I can smell Friday on the wind.

Only a few more days to go and it will be here. A magical time for those that are Mon-Fri workers, yes, the ephemeral Friday. Wohoo!! I love that word.

FRIDAY is such a fun word.
Anyway, I do have something of note to say today, believe it or not.

I am not sure when it happened, but the world changed and not for the better. I was discussing something with a friend of mine and it hit me. We are not nice people any more. I mean, I was raised in the south, where hospitality is a given. At least, it used to be. I don't know if its that the world is moving so fast, or that people view others with such suspicion, but nobody is as nice as they once were.

Even the emoticons are mean!!


When I was a kid, we had the 'slow' kids in the same class. Due to the lack of funds for special schools, the insistence on the part of the parents for them to go to the regular classes and schools or whatever. I don't mean those with the garden variety learning disabilities either. I mean, slow, mild to moderately retarded. I don't care if it aggravates you for me to use the word retarded, I mean it in the clinical sense. We had them in our classes, buses and playgrounds.

But, unlike those today, you didn't hear about them being beaten up, raped, molested or what have you. Maybe it was that they didn't let that sort of thing out. I, myself know for a fact that if you messed with those kids you were asking for an ass whipping and from me as well as the others.

Was it a southern thing? A small school community where everyone is related to everyone, or your daddy works with their daddy, or mothers are best friends may sound restrictive but it has an advantage.

You do something wrong, think you got away with it......
Go home, foolish one, and your mother will be waiting at the door with this face. Because someone has told on you! Yeah, Cuz Alice, Uncle Bob, Aunt Tildy, they were watching for you to step out of line. Back then, it ticked me off, now? I'd welcome the help LOL. That saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." Its true, in part, but it takes a mama to pick up the phone and say she did WHAT? Ooh, just wait til she gets home.

And in my time, there would be a belt to whip your ass with. However, I am not opening the can of worms that corporal punishment would bring about, so not going there. (I will say that my mother is a champeen ass whipper and I was a good kid because of it) So, you were a nicer, more polite kid not so quick to hit or be really mean to the others and especially not to the little kids with less than you either mentally, physically or financially.

Maybe if we sectioned everything off into smaller bits, towns, states, whatever, this sort of thing would come back. I miss it, the sweet slow smiles and the hi there darlin's. Now, they just look straight ahead and think.. Don't sue me, please don't sue me. How very modern. How very sad. Tomorrow is Hump Day, but I am going to try and make it, be extra sweet day. (I said try! shut up!)

Take Care,
Much Love

Jenn (the not so ebil one after all)