A Lesson In Common Sense and Decency

Yet another contribution from one of my loyal readers.

Please welcome and please enjoy one of the better posts you will ever read. I could not agree with it more. Guest Blogger Matt D. gives us all A Lesson In Common Sense and Decency.

Picture this…

You’re parched. Perhaps you’ve got a sweet tooth that’s barking at you. You swing by your friendly neighborhood convenience store and start to browse around. Ah Ha!...That’ll do it…a 32 oz Gatorade (Lemon-Lime of course). After impulsively grabbing at a box of Entenmanns Chocolate Chip cookies on your way to the check-out, you see the line is 4 deep. No worries, you’ll take a minute to decompress where you can. You’ll be at the cashier in a jiffy. Suddenly, the equilibrium of the entire situation is thrown off by the sheer greed of the clown standing directly in front of you. Get this, he decides he’s bucking the system and brazenly opens his drink prior to physically paying for it. It’s disgusting, I know….

Now, I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that most of you reading this have also decided to abandon social order and do it as part of your normal shopping experience. It’s wrong and annoying…STOP!

It gets worse…

Every now and again you’ll find a shopper that deems it ‘ok’ to open a chip product or perhaps a bag of Cheez-Its while roaming through a store. Give me a break…please. It’s pretty well-known in certain circles that this eats at me like nothing else. Over the years I’ve heard it all….

- “Well, I’m going to pay for it.”
(Then it shouldn’t be an issue for you to wait until the transaction is complete)

- “But, I’m really thirsty.”
(Listen, if you’re stuck in the middle of The Gobi, I’ll cut you some slack. If not, suck it up and wait 2 minutes)

- “Lighten up, everyone does it.”
(Get a clue!)

- “The owner doesn’t care.”
(Oh yeah, have you ever asked him/her?)

- “It’s the only way to keep my kids from crying while I grocery shop.”
(Bring a bag of cheerios with you from the outside)

There’s a natural order to the way things work. You want to ride the merry-go-round, ‘you pay the quarter and the horse goes up, down and around.’ You want a meal in a restaurant, you eat and then ask for the check. You want to make a purchase at a 7-11, choose your bag of corn nuts, stand on line, pay for them, leave the store, get settled and then open them up and shove ‘em down. It’s Logic 101.

It just seems that patience went out of style with powdered wigs. Instant gratification is ‘It’ these days. It’s become the EZ Pass, the Fast Food, the Netflix, the Internet Machine, the ‘I want it now and I don’t care who I’m upsetting or what social more I’m stepping all over.’ This specific example of putting the cart before the horse is just a symptom of the epidemic. For now, let’s baby step to tackle this problem.

Step 1: Pay for things before you open them.

5 Facebook Observations

Now that I’m on Facebook I think its about time I shared my opinion. I know everyone has been waiting with baited breath! Here are 5 Facebook Observations.

1) One of the first pieces of advice I was given after going to the dark side was from the wife and Lisa Hopkins (affectionately referred to as Wife #2 and Guest Blogger ("How Old Is Your child?", June 14, 2010) . It went something like this, “Greco, get a damn profile pic up immediately. Nothing is more aggravating then someone without a picture.” After spending half my work day searching for a picture I find suitable for the public I made the leap and published it. Anyway, I couldn’t agree more with that piece of advice. If you have a FB account then get a damn profile picture up asap. Next…

2) Speaking of profile pics. I’m not sure I agree with someone having a profile pic up and they’re not present. Not sure I approve. I’ll break down the “Suitable” and “Not Suitable” options to make it easy for everyone to understand.

Suitable Profile Pics

- You
- You, Spouse
- You, Spouse, Children
- You, Children

(Note: Notice the trend of “You” in each picture?)

Not Suitable Profile Pics (cue the negative emails…sorry Sis’)

- The Group Photo

Unless you are the only person of that sex present. Even then I’m not sure it’s suitable. Technically you need to be clearly defined in your profile pic and if there are 7 girls or guys standing together it just gets too difficult.

- The Children Only

I get it. Your kids are adorable. Honest. And those who know me know I’m all about the kids but come on. Put the kids photos on your page just not as your profile pic. That’s not who you are…in a literal sense. Since I know some people might say that is who they are. You get what I’m saying…right? I’m not even sure I followed that.

I’m not sure where I currently stand on the “Picture of a Random Object." I think it definitely steers closer to the Not Suitable Profile Pic but how close I’m not sure. Next…

3) I think everyone who puts their birthday down should also have the year as well. It just helps. I know some people don’t like that and I understand. It’d be convenient to know actually how old you are though. Thanks. Next…

4) What came first: Everyone traveling the world or Facebook? I feel like every single person on Facebook has pictures of themselves in far reaches of the world. Its impressive and I’m jealous quite frankly. Did everyone travel this much even when there was no Facebook or did it somehow give you the urge to visit places I can’t spell and/or have never heard of? And how the hell is everyone affording these trips? (Did I mention I was jealous yet?) Next...

5) Let me ask everyone this question – Do you ever tell your significant others you love them in person or is it strictly via Facebook?

"Michelle Smith Greco is so in love with her husband it hurts. I just can't stand how good looking he is and how lucky I am to have him all to myself! Love you!"

So embarassing I know. I guess she can't help herself.

Is That Little Green Man Telling Me What To Do?

I’m about to rant about something parents are doing in neighborhoods across the country! It's spreading like wildfire. (I really only know about a few blocks in my neighborhood) Families are taking it upon themselves to put those signs on the curbs that look like little green men holding flags that say “Slow!”

You probably wonder why this is bothering me. Well it just does. How’s that?

I get it. I get the idea that children are playing in the front yard and possibly the streets so you should drive slowly and carefully. Understandable. 100%. No one should be flying down side streets when the possibility of children playing in the area is a very real one.

However, please don’t TELL ME to slow down. I find it insulting and annoying. Am I being defensive and overreacting a little? Yes. I am. But that’s why I’m a good blogger. I have strong opinions on random things! Anyway, I digress, I want to come up with a new sign. Instead of putting it at my curb I’m going to put on the hood of my car. Something along these lines should work…

STAY OUTSIDE WITH YOUR CHILDREN AND MAKE SURE THEY DON’T RUN IN THE STREETS SINCE IT CAN BE DANGEROUS!

And another thing (notice how I tend to have a hard time ending my posts and always have something else to say?) When searching for the above picture of the little green man I found the following sign that people are now placing curbside: (Below photos courtesy of http://www.fakekid.com/)

If I ever drove by one of these signs I would purposely veer off the road and destroy the sign along with the neighbor's shrubs. Kind've like what this guy is thinking about doing...