*JENlightened~

I did something today that I have never done before, something I will never do again. I bought my first car. Well, if you want to get technical, the bank did…I have to pay them back.

Why did I buy a car? Because I got a job! The hunt is over. I found a great writing gig in Mississauga, so I’ll need to commute. But more on that later.

The decision to purchase a Hyundai Elantra (bring on the jokes) was easy: it’s nice and cheap. I will admit I spent a little extra for A/C, as most wimpy Torontonians tend to do. This was a conflicted decision, because I rarely condone air conditioning. While it’s nice to have on a hot, stop-and-go day in traffic, it’s overused and harmful to our ozone and that sort of thing gets to me. I like to think of myself as an environmentally conscious individual.

Up until now, I’ve felt pretty good about taking public transit. Even though I loathe sharing my personal space and air, it has made me feel like I’m doing my part. Now I have a car with air conditioning. To my former self, I am considered a lesser person. At least I was.

When signing all the papers blah blah blah, I noticed a $100 federal tax for air conditioning. Usually added fees frustrate me, but not today. Today I felt really good, like justice was being served. It offset my guilt almost completely. What does the $100 go towards? No clue. All I know is that I paid for my mistake.

What shall I name it? (Image from Prime Motors)

If I was reading this blog, I would want to comment about how Westerners think they can simply throw money at problems to make them go away (instead of changing their behaviour). Have at it. I won’t disagree.

The following is an excerpt from a collection of short stories I found in the depths of my writing folder. I don’t write fiction anymore, and finding this piece has reaffirmed my choice.

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“Oh, I see.  So I don’t belong to a food group is that it?  I’m not wholesome enough?”  The Smartie was red. Well, actually it was green, but after fighting with the carrots all morning he was becoming frightfully angry.

It was the big bi-weekly store meeting.  An election for new milk mayor was on the agenda-the last mayor expired. The edible community members of the local grocery store met on a regular basis, always to elect a new milk mayor. Logic would suggest having a non-perishable food item govern the store business.  However, this community enjoyed getting together; besides, the dairy party-the party with majority seating-said that voting on a regularly was healthy. That was their number one platform: health. In fact, that was number one platform of every party. Health was extremely important to the food groups, which brings us back to the junk food aisle and the red green Smartie. Fights like these occurred every meeting.  The protests were usually headed by the spicy Doritos, but the Smarties were particularly annoyed today.

“Nuts to your pretentious cult meetings.”  The Smartie paused and turned to the chocolate covered almonds. “No offense.”

“None taken,” they replied.  They were good guys.

from Google Images

There’s an old saying that goes “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” This is something people say to discourage girls from having sex before marriage. The “logic” is that a man won’t enter into the lifelong commitment if he’s already getting the sexual benefits.

Obviously, the idea that one should withhold sex in order to convince someone to marry her is profoundly objectionable.

(Disclaimer: I am not arguing that abstinence is a poor choice. I think there’s a lot of wisdom in it. I’m just saying that-when the time comes-marriage should be motivated by commitment, not an unknown experience.)

I was thinking about it when I saw a video on YouTube about Purity Balls (galas, not…you know), events in which daughters pledge to their fathers to remain pure until marriage. You can watch the video yourselves and judge the creepiness factor.

When I hear about this sort of thing, subcultures fixated on virginity, I find it bothersome. Part of my worry is that a lot of onus goes on the females to remain chaste, limiting their identities to condition of their hymens. I don’t know why men in these communities aren’t held responsible for their purity, but it’s a dangerous practice. Apart from that, there are other considerations, besides sex, that factor into getting married and having a successful relationship.

In doing some research (not exhaustive by any means), I learned that the divorce rate for those who abstained until marriage is equal to that of everyone else. So even if you bought Bessie before you milked her, you’re in the same boat as the rest of us. Maybe that’s because marriage is complex.

After reading the book, The Secret Lives of Saints by Daphne Branham, I like to think I’m up to date on the whole polygamy issue in both the U.S. and Canada. I gotta say, it’s sticky.

On one hand, you have these fundamentalist Mormon men (Winston Blackmore and James Oler), charged with polygamy, claiming religious persecution–a violation of their Canadian rights. They are also arguing that because homosexuality has been included into the definition of marriage, there is no reason that polygamy can’t be also.

The other side, religious practices are not grounds for taking away other more important rights, such as the right to equality, freedom to choose who you marry and the right to education–most of which are pulled out from underneath the women and children in these sects.

