Cappy's, a local (Tampa) pizza place, finds itself at the center of controversy after posting a sign in their restaurant that says this:"For the comfort and safety of everybody, if you allow your child to run, scream or misbehave, you will be asked to leave."
Does that seem unreasonable to you? It doesn't to me. But people took offense. Big time:"Cappy's Seminole Heights looks like a place that would cater to young children! There are vintage video games (Pac Man, etc) next to the windows. There are shadowboxes at the tables with vintage toys inside. In theory, Cappy's would be a great place to take your kids, but I think the owner is making parents less welcome."
"...they have no patience for parents with kids who make too much noise, etc....it pretty much guarantees that I won't be going back."
"Asking parents to make sure their kids behave is not a problem. Banning kids before they have had a chance to show they can behave IS. Like it or not, they are a part of our human family and treating them like they are unwanted or sub-human goes against decent acceptable human behavior."
"...Who wants to take their kids into a restaurant where they know that from the moment they sit down until the time they leave they will remain under a constant surveillance? And that's exactly what it would feel like....I don't care how subtle or non-invasive the surveillance is, it is still surveillance and it sucks. Just rule kids out completely if you're not interested in them as patrons in your establishment."
"...nice for Cappy's but they should remember that today's kids are also tomorrow's customers. Ban kids now and see who comes back in a few years."
"Even families with well behaved child are going to feel uneasy, like all eye are on them."
I made this joke Wednesday..."Yesterday, Amendment 1 passed and the Flyers were eliminated. Evil splits the doubleheader"
. And someone I went to middle school(!) with got upset and posted the following response on my Facebook wall..."There are 30 other states that have similar laws in their constitutions. It's petty to call people who believe in traditional marriage evil, just as much as saying they hate people who think differently. God will judge me on whether I'm evil, not you or any other human being."
Well, this is terrible and I feel awful about it so please allow me to clear things up. There's been a lot of discussion about gay marriage lately and people are pretty fired up about the matter. I kind of thought that assigning the label of "evil" simultaneously to the issue and a hockey team would clearly illustrate that I was making a joke. But by chiming in at all, I apparently presented myself as an enthusiastic supporter of gay people getting married. That is not the case. I do not enthusiastically support gay people getting married. I also don't enthusiastically support straight people getting married. For that matter, I'm also not opposed to any of these people getting married. Further, I don't do much of anything at all enthusiastically.
My belief is simply that in spite of how certain characteristics might define an individual, people are basically the same and I believe in treating them the same. Or equal. Equal rights, equal responsibilities, equal rewards when they do something well and equal punishment when they screw up. Anything less qualifies as oppression to me and I'm not a fan of that, regardless of how many states choose to interpret it differently and whether or not it's backed by any kind of faith-based belief system. Beyond that, whatever people do (with the so-obvious-it-shouldn't-even-have-to-be-stated-yet-here-I-am caveat that it not harm others) is their business and my interest drops considerably. Where it falls completely off the table is when somebody tries to convince me that I'm wrong, or that they're more right than I am. That's when there isn't a scale that could accurately measure how many shits I don't give. And as far as wanting to judge you? You've got me all wrong there; something like that requires waaaaay more effort and attention than I'm even willing to talk about, let alone do. So I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to say I'm sorry if you got bent out of shape when I flippantly referred to you and your beliefs as evil. I'm not going to do that because, well, I don't think it's necessary and also I just don't feel like it, but thanks for not challenging that description being applied to the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, which is at least equally as silly. Because that's a viewpoint I actually will enthusiastically support.
We as a society should take a second at some point to pat ourselves on the back for all the advances we've made in being sensitive and rational about things. There's still work to do but it does seem like we're chipping away at some of the stupidity that exists for stupidity's sake.For example, stupid bureaucracy was still alive and well in the Carrollton, Ohio school district until recently. That's where Carrollton High senior Austin Fisher was being denied the privilege of participating in commencement ceremonies with his senior class because he had accrued 16 unexcused absences, two more than is allowed by district guidelines. The reason he missed those 16 days is because he was caring for his mother who is battling breast cancer. As the only other member of their household, Austin had to take his mom to and from appointments and provide other care for her. When she became too sick to work, he took two part-time jobs to help with expenses. The school district initially said that's nice, but, well, sorry kid, rules is rules. But after an online awareness campaign, including the obligatory Facebook group, brought national attention to the matter, somebody decided to take a look at the situation. A meeting was scheduled with Austin and his mom to discuss matters and afterward, the school district issued the following statement:“Representatives from Carrollton Exempted Village School District had the opportunity to meet with Teresa and Austin Fisher earlier today (April 16). At that meeting, Teresa Fisher provided additional information to school administrators concerning Austin’s absences, which had not been previously provided to the district. Based on this new information and after careful consideration by school officials and the Board of Education, it was decided that Austin would be permitted to participate in commencement.
In the interest of all of Carrollton’s students, the District and Teresa Fisher ask that the community respect their decision and that everyone move forward. Carrollton Schools is a great place to work and learn and we do not want to be sidetracked from our mission of educating children.”
So, good job everybody! We're getting a little smarter every day!(If this situation hadn't been resolved favorably, I would have posted all kinds of links to petitions and Facebook and whatnot. But since we don't have to worry about that now, I'll only post one, where you can make a donation to the American Cancer Society via Relay For Life. Thanks in advance!)
It's Wednesday and if you live in a place that adjusts clocks to comply with Daylight Savings Time, you're probably still having trouble adjusting to the time change that happened this past Saturday night. Every year, twice a year, it's the same old annoying things:- Trouble sleeping and waking up - One hour either way shouldn't have that much of an impact but it totally does. It feels like you're going to bed much later, getting up much earlier or vice versa. Either way, it knocks you for a loop and you feel tired and irritable for days afterward.
- Adjusting your routine - The stuff you do when you're awake gets screwed up too. Never mind how darkness when it's supposed to be light (or vice versa) screws with your mind. How about just trying to figure out just how many time pieces you have that need to be updated and how to do it. Not just clocks and watches but microwave ovens and timers and stuff like that. Does your computer and cell phone do it automatically? Probably...but do you always rely on those devices to do what they're supposed to do without checking on them? I called someone at 6:00AM on Sunday to ask what time it is. "Your phone should automatically update itself", she said. I told her I don't trust machines. I heard some static that sounded like someone swearing into a pillow, a loud click and she was gone, further validating my lack of faith in gadgets. Also, odds are that your car radio clock doesn't have a one-button option for that. It's more likely that you have to push two different buttons until something flashes and then you have to simultaneously turn a dial with some other appendage. Once you get it done, you'll immediately forget how you did it and be in the same boat again in six months.
- General confusion - Is now Daylight Savings Time or is that what just ended? I have such a tenuous grasp of so many aspects of day-to-day life sometimes.
- Bitching - Every year, everybody complains about it. Including me. That might be the worst aspect of the whole thing. There's not a lot of point to complaining about something that everybody is dealing with and that probably isn't going to change. Although, it seems to me that there's a little extra edge to the complaints this time, what seems like real genuine anger. I don't know if that's because we're all just exponentially angry about everything or if people are finally just truly fed up with the whole thing.
