Observations on Life

It's been awhile since I've written anything and since I've been at two conferences in the past two weeks and I'm more tired than usual, I've been noticing a lot of things which has led to this post. Maybe I'm getting grouchy as I get older, but here goes:

I can't understand why people are not more observant. I've been on several shopping excursions lately (grocery store, Costco, small specialty stores - you get the picture). Why is it that when someone is shopping with a grocery cart, they think it's okay to leave the cart in the middle of the aisle instead of moving it to the side so that other shoppers don't have to fight their way down the shopping aisle?

Once a person enters a grocery store, they suddenly lose their common sense and mathematical acuity when getting in the 15 or less express check out line and piling all of their 15+ items on the belt without a care in the world. Pity the poor soul who is behind them trying to purchase 3-4 items in the express line. And why doesn't the cashier say something to the line invaders? Then these invaders get to the register and after the cashier tells they what they owe, at that point they begin to rifle through their purse/wallet to find their cash/check/credit card and their frequent buyer card. Is it right then that it occurs to them that they have to pay for their purchases? I forgot to mention that these people are generally on their cell phones at this moment as well. 

In the past few days while driving the car, I have observed the rudeness of drivers in the Washington, DC area (but I think this happens all over the country). You are stopped at a stop light and the second the light turns green, the person behind you honks the horn to get you to move faster. There hasn't been a nano second since the light changed, but the driver behind you thinks you've taken too long to put your foot on the accelerator. This same person is normally on their cell phone as well.

Here's another driving situation I've noticed. We all know there are laws that protect pedestrians in marked walk ways. But since these laws went into effect, it seems as if this has given the pedestrians the freedom to walk across the street at any given moment, not caring whether or not they are crossing with the light (and have the right-of-way). I have seen so many near collisions between people and cars as the pedestrians walk right into the middle of the oncoming traffic and then the driver has to slam on their brakes in order to avoid hitting the pedestrian.

As I mentioned before, I've been at two large conferences over the past two weeks. Apparently good manners leave one's persona at a convention. People will walk right in front of you, in some cases, bumping into you and then they keep on walking. Miss Manners would be astounded - not a word of apology (pardon me, excuse me, I'm sorry) - they are in too much of a hurry to get to where they are supposed to go to take a moment to acknowledge their behavior.

Enough of my venting - I'll end this with something in a more positive vein. As some of you know I'm involved with a large group of people throughout the country who make afghans for wounded soldiers. These people knit or crochet 6"x9" rectangles and 49 of these rectangles eventually become individual afghans which are sent to military hospitals throughout the country as well as Germany and Afghanistan. I don't knit or crochet very well, but I am a collector of these rectangles.

Right now I have over 3,400 rectangles in boxes in one of our spare bedrooms. Next month I'll have the rectangles separated by color to take to a put together event, where the rectangles are designed into afghans. I love collecting the rectangles - I get some of the most wonderful notes from people who send me their rectangles. I love to open a box and see all the different stitches that are used. I get a kick out of opening a box to see how much care the sender puts into the shipping process. Some people wrap the rectangles in tissue paper, or enclose them in plastic baggies, and most times these wonderful craft people will write me a nice note, thanking me for collecting the rectangles. There are too many people to acknowledge on a personal basis, but I appreciate the time they take to let me know how much they appreciate what I do, while I am the one who appreciates their talents with knitting or crocheting. This project makes me proud to help with this project and turns my mood around after a hard day at work (or dealing with the types of people I mentioned in the first four paragraphs).

Now I think I'll go start to crochet some of those rectangles together to make another afghan (I'm working on my fourth one right now). Next time I'll post about our trip to Lancaster, PA and the wonderful bed and breakfast we stayed in last month.