Hair discrimination. The struggle is real!

Recently, I had a discussion with a co worker about the color of our hair. She noted my current profile picture was different than the one I use for communications at work. Yes, she is right. There have been two instances in my life where I was not a blonde or some variation thereof. They were short lived. I am not sure why the first time I dyed my hair a darker color did not last long but I can probably guess that I absolutely hated it.


The second one, of course more recently, was for wholly different reasons.


I dyed my hair black. I had never had black hair before. I always wanted black hair. I bit the bullet and went all out. Immediately, I noticed how people responded to me. For those that knew me well, they were like "WELL! Oh! Um. Ok. You changed your hair?"  Others, even perfect strangers would look at me and begrudgingly go...."Oh, its you." I found it odd that people would respond to me that way. I felt like a sheeple. No, more like those little people you cut out of notebook paper that are holding hands. You know, a never ending chain of the same exact people? I did not like how that made me feel. All my life, people have lit up like sunshine when I came in the room or at least acknowledged that me breathing was at least worth a smile and a hello.


To further make me decide never to do anything so stupid in my life, ever again, I went back to blonde and everyone lit up when I walked into the room. Now unless someone is wholly perturbed by my presence, they at least smile and wish me a hello.


I wonder how people do it. You know, the ones with black or dark brown hair?  They must be miserable. I wonder what life would be like were we all blonde? I am guessing the world would be a happier place. However, in the current state of mind I carry, I find that hard to believe but hey, wishful thinking always helps. Yes?


Back to the discussion with the co worker. She made these very same observations. Then she summed it all up with 2 words that fit appropriately.

HAIR DISCRIMINATION

Think THAT will ever become a protected class of citizens?  "We are an equal opportunity place. No person shall be discriminated against due to age, sex, religion, race, orientation, or HAIR COLOR."  I look for it to be the next civil rights thing after we finally realize that our GLBT friends finally get what they deserve: Equal Treatment under the law. (Ah, but that is a digression that will take MONTHS and YEARS for me to cover. Also, it is a political opinion in this era and you know me......I do not discuss my political opinions.)

What do YOU think?

My own travels to the Dark Tower.

In the courts, it is all about who tells the best story. The juries believe the story tellers (the attorneys) who paint the most vibrant, believable tale.
I must have been about 13 or 14 when I first picked up the Gunslinger, by Stephen King. Never did I fathom that this story teller would take me on adventure that would take nearly 23 years to complete. Now that I am reading the final Dark Tower (VII) book, I have a certain melancholy feeling about me. I have come to love this story and its characters like a woman to her soap opera. Now that the tale is coming to an end, the sadness that I feel was similar to that of Roland the morning that Susannah went through the Artists door. They were so close to Roland's coveted Tower and now, just as the story begun, the Gunslinger enters the tower alone.
I was always told by literature experts that great stories go in a circle. Here is ours, sai Gunslinger. Another thing that enrages me but brings home thiat this story teller has successfully done his job is that the end leaves you begging, no PLEADING for more. While I have not yet red the part of Susannah in New York or what happens to Roland in the tower, I just KNOW I will be left wanting more. Just like a junkie wanting their next fix.
Yes, sai King, I do have The Wind Through the Keyhole, and while I have nearly all of your other tales, mere mention of Roland and his Ka-tet will not satisfy the thirst there is for the true story of the Gunslinger and his beloved Tower. His Darling.......
This is homage to you, sai storyteller. Thank you for this lovely tale. In my court, you have prevailed. I even cheer that the story is done because in an epilogue, you mentioned one sad little chained teddy bear that I know will now survive and go free, to search for his own tower. While I am considering taking the time to read the whole tale over again, I know it will not be the same as it was the first time.
Yes, I do truly understand, just as the artist Patrick Danville did as he drew and erased the Crimson King in the Dark Tower Vii......with vivid understanding as my eyes light up so approve.......