Here’s where it gets tricky: If you ask these women, they will try to convince you that they are not oppressed, that they love their lifestyle and that they deserve the right to marry their polygamous husbands.

It blows my mind. I almost feel bad for the women in the same way I would if I was talking to a certifiably insane person who was trying to convince me he or she is not crazy. It must be very frustrating for them, because they *really* believe what they’re saying.

I anticipate a future argument when this all goes to trial: If these women want to be in these sects, shouldn’t we let them be? Well no, I argue we shouldn’t. Just because someone doesn’t realize to what extent they’re being disenfranchised doesn’t mean we should ignore it. But some disagree with me. This is the question for today: if someone says they’re happy in a situation where their rights are clearly being compromised, do we intervene or not?

(Just to be clear, this particular issue with polygamous sects also involves the rights of children, who should absolutely be taken out of these villages).

Either these people are Nazis or… no, they’re just Nazis. They certainly aren’t being ironic. Judging by the footage alone, I would say that parents of three children, Adolph Hitler, JoyceLynn Arian Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie probably don’t know how to spell ‘irony.’

By now, you have likely heard about these kids. The boy, Adolph Hitler (3 years old), was in the news last month after his parents complained that a supermarket had refused to write his name on his birthday cake. The police just took the kids out of the family home today.

Interestingly, no reasons have been given for the removal. There’s no record of abuse or negligence.

The children’s parents have denied they are racist, yet their home is decorated in swastikas. The father said he chose the names to honour his German ancestry and because they’re unique. “They’re just names, you know,” he said. The news segment ends with his belief that people need to be more tolerant.

Quick comments:

1)      I don’t think that police should have the authority to remove children from a home without giving a reason. Also, I’m not sure one’s attitude toward the Holocaust should be the determining factor over custodial rights.

2)      I hate bad liars. If you named your kid after a ruthless dictator just say so. Admit to being a racist waste of space and then move on. What bothered me most about this story wasn’t that the boy was named Hitler, it was that his parents tried to pass it off like it’s no big deal, like they picked the name out of a hat.  Let’s face it, you didn’t randomly name your kids ‘Adolph Hitler’ and ‘Arian Nation’ because it was either (a) unique or (b) patriotic; you did it because you’re sympathetic to Nazi ideology.

Out with it already!

Your thoughts?

I write about myself all the time. There, I admitted it.

from Google Images

After just saying that I try not to write too much about myself, Jane Sample, writer of one of the 10ish blogs I read on a regular basis, tagged me in showcasing seven interesting things about me. I am, in turn, supposed to tag seven others.

Like most people–including celebrities, who all insist that they were boring nerds during childhood–I don’t believe I’m that interesting. But, for the sake of this challenge, I will try my best.

1) I only eat yogurt in the summer.

2) I have an irrational fear of quitting jobs. (Good thing I just got laid off). I just can’t take the confrontation. I told one job that I had been robbed and couldn’t make it in that day because I had to go to the police to file a report, oh and I could never come in again. Actually it was my friend who phoned it in on my behalf. There are more examples, but let’s move on.

3) I worked as a Tony the Tiger mascot one weekend when I was in high school. I had to walk around a Loblaw’s giving people samples of Kellogg’s Milkrunch and PopTart Danishes (both are no longer sold). It was hot, smelly and teenagers kept pulling my tail, telling me that Tigger was better.

4) I have a pet rat. The only reason I’m listing this as an interesting item is because other people find it mindboggling that a twenty-something owns the same pet as their 10-year-old brother. Her name is Penelope.

5) When making sandwiches, I have a very specific order in which the toppings must go on: bread, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cucumber, sauce, seasoning, meat, bread. Whatever happens, the cheese and meat must be the outer toppings between which everything else is layered. It’s all about preventing wet materials from touching the bread.

6) I’ve been in three car accidents. All happened within the same year, in the same car and all were preventable.

7) I have an iron deficiency, aka anemia, which makes me tired and pale pretty much all the time. There are over-the -counter iron supplements (ferrous gluconate) I can take, but the side effects are not worth it. I would rather be tired than unable to poop.

There you have it. Now I’m supposed to tag others.

Ashley Drake

Blog de Raquel

Jordan from It’s a Mitzvah

Katie Bailey

Kat from Everything Boho

Russ from The Daily Grind