glad that he is in my life.
I don't know what it is that makes some people want to enlist and serve their country and their countrymen, and makes some people not. I am one of those that does not have it in me to enlist. I am grateful for those people. When it comes to push and shove, I know I would be able to fight for my country.
Right now it has not come to push and shove. I am proud to be an American. I am proud of the Men and Women who have what it takes to serve. I am honored that they fight for me and my family. Thank you for all that you do.
Monday, April 23, 2012
In the eyes of the beholder
Today I started my first day of thinking differently about food, and how I react to and think of food. I have spent most of the day thinking about my family. Both of my parents are overweight, and have battled with obesity most of their lives. When I was younger I was very thin, I could eat what I wanted. Then my metabolism changed and I started to gain weight. My sense of self changed as well. We live in an age of supermodels that are unbelivably thin. Everywhere we look we are told that we are not thin enough, not rich enough, and not pretty enough. How can we as average americans live up to these ideals? I don't think we can and feel like an individual.
I work at a theatre that produces 3 shows a year that are fully cast with kids ranging in age from 7-21. During the 4 years I have been at Weathervane, I have had the oppurtunity to work with some amazingly talented young people. I have "eavesdropped" on many conversations and I have heard many young girls say that they are fat and unhappy with their bodies. I was shocked. They are 13-15 years old. Most of them with 32-36 inch busts, 26-28 inch waists. Fat is not the truth. Healthy and beautiful is the truth. When I hear them saying this I stop them, tell them that they are wrong. Then I tell them this story.
When I was 27 I went through a horrible depression. I spent three months working and laying on the couch and crying. I would get up inthe morning walk to work, then walk home. I couldn't control myself. I cried the entire walk home. Then I would lie on the couch and just cry. As I have mentioned before I am usually a very upbeat and happy person, so this was very unusual for me. At the age of 27, I didnt have the things I thought I should have had. I was single, I knew other guys who constantly had boyfriends. My Brother David was a year younger then me, he had been married for 8 years. He had 2 children, a house, and a car. He had what I thought I should have. I also thought that I was fat and ugly. I used to be thin, I used to be cute. I had often been told that I was the smart one. David was the handsome one.
One night I was in bed feeling sorry for myself. My hand was laying on my stomach. I felt the strong hip bone and the smooth softness of my belly and thought that it felt nice. Then I thought if it feels nice it must be beautiful. If I have one beautiful part, there must be more beautiful parts. If there are many beautiful parts, then isn't the whole beautiful? If the whole is beautiful, then why don't I think I am beautiful. I spent a long time thinking about how I felt about myself , and why I thought those things. I also decided that if I didn't like or love myself there was no way anyone else would be able to like or love me.
Over the 12 years that have passed I have realized that you have to love yourself for where you are on the path of your life. You are a beautiful person now. You can not live in the past. All of our experiences combine to make us into the people we are. We have to stop thinking of our lives in the past and start living for today and tomorrow.
I guess the point of this ramble is to say that we need to teach ourselves taht beauty is in how we see ourselves, not in how others see us.
Cheers.
Jasen
I work at a theatre that produces 3 shows a year that are fully cast with kids ranging in age from 7-21. During the 4 years I have been at Weathervane, I have had the oppurtunity to work with some amazingly talented young people. I have "eavesdropped" on many conversations and I have heard many young girls say that they are fat and unhappy with their bodies. I was shocked. They are 13-15 years old. Most of them with 32-36 inch busts, 26-28 inch waists. Fat is not the truth. Healthy and beautiful is the truth. When I hear them saying this I stop them, tell them that they are wrong. Then I tell them this story.
When I was 27 I went through a horrible depression. I spent three months working and laying on the couch and crying. I would get up inthe morning walk to work, then walk home. I couldn't control myself. I cried the entire walk home. Then I would lie on the couch and just cry. As I have mentioned before I am usually a very upbeat and happy person, so this was very unusual for me. At the age of 27, I didnt have the things I thought I should have had. I was single, I knew other guys who constantly had boyfriends. My Brother David was a year younger then me, he had been married for 8 years. He had 2 children, a house, and a car. He had what I thought I should have. I also thought that I was fat and ugly. I used to be thin, I used to be cute. I had often been told that I was the smart one. David was the handsome one.
