sex education revisited

in high school we had this teacher who was supposed to cover a unit on sex ed. she looked about a hundred years old, and although we did see these reeeeeeeally vague diagrams (they actually looked kind of like the etron schematics for a car LOL) we never actually talked about *GASP* doing ..... THAT *GASP*
she was quite certain that the best way was to simply not GET .... SERIOUS. ever. until you got married. then you would have the rest of your life to figure it out. with that one person.
we now live in a world where you have to tell people that birth control pills don't prevent STDs; that ladders should not be used unless they are on level ground; that hot coffee is actually hot, and trying to take a massive swig of it while driving is really, really stupid.

in reading, listening to, and watching what passes for news, i've come to a conclusion:

education has failed to get the message across.

family has failed to get the message across.

and this generation is paying the price. when a college kid who has just turned twenty says she accidentally got pregnant, we've failed to get the message across. when she and her boyfriend throw themselves a baby shower and expect their friends to all bring really nifty presents, we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then goes on to complain that its impossible to find a reliable baby sitter (never mind that neither of them actually has reliably shown up for work or held down a job for longer than a few months at any given time) ... we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then make plans to extend what they get from welfare programs, child nutrition programs, etc. by trying to get their friends to agree to be listed as additional dependents (ISN'T THAT BREAKING FEDERAL LAWS???) ... we've definitely failed to get the message across.

we live in a world in which a teen mom has been sent out by her mother as a spokesperson for the abstinence movement. a world in which people assume that a woman who is older, nonwhite and travelling alone is good reason for searching everything a traveller is carrying. a world in which young people cannot pass a simple driver's licensing test unless the questions are read to them.

the federal government can't do it all, folks. and since we can no longer assume a nuclear family, that can't do it either. and further, since we can't hold children back who have not mastered a subject (it would be terrible for their self esteem and besides it would cost too much), schools can't do it either.

and you KNOW peer pressure isn't going to work. so where do we go from here? i'm not saying sex education needs to be explicit, but certainly young people should be better informed than i was.

we're proud to be ...

kk heard a joke this morning and started laughing but then had an EEEEEK moment:

so they get the GOP together and they're going to sing a rallying song. they look at the whole car industry and economy and decide they're going to revamp the "proud to be an american" song, changing american to republican because clearly if you're a REAL american you're a republican, right?

so they all stand up in a huge group in front of a beautifully waving american flag and start to sing ...

"we're proud to be a republica--"

and suddenly, there's only rush limbaugh and dick cheney on deck.


as i said ... i started laughing and then thought EEEEEEK!

advertising trivia

ever get an irritating advertising song stuck in your head?

people caught themselves humming or singing these little advertising ditties at odd points during the day (back in the days before VCRs, cable, satellites and computers). do you know these?

1. "I've got love in my lunchbox ...."
2. "I spray with _________ and pbb-b-t dirt is gone!"
3. "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, I'd like to buy the world a ____"
4. "be a ______, drink ________"
5. "My bologna has a first name, it's _____"
6. "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. _________ has nuts, _______________ don't."

arghhhhhhhhh

really odd quotes

some really odd moments from today:

suki: do you have like a safety pin or something? this blouse fabric is so flimsy that it would just tear right apart if I sew it.

peg: wow. did you just say something positive to me? nobody says anything positive around here. i just want to say thank you for saying something positive to me. so like .... thank you.

shar: did you just turn everything off? because i'm bring more stuff in now. but you've turned everything off. oh, hell. so i guess that means you don't want me to bring in the rest of the stuff. too bad you turned everything off. we're almost out of time. wait. no, time's up now. i guess i'll just bring in the rest of the stuff anyway.

jer: you know, i was thinking ... but then i thought, no, that wouldn't work. so never mind. i have a headache now.

sher: six people called in sick already. damn. don't tell me you're going to call in sick too. no, wait. you're here. you can't go home, so don't ask.

it's gettin piled higher and deeper

last wk, she was in an uproar ... turns out, he's not only NOT kickin in for the rent & utilities, but she's blowing a bundle (as in HER college $$) and he's lying, too.

... and she's still with him.

this week? he's wonderful. yeah, he's been lying all along. yeah, he lied about $$ and about how he's doing in classes, and work, and studying, and ... son of a ***** turns out he's been lying about darn near everything under the sun.

... and she's still with him.

we're still rootin for mr. b.