Okay, so, had to take a few days for my husband’s knee surgery.  Doing fabulous!

So, today, I figured I’d better get on with it, since already the spam crap has hit the blog.  Cleaned that out and set it up for mobile users, and checked my e-mail.  THAT provided fodder for today’s blog.

We will eventually get around to some specific topics, and hopefully draw a few more of you into a conversation, however, today’s is such a subject of contention for those of us who have ANY sense of manners or decency, or let’s go so far as to suggest common sense???

Being a member of internet groups.

Just because you are sitting at your desk, in your bed, in a cab, or on a plane, and have some privacy does not mean you throw all conventional behavior out the window.

Remember, if you have a gripe with someone in particular, or have more personal comments to address to or about that person, PLEASE do NOT involve the entire community in your drivel.  BE AWARE that when you post to a group, how many people receive that post that has NOTHING to do with THEM and they DO NOT CARE about your personal preferences, empathy, or your other non-essential commentary.

Just because you are unemployed, retired, or otherwise just sitting on your ass wasting a beautiful spring day inside on the computer does not mean that they are.  Many people lead very productive, busy lives, employed or not.  For a variety of reasons, they choose to receive these messages individually and DO NOT CARE to be subjected to your ridiculous, no need to state to the public, comment.

SPARE yourself the reputation as a moron, and learn that on Face Book, you have the “private message” option, which is that little button on a person’s home page that says “Message.”  Go to their page, put in their name and you will find it.

THERE is where the two of you can commiserate all day long about your bursitis or whatever the hell the issue is, that ONLY the two of you care about and need to discuss between the two of you!

There is also the little “chat” button on the bottom right hand corner that you can use to.  That way, you can drivel with three or four people at once!

In Yahoo Groups, READ the GUIDELINES!!!  When you join a group, give a BRIEF introduction of yourself, wait a day for everyone to give individual welcomes, and THEN address them as a group, thanking them for the warm welcome.  You can e-mail them individually if more personal contact is made.  No one cares to read about how you both love to make home made jelly and how you do it.  If they do, they still do not want their phones, notebooks, computers or other devices binging on and off all day as you two go back and forth about the best way to cook up your apples.

If there is a topic on the board, then keep your post to the topic, DO NOT take up other people’s time with your lack of service by someone on the group, or BASH people.  If you paid for something and didn’t get it, then take it up PERSONALLY OUTSIDE of the group.

On Face Book, keep your comments related to the TOPIC of the PAGE.  Don’t wish people happy birthday, or bring up other people if they are not members of the PAGE GROUP, advertise your own work, or anything not related to the TOPIC.  People have cross over interests, and go to those PAGES to enjoy the SUBJECTS of the PAGE, not deal with the same boring conversation that they get elsewhere.

ALSO, just because someone is a member of the same group, does not mean that they want to be your personal friend on Face Book.  It also doesn’t mean that they do not like you if they do not accept your friend request.  If they deal with you on a page, they may not feel the need to have you intertwined into their everyday life.  People today lead complicated lives and compartmentalizing them via Face Book and Yahoo can really work for them.

It’s okay to make friends outside of the group and keep it that way.  DO NOT TALK ABOUT OTHER GROUPS within the confines of a group for which all the members of said group are not members.  Yahoo and Face Book groups are like churches, members get into it with one another and next thing you know, there’s a new church on the corner or a new group started up.

Lastly, let’s talk about photographs.  IF YOU DIDN’T TAKE IT, DON’T SHARE IT WITH ANOTHER GROUP!  On Face Book, if it requires more than clicking the “share” button to share it, then DON’T!  Don’t share a friend’s album with your friends.

So pretend that instead of sitting alone, miles away from any of the people you interact with, where you feel safe making snide comments, or wasting other people’s valuable time with your drivel, that you have to face these people every day, and you might find that your internet behavior improves.

So, now that I have wasted some very valuable time inside, it is time to go outside into the gorgeous Spring weather.

Have a great day!

D. B.

Okay, so I let a few folks know that I’ve started this.  I hope they understand that it is important that they make some comments here. 🙂 !  At the same time, we did get a little comment from yesterday, so based upon my research before starting this, I did okay!  LOL!