NOTE: This was a post to my Facebook blog that I posted last year. Yes, I did finish the book and yes, I was yearning for more. It was a marvellous ending!  I have also since found a map that shows the intricacies and how the world of Stephen King is just that....a world.  All of his books are tied together in some form or fashion and I absolutely revel in that fact!  Like this ending, I am still living my own journey to the Dark Tower.  What about you? Have you read these books or any of the Stephen King books?  What about your journey?

The Pebbles Ripples.

My philosophy friends believe that good cannot exist without evil and vice versa. There is this whole philosophical argument around it. The argument is almost as popular as the "is there really a God" argument. Well, I happen to think that while evil is necessary, the world can do with a little less of it.
Especially true when the evil is fruitless and with no just cause. It is like an invalid argument. C does not result from A or B if they are not doing something that makes C true, therefore, why should C exist at all when D can do the job just as well...or some such nonsense.
I bear witness to this absent C evil a lot. All I can do is shake my head at it because it makes good people look bad and it drags innocent people into a situation that they have no business even knowing anything about in the first place. What snake will go to an orange tree and pluck an orange just to eat when snakes are predators in the first place? That makes no sense at all.
My point is that evil should not exist in abundance when there is not enough good to offset it. That makes no sense either. Remember the lady with the scales you see in a courtroom? It has to balance and without that balance, things begin to happen. Therefore, apparently, bad things are happening and maybe it is the second coming of Christ that everyone has been talking about or the end of the world.
So if all of this is blatantly evident, then why is there not anything done about it? I will explain. There is enough not caring and enough belief that one little act of kindness does not matter. The evil in all of us has beaten out any good there is left. Sure, we do kind deeds everyday but it is so far below the radar of being noticed that it is almost irrelevant that we even do such a thing.
Listen, folks, when someone tells you that one little pebble makes a big difference. If you dont believe me toss one into a still pond. That one little pebble has a ripple effect that eventually touches every square inch of that waters surface. Further, the "plop" sound reverberates through the air to our ears affecting the senses that we heard and seen the pebble hit the water. Underneath the surface, fish scatter and it hits the bottom eventually changing the landscape of the bottom to accomodate the fact that it fell there in the first place. To get even more depth out of the example, gravity is now pulling on that rock to keep it in place and every time a bottom feeder passes, a fish swims quickly nearby, or a plant grows near enough to push it aside, that pebble still has an impact. Also, the place where the pebble was before has left a pebble size space for something else to come along and occupy where it was.
Point being, while there are snakes in all of us, even the good that comes out of us, no matter how small or insignificant can have a positive impact in everything. If everyone were to cast a pebble in some form or fashion and good becomes of it, it grows from there because there is, essentially, more good in the world.
Those of us with children can do the same. So often we go through life too busy to see what is going on through the eyes of our children. STOP take a moment and revel in the wonder that they see the world in. Remember what it was like to stand in awe and truly experience the first sunset you REALLY noticed. I remember mine. I remember that, sometimes, being five is such a small place to be in such a big world and that mommy can make it better. I also try to remember that even though you are 13 or 14, you still need mom from time to time even if it is to talk about absolutely nothing or act silly in public just because. When my children get older (and for the step kids as well) I will try to remember that at 21, the world is not what it was made out to be and that I still need to be there for my kids no matter how awful they are. That, just to sit down, without a phone, television or other distraction and talk about how a lightbulb works will make the difference in their day and that is something that they will remember.
Toss that pebble, make life better, if even for a split second. The reverberations of that pebble last longer than you think. Holding the door for a perfect stranger to pass because they are using a walking stick makes a difference because, while you may not remember, they will.
I once had a lady sit in the booth next to mine in iHop. I was 16. I was miserable and thougth that life was truly the suckiest place to be. She chatted with me about absolutely nothing. The gloss on the menu, why people drive nice cars, and our coffee. She also told me to cast a pebble. She then proceeded to tell me that I will remember her. I may not remember her name and maybe not even what she looks like but I will remember the conversation. Guess what? I dont know her name, I remember brown hair and glasses and that she used her hands alot when she talked but I DID remember the conversation. She cast her pebble in my pond and the fish swim by every now and then and it moves. That is what I remember. Do you have pebbles in your pond? Why not cast some of your own?