One night I was in bed feeling sorry for myself. My hand was laying on my stomach. I felt the strong hip bone and the smooth softness of my belly and thought that it felt nice. Then I thought if it feels nice it must be beautiful. If I have one beautiful part, there must be more beautiful parts. If there are many beautiful parts, then isn't the whole beautiful? If the whole is beautiful, then why don't I think I am beautiful. I spent a long time thinking about how I felt about myself , and why I thought those things. I also decided that if I didn't like or love myself there was no way anyone else would be able to like or love me.
Over the 12 years that have passed I have realized that you have to love yourself for where you are on the path of your life. You are a beautiful person now. You can not live in the past. All of our experiences combine to make us into the people we are. We have to stop thinking of our lives in the past and start living for today and tomorrow.
I guess the point of this ramble is to say that we need to teach ourselves taht beauty is in how we see ourselves, not in how others see us.
Cheers.
Jasen
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Greetings from Sunnybrook Farm
Greetings. I am pushing 40. I feel like I am 19. I look in the mirror and see my ancestors and not me. I think it is so funny, (funny as Hmmm, isn't that interesting. Not Funny as in Ha Ha) that as a teenager we strive to be just like everyone else. In our 20's we start to try and find out who we really are. In our 30's we are settled into ourselves, starting to finally be happy with who we are. Then 40 comes into view. I now see my grandfather in the mirror. I hear my fathers voice coming out of my mouth. I see my mothers handwriting in my own. Why didn't some one tell me that after all those years of soul searching, experimentation, laughter and anguish to become an individual that genetics would have the last laugh. I am a combination of myself and of my parents. I am the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So dear reader. Here is a brief biography of your author. The most important thing you need to know about me is that I am an optimist. An optimist through and through. So if seeing the silver lining pisses you off. You might want to stop reading now.
You have been warned!!!!
I am a Costume Designer, living in Akron, Ohio. I love what I do. I will post photos of pieces that I am working on occassionaly.
I am in the begining of an 8 year relationship with my partner John. We have a gaggle of dogs. (What is it with the gay's and their dogs?) John and I are very much opposites. John is quiet and conservative. I am not. John is shy. I am not. John is reserved. I am not. But we work, and I love him.
I was born and raised in Connecticut, but my real life didn't begin until 1990 when I moved to the tiny town of Hartford, Alabama. For me that is when my life really began. I will go into that later on.
I am wanting to use this blog to aid in several ways.
First as I approach my 40th year in August. I would like to loose 30 pounds.
I am thinking of becoming a vegetarian again. John didn't like the sound of that. He is a corn fed meat eater. I want to use this blog as a diary of my experiences with Vegetarianism and my weight loss.
Second. I want to use this as a way to clear my head of many thoughts that pop in. To be able to look back and see the way I think about some topics and if possible learn and grow to be a better human being.
Thirdly, I hope that some of my musings and thoughts could help another person.
I look forward to sharing my small corner of the world with you.
Cheers
Jasen
So dear reader. Here is a brief biography of your author. The most important thing you need to know about me is that I am an optimist. An optimist through and through. So if seeing the silver lining pisses you off. You might want to stop reading now.
You have been warned!!!!
I am a Costume Designer, living in Akron, Ohio. I love what I do. I will post photos of pieces that I am working on occassionaly.
I am in the begining of an 8 year relationship with my partner John. We have a gaggle of dogs. (What is it with the gay's and their dogs?) John and I are very much opposites. John is quiet and conservative. I am not. John is shy. I am not. John is reserved. I am not. But we work, and I love him.
I was born and raised in Connecticut, but my real life didn't begin until 1990 when I moved to the tiny town of Hartford, Alabama. For me that is when my life really began. I will go into that later on.
I am wanting to use this blog to aid in several ways.
First as I approach my 40th year in August. I would like to loose 30 pounds.
I am thinking of becoming a vegetarian again. John didn't like the sound of that. He is a corn fed meat eater. I want to use this blog as a diary of my experiences with Vegetarianism and my weight loss.
Second. I want to use this as a way to clear my head of many thoughts that pop in. To be able to look back and see the way I think about some topics and if possible learn and grow to be a better human being.
Thirdly, I hope that some of my musings and thoughts could help another person.
I look forward to sharing my small corner of the world with you.
Cheers
Jasen
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