How Messed Up Are We?

These gas signs are from the sixties when I was just a wee babe. Back then gas was around thirty cents a gallon.

The gas station ususally had only two pumps...three if they were fancy. You drove in and over a bell inside of a rubber hose that alerted the attendant you were there. You never got out of your car. They came to the driver's side window and your parent always said "Filler Up!"

While they were filling the tank they popped the hood. They checked all the fluids and then checked the air in your tires. Then they washed your windows, inside and out. I can remember the Gulf station even vacuuming our our car while we sat in it.

Then after we paid we got handed a dish to take home. They gave away sets of dinner ware with a fill up. The top photo is one of the dishes they gave away...yes I still have them.

So let me get this right...Now we pay almost $4.00 for a gallon of gas. We pull into a self serve station that has 14 pumps. You battle for the position to pull in next. Then you get out of your car and stand in line behind idiots who want to buy lottery tickets but haven't decided what kind yet. Then you finally get to the bullet proof window and shove your money to them in a drawer with a small dog food bowl for them to place your coins back in.

Am I the only one that thinks this is totally backwards? For almost $4.00 a gallon, they should not only pump my gas FOR me but check the fluids and windshield wipers, clean my windows and vacuum out my car and give me a big fat kiss!

REWARD points for ten cents off a gallon? They should reward us for being stupid enough to pay almost four bucks for a gallon of gas and making US pump it!

I cannot remember the last time someone pumped my gas for me besides my teen agers. And since I have been an adult, no one has offered me a free dish to take home.

The next time I am pumping my own 14 carat gas and go to pay...I think I will take the small little coin dish and say "Thanks! Didn't know you were giving away dishes but my pups will really appreciate it."

This new world scares me. When you can't have a Goober or Gomer pump your gas and your only bonus is that you didn't get shot when you pulled into a pump that someone else thought should be theirs...what does that say?

What will this world be like when MY kid's have kids? The last line I just wrote made me shiver.

Maybe George Orwell really WAS a genius.

Til next time... COTTON

Still coming Here to Feel at Home :(

First off, I am proud of myself for using my first punctuation marks to create a little face! My daughter does it all the time (usually when asking for something from me) but it seems to be the trend and who am I, not to try to stay up to date in this age of advanced technology ;) ??

Did ya see that? I winked at y'all!

I really hate to have to come back here to make a post, but I feel comfortable here and know how to navigate the site. I am learning more every day about my web site though and hope to be there full time soon.

I guess if you follow me on FB you know I had a breakdown of sorts yesterday. I think it was a combination of the gloomy weather and the pity party I threw for myself (sometimes you just need one when things build up.)

I stayed in bed all day today, watching CNN and just resting. I have been working too much and worrying even more. I have finally discovered that worrying does nothing but add wrinkles to my face and gray hair to my head and I don't need anymore of either .

I had a long talk with my husband last night and a longer talk with my sister (I don't know what I would do without her.)

This is hands down the worst time I have gone through since my Mother's unexpected death in front of me in a store at the ripe age of 17. The next worst was watching my Father die in a matter of days ...going from a vivacious 77 year old to an invalid in the matter of a few hours.

I recovered from both of those tragedies with quite a few battle scars in my heart and soul...but I survived.

I can survive this latest onset of misfortune. I just have to keep positive and keep remembering that there are millions of others worse off than me. After scraping myself off of the ground today, regrouping and dragging myself back to work for the eleventh day in a row...I thought about all the victims of Ft. Hood, all the casualties in Iran, Afghanistan and of all the previous wars. I thought about the little baby of a former co worker who was going through Chemo today. I thought about the guy who used to wash dishes for us at Johnny's Pizza who slept on a piece of card board behind the restaurant night after night.

I think about the fact that at least I am living in a house...granted it is a house where the phone rings ten times a day with creditors calling, but at least I still have a phone for them to ring. At least I still have a mailbox for the bills to stack up in and at least I still have a job to help defray and chip away at the debt little by little.

I still have a computer...many people don't even have electricity or a house and would never dream of having a computer but would be ecstatic to have a hut to sleep in.

I am a master of the mouth and a master of partial payments. As long as I have a job and as long as I can look up from my keyboard and see this picture I have posted of my three kids (it is from WAY back) I need to think of myself as a lucky person.

So I had a temporary break down. Maybe I needed that. I took a day off from the world and after some serious contemplation realized that "This is doable."

I have a husband that loves me and our kids, a brother and sister that have not only propped me up but have cheered me on.

It is time for me to take the high road, quit feeling sorry for myself but to feel sorry for the millions and millions that are worse off than us and that have no way to help themselves.

I am a strong, strong woman. This is just a MAJOR bump in the road of life. Heck, at least I am still ON the road. Many people are in the ditch, many people are simply on the streets sleeping on a bench and grazing through dumpsters for a meal. Sometimes you have to make a check...realize that although you are in a rough spot... at least you have a spot to lay your head down in and a place to wake up in .

There are so many people that are worse off than me that it makes me feel foolish to even gripe.

My kitchen cabinets may be bare, but at least I HAVE cabinets. My refrigerator may be bare but at least I HAVE a refrigerator.

I will wake up tomorrow and still have a job.

Do you know how many people wake up each day and pray that they will find a job?

I am blessed...I am a lucky person...I am a loved person.

Thank you to every one that has loved and supported me.

I promise that one day I will PAY IT FORWARD.

PS Be sure to click on the picture to make it bigger...it is my absolute fave of the kids...

"Toll" free calls...I don't think so

When the phones rings at my house lately...baby do we do some screening.

What irritates me is creditors calling me...they are ALWAYS a "TOLL" free call. That is a bunch of bull. They are not toll free, they are LOOKING for a toll. They are looking for money and looking for someone to talk to to remind them that they are struggling. I pay my bills, I pay them every month, Granted sometimes I am late, but who gains from that? THEM!! They zap me with a late charge and I pay more money to them just to get on track again.

My husband takes care of all the household bills, utilities and insurance. I have two credit cards that I am paying off, not having charged on either of them for two years. Of course I also buy the groceries ... household items and the kids school supplies, lunches and extra curricular activities and pay the medical and dental bills.

I will admit that I am NOT nice when I speak to them. I tell them of our current situation, tell them that I FAITHFULLY send them a check every month...and when it is late, it is to their DEFINITE advantage. I also tell them that there are millions of people totally defaulting on their debt, ignoring notices and statements...why not harass them a little more and take me off the hit list? LEAVE ME ALONE!!

I probably have a red mark by by name on the calling list and I couldn't care less. I would NEVER think of not paying my debts. It is true I have been struggling, but THEY are the ones reaping the rewards of my misfortune.

I do not need people calling me seven times a day to remind me that I owe them money, I am well aware of the fact...almost