A kinder, gentler Madge

MadgeWorld is populated with people of strong opinions. People who may jump-to-conclusions. People who might take one look at stupid behavior and think to themselves, "hmmm, there goes a stupid person. Why are they taking up precious resources that the rest of us could benefit from?" People might not actually BE stupid, they might only look stupid.

That behavior might be a little off putting to some. My kids, for example. Occasionally, my daughters tell me that I'm way too critical. When I rant at them for their catty remarks, they give me the skunk eye that says, "well, we learned it from YOU." So, in the spirit of self-improvement and to set an example for the younger generation we offer you:

Birthday Resolution #2
Fewer harsh, judgemental, opinionated observations of the General Public.

Examples:
Someone driving a Hummer in a non-combat situation-- I'm no longer going to look at him and think, "Sheesh, that rich SOB is truly a pretentious, insecure energy pig." No. Not going to do that anymore. It's just a guy trying to protect his precious cargo. Because Minneapolis is so dangerous.

What about that guy who gives me the finger while I'm trying to merge onto 35W. He's not a complete jackass. No, sir. He's just waving at me. I'm going to practice the Zen of driving. He's just another minor obstacle to be avoided. Have a nice day. Ohmmmmm.

Or the couple running around the lake this morning with a double-wide off-road stroller and two giant dogs. The entire litter refused to give way to anyone. No, they're are not self-centered and inconsiderate. They're just so focused on their family moment that they don't notice OTHER PEOPLE are WALKING on the path.

Or any one of the young professionals I work with. College educated young professionals. Often overheard saying, "Her and I . . ." or "I seen. . ."
I'm not going to assume they are idiots. Or wonder how they earned their degree. Or assume that their roommate wrote their papers. They're just a couple of youngsters who simply forgot some of the BASIC RULES OF GRAMMAR in their mother tongue. I'm going to gently say, "certainly you mean SHE and I. SHE. SHE. SHE." Sheesh. I'm even going to overlook the confusion about when to use "fewer" and "lesser." This last example may send some of you scurrying through this post looking for a typo, misplaced punctuation or speeling error. Be kind. Find the errors in this post and you get a prize.

Golly, it's time for my milk and cookies and I'm so looking forward to watching Pollyanna before I go to bed.

Of course, by next week I'll probably be commenting on the sons-of-bitches who gave me a door ding in the parking lot. Or the bastards who have the "support our troops" sticker on their gas-guzzling SUV. But a middle-aged gal can dream, can't she.

Listening to: Sunny Side of the Street, Count Basie