April 02, 2007
A surprise in my grocery store and what I HATE about the south
I have about a million pictures to post of Olivia (cute ones!!! She's actually blowing into a flute and making notes!) and also some pictures to go with a couple recipes. They'll have to wait though because I left my camera at my parents' house. I've been trying to get a picture of her showing us her teeth. She opens her mouth and points to them when we ask, and she'll also stick out her tongue on command, but my camera is so SLOW! When she sees the camera, she stops what she's doing to reach for it. :-(
I am starting to really like where we live. There are things I'm always going to hate (rebel flags, ignorant people, prejudice, and poor English) but I think we're starting to catch up with the real world. FINALLY. Yesterday, I'm grocery shopping and see cart after cart full of baby food on clearance. I check he dates, and nope, they're not old. Hmmm . . . I'm wondering why they'd clear out the baby food, so I head to the baby aisle and what do I see? Shelf after shelf of lovely, healthy Organic food. Earth's Best and lots of Gerber! Yippeee! No more going to Atlanta, ordering off the internet, and paying an arm and a leg at the tiny health food store here when they actually have some in. Yay! Wonderful, pesticide-free food for my baby!!! Several people have asked me what I plan to do later when she's eating all "real" food. I've read numerous times that baby's systems are much more sensitive to chemicals and pesticides than adult bodies, so it won't be as big of a deal later, although I'll continue to buy a few essential Organic items.
Ok, after praising our town for it's expansion of Organic food, I'm going to do a complete 180 here. I hope I don't sound bitchy, because I'm not meaning to, but something that really bothers me about the south-- ok, two things-- is 1) there seem to be so many unkempt children, or I'm noticing it more here because we lived in a wealthy area up north, and 2) the obsession with confederate flags. Hello!!! The war is over and BTW, Georgia lost!!!!! People proudly display them in front of their homes, on their cars, tattooed to their asses, and well, just about everywhere else. To me, it represents a time when blacks and whites were separated, and the black people had no rights. If I was black, seeing this flag would offend me and hurt me. Let's celebrate the present and embrace equality! It's one thing to be proud of where you live, but why not display our current flag? It shows how far we've come, which is definitely something to be proud of.
And as for the dirty children. I see a few kids a day, walking without shoes, in PUBLIC! We're not talking about playing outside barefoot when we were kids. We all did that. I'm talking about walking around the grocery store shoe-less. Even kids in my moms group are dirty. Many of them moms are clean, decent people, but some of their are kind of slobby and unkempt looking. I'll admit, I don't always have time to do my hair and make-up, and quite frankly, with Olivia attemping to flush herself down the toilet when I get ready, I can't really take much time for myself. What I'm talking about it just being unkempt and greasy. It saddens me to see kids who need a bath desperately. I know all kids spill food (don't I know it), but you can tell the difference between a kid who has just eaten lunch (like mine) and a child whose nails are filthy and their clothes are ripped and nasty. And just to clarify-- it's not that they can't afford a laundromat. The majority of them are military and have enough money to eat out regularly with my moms' group and go to Starbucks. Some of the moms just lack class. Wash your kids' clothes. Give them a bath! Put some shoes on them!
Joaquin is usually clean and has shoes on, because it's too hot here not to wear shoes, but I hate when my husband dresses him. He just doesn't care if things match. It bugs me to no end. There's never gonna be a time when baby blue and olive green match! Never!
Posted by: elaine at April 3, 2007 12:29 AMThat's great about the organic baby food! Yeah! Oh, and it's *so* sad to see kids who aren't all cleaned up, you know? Makes me feel *so* sad.
BTW ... I'm enjoying a cup of the green tea that you gave me. For some reason, it smells and tastes to me *exactly* like Kashi Go-Lean cereal! How funny is that? LOL! :) I *loooove* the lychee!
Posted by: Lisanne at April 3, 2007 09:09 AMGreat post. I sooo agree on the confederate flag issue. What's with that? And how do those people not get the crap beat out of them?
As for the shoe-less topic, last week we were in IHOP and a grown lady went to the BATHROOM without shoes on...that is SO disgusting. An adult walking into a public restroom with out shoes? Are you pyscho?
Posted by: Jodie at April 3, 2007 12:27 PMI completely agree. In fact I was just thinking that thought this morning. I don't understand having dirty children. I think it reflects on the parents. I know ALL about kids who play in the dirt (I have 2 boys - there is no end in sight where dirt is concerned) but everyone has access to soap and water. Use them. Even clothing. You don't have to have the latest style or brand but they can be clean, especially going out in public. That's just my humble opinion though. :)
Posted by: villagegirl at April 3, 2007 01:49 PMToday at Target I saw a little girl who looked like she played in the mud (god I hope it was mud) had greasy hair, and her clothes were so dirty they could of walked off by themself... the mom was dressed in prada shoes, one of those louie bags, and fancy clothes (forget the designer) and this old lady asked the mom what was wrong with her to let her kid look like that and the mom said that she was "too busy getting dressed to deal with her"... this little girl was maybe 3 and looked like trash... so it happens up north too...
Posted by: Shannon O. at April 3, 2007 03:36 PMi totally understand. it's the same thing up here. joe and i see people walking around target barefoot, and when i was at the doctor's office once, i saw a grown woman reading a children's bunny book. this man who was with her asked her why she was reading it, and she said, "it's all i can read." it made me feel so sad for her. i just can't even imagine what that would be like...
Posted by: cady at April 3, 2007 06:33 PMI know you live in GA somewhere, though I'm not sure what part, but I think it's odd how different it sounds there. I don't remember the last time I saw a rebel flag; it's been a long time (and I'd definitely notice if I saw one; hate that ignorance). And about the kids, I don't ever see kids like that. I don't remember seeing someone barefoot in public since I was a little girl. I live in Chattanooga, not a huge city, so you'd think we'd share some similarities in our cities.
Posted by: Chas at April 3, 2007 07:12 PMThere are dirty, unkept, pitiful kids in all parts of the country. At the end of the day, God loves them all :)
Posted by: Dana at April 3, 2007 08:32 PMWow, where do you live in Georgia? I live in Marietta and have grown up here and in Kennesaw. Even when I lived in Carrollton, which is by defintion a redneck town, I rarely saw people walking around barefoot in inappropriate places. To be in a grocery store or public place like that is simply horrible and most people around where I live would not put up with it.
I do agree that in the more "hickish" areas there are unkept children, however the ones I notice most are hispanic children and African-American children. You should try living closer to the city...nowhere near as many rebel flags and many more clean, well spoken people!
Posted by: Katie at April 4, 2007 02:14 PMYou're right Dana, they're everywhere, but I've never seen as many as I've seen here and we're not a poor town (although we have a "bad" part of town, but I think most cities do). Makes me sad.
I know God loves them all. I wouldn't argue with that. I loved my students who were dirty and unkempt. But it doesn't change what's going on at home, sadly.
Posted by: Hannah at April 4, 2007 03:25 PMOh, and Katie-- we're in Columbus, about 90 minutes south of Atlanta, and yes, we are somewhat of a "hickish" town, which is odd because we're quickly becoming a large city!
Posted by: Hannah at April 4, 2007 03:28 PM