Sunday, February 11, 2007
Feral children and shopping
Yes, all in a day's work for EY. I've been attending a lovely, warm, welcoming church for a few months. Eveyone in the church is very nice and I absolutely feel that I "belong" after this short time. However, nearly every child in this congregation is wild to the point of nearly being feral. Kid today had to be taken out twice because he was yelling. One family has a passel of kids that have to go out, be forcefully handled or otherwise subdued in Children's Church or communion nearly every.single.Sunday. It amazes me. I think they leave them in the woods during the week. It certainly seems so.
I was a pretty good kid, but especially so in church. There is no doubt in my mind (more importantly there wasn't any then) that misbehavior in church was a huge no no. If I had had to be taken out twice in one Sunday (then), I'd be able to say to you (now) "Look, here's the scar from when I decided to be an idiot in church one Sunday....this is what I got the second time I was taken out". Unfortunately, that makes my parents sound like violent, cruel people. They aren't in the LEAST. They did set expectations early about how to behave in public and enforced their expectations. I knew what to expect for disruptive behavior and the choice was mine.
On to shopping....my other lovely Sunday chore. I hit one major new department store today for the second time. First time I was ignored and all the interesting-looking clothes wouldn't have fit me when I was 16. Nearly 20 years later, they were laughable suggestions. Today wasn't better. I felt very much like the guy in the Jeff Foxworthy story....I think I'd rather have exploratory surgery than go shopping again. Heck, I could use the break from work. After a couple of sad attempts at a local store, I was up to the Ron White analogies. I can't remember what he was comparing to, but next time I think about shopping for clothes, I'll see if I can't find an opportunity to sandpaper the @**hole of an alligator in a phone booth. It would be much more fun than I had today.
Believe it or not (if you've read this far through my whining), there was a bright spot in my day: The Queen. I love Helen Mirren and thought this movie looked really good. I've been trying to see it for about 3 weeks. I finally gave up on seeing it at an "arthouse-type" theater and went to a chain. No matter where I saw it, this was one fantastic movie. Helen Mirren rocks as does Stephen Frears (not that I like HIS movies or anything).
I was a pretty good kid, but especially so in church. There is no doubt in my mind (more importantly there wasn't any then) that misbehavior in church was a huge no no. If I had had to be taken out twice in one Sunday (then), I'd be able to say to you (now) "Look, here's the scar from when I decided to be an idiot in church one Sunday....this is what I got the second time I was taken out". Unfortunately, that makes my parents sound like violent, cruel people. They aren't in the LEAST. They did set expectations early about how to behave in public and enforced their expectations. I knew what to expect for disruptive behavior and the choice was mine.
On to shopping....my other lovely Sunday chore. I hit one major new department store today for the second time. First time I was ignored and all the interesting-looking clothes wouldn't have fit me when I was 16. Nearly 20 years later, they were laughable suggestions. Today wasn't better. I felt very much like the guy in the Jeff Foxworthy story....I think I'd rather have exploratory surgery than go shopping again. Heck, I could use the break from work. After a couple of sad attempts at a local store, I was up to the Ron White analogies. I can't remember what he was comparing to, but next time I think about shopping for clothes, I'll see if I can't find an opportunity to sandpaper the @**hole of an alligator in a phone booth. It would be much more fun than I had today.
Believe it or not (if you've read this far through my whining), there was a bright spot in my day: The Queen. I love Helen Mirren and thought this movie looked really good. I've been trying to see it for about 3 weeks. I finally gave up on seeing it at an "arthouse-type" theater and went to a chain. No matter where I saw it, this was one fantastic movie. Helen Mirren rocks as does Stephen Frears (not that I like HIS movies or anything).