I have to say, that yesterday’s blog was inspired by my third trip to that shop, in which unfortunately, Red, got to put the toppings on my sandwich.  I watched her like a hawk, and was grateful to see her ever vigilant manager there and the other woman with her cheery greeting, who could have made all the sandwiches for the entire shop in the time it took Red to put the toppings on my toasted sandwich.  As for the wrapping, all I can say is “Oh MY GOD!”   Jarrod would be appalled.  Why this girl has a job mystifies me.  Are we that hard up for help.

I guess what I was trying to say yesterday, was that with all the professionals out of work, who need to feed their families, employers turn down these people because of their fear of leaving for professional employment.  WHY NOT HIRE THEM ANYWAY????

Come on, they will be there every day, happy to have a job, and understand the importance of being there, on time, doing the job to the best of their ability, making use of down time to clean up the place, speeding up when they have an overabundance of customers and able to make that customer service friendly idle chit chat.  Hell, they might even give some type of tip to customers in other areas.

Is that really such a risk compared to a teenager with a baby, who calls in sick, regardless of the fact that it is the busiest day of the week, coughs all over your bread, looks at you with dead eyes, and drags your order across the counter and rings you up without even looking at you?  One that has to look at pictures of the food on the register??? And my all time pet peeve, can’t count the change back to you!

I have to run out for an appointment, but have something else to talk about later.  For those of you who want to continue with my blog, please note, you can follow it by clicking on some buttons, and it will notify you or something.  Blogging is new to me, but it will be very helpful to me if you do follow!

Have a great day, it’s beautiful here in the South, at least for today.

D. B.

Nowadays, it’s always something, isn’t ?

Take today.  I had some errands to run and decided to stop at Subway to get some sandwiches to take home.  Well, I have been to this particular shop two times before.  The first time I was there, I watched in horror, as the red haired white female clerk coughed all over the bread of the two young white female customers.  They, too, were horrified, but said nothing.  Fortunately the black female manager calls across to this spreader of disease to throw the bread away.  This girl, looked back and said, “Huh?”

I mean come ON!  Who does not know that a) it is beyond common courtesy to cover one’s mouth when coughing, b) that she has just spread her cold germs all over her gloved hands AND the customer’s bread! and c) this is the reason we have health codes and inspections!  As Will Smith so aptly says in Men in Black, “I mean, DAMN!”

The slovenly girl does so, still wearing those germ topped gloves, when the manager instructs her clueless self to go in the back.  Oh, the girl wasted no time going to the back and then out to the seating area, where she took a drink of her soda and wrapped up her own sandwich.

Meanwhile, the poor manager, who has to be a mother, etiquette coach, sandwich maker, AND manager, comes over, tosses that second loaf of bread in the trash and begins making the orders.

I am relieved as this woman begins to make my order, and as she does so, Red (I’m sure you know who I mean), shuffles back into the food area, puts her hand under the soap dispenser, where I could not discern whether or not she really got a dollop of soap, and holds her hand under the water, sort of rubbing her palms together slowly.  I don’t know about you all, but my momma made me WASH my hands, not rub them together.

Unfortunately for those behind me, Red began with the sandwich making again, all the while clueless.  The lack of care, concern, or motivation to work was clear in her eye.

I thanked the manager privately, informing her that I would have spoken up had she not.  She told me that she has to do this with several of her staff, and stated that Red had a baby.

Okay, so the point of all this ranting is this:  We wonder what the hell has happened to America, this is what has happened.

Where we were once a proud nation, proud to do a good job no matter what job it was, we have reduced ourselves to a society of people, who just do not care.  I am beginning to think that this is the norm rather than the exception.

I mean, with all the adults who have responsibilities on their shoulders who are out of professional work, who would be happy for the opportunity to work there and do a good job, we are forced to eat sandwiches made by someone who at best will spread her young child’s contagion to us!

Why????  Well we’ll address that another day.

Feel free to give your ideas on why we are in such a situation!

Leave it to me to start blogging on Easter Sunday, followed by April Fool’s Day.  Let’s be careful about who and what we do today.  Making fools of other people is not necessarily a good thing.  People don’t forget feeling foolish publically.  So, have some light fun, but don’t get too serious.

Many times, it is something exactly like this that results in tragedy, or the ending of a friendship.

Sometimes, it is a telling sign about who your friends really are.

I just hope the bank tellers aren’t playing April Fools Day as I have a deposit to make and dog food to buy.

So take care and beware today!  The crazies are at their best on a day like this!

D. B.