An Amazing child

I wonder sometimes. Folks, lets get real. We are raising a generation of AMAZING children. If you do not know the proper definition of that, then you can inbox me or Julie F. We will be more than happy to enlighten. At any rate, children these days get away with so much more than we did and even our parents for that matter.
We spare the rod and spoil the child. No, I do not mean abuse them but if they smart off to you, then they need some consequences. I never thought to yell at my mother (as a child) or hit her or threaten to call the cops on her because she took my phone from me. As far as the phone goes, I had a 50 foot cord that went from the wall to the phone and that thing could follow me out to the sidewalk. However, should I decide to get in trouble or inadvertantly utter a curse word, my lovelt tail had no phone attached to it or she took the whole thing. There were no cell phones and my pc (which I got in the 6th grade) was this mideval dos thing that had one color.....green.
Further, people these days believe they can suck off their parents until they die and get all uppity and ticked off if you believe they have to earn their keep. Peeps, my mother was more than happy to see me go to work and buy my own things. I was more than happy to go. It was the start of me "being grown." I am not entitled to anything in her home and I am a guest there at that point. Sure, I was one of the lucky ones and I did not have to pay anything to the house if I didnt want to but if I wanted something she normally did not buy or wanted to go to a football game or something THAT came out of my pocket and I walked nearly everywhere I had to go. I also stayed in school and graduated and, for the most part, stayed out of trouble.
That is another thing. I see so many people (and the age range is getting younger and younger) getting in trouble these days and doing SERIOUS things! Assault with a deadly weapon, robbery while armed with a weapon...Nothing like the petty "underaged drinking or driving without a licence or trespassing" that we got growing up. No sir, these kids are doing serious crimes. Further, the justice system is doing quirky things to slap them on the wrist. (Topic for another day.)
Honestly, if I was over age 21 and my mother bailed me out of jail and paid my attorney fees and bills for nearly 2 years, don't you think she has the right to ask me to pay some of that back if she gets in a bind. Yes, every mother and father would love to pay for their children like that and not expect to get paid back.......in a vaccuum. However, things are tough and it is not as easy as your parents make it. They keep the fact that bills run about 3000 going out and there is only 2500 coming in EACH MONTH BEFORE GAS AND GROCERIES. (Hypothetical, 4 person family middle income.) At any rate, they make it work and this is where the communication fails. No, I am not saying that you should tell your children ALL your business but you should teach them to be self sufficient and that it is ok to ask mom and dad for help but make sure you return the nicety at some point in the future. They are just as human as you are.
Also, we were taught all about litterbugs and taking care of the planet (and table manners) growing up; do they not teach that anymore in modern homes and preschools? We take care of the planet by recycling and other things of a noble stature, however, I still see children who leave a trail behind them like the only preschool lesson their ever learned was hansel and gretel. Folks, that was breadcrumbs and not trash! Take pride in your own home, your own neighborhood and your planet. It is the only one we have!

Please suggest topics for me to rant about here.

I have tried to do some daily nonsense here or there and my failed attempt at word of the day has led me to try something different.
While I still anticipate continuing the word of the day, I want to add something more. I like to compose. While I prefer putting pen to paper, it is much faster to put finger to key.
This one is short and sweet and I want suggestions on topics from all of you. Please comment below and suggest things for me to post a rant about and that I will do. If I do not get many rant suggestions, I will have to come up with some rants of my own. However, I prefer to be creative and involve the faithful fellow facebookers in my quest to "publish" something in a public quorum.

Cheers! **Holds up long stem crystal with self draining ice and the finest soda in the nation....COFFEE!" (Did you expect any less?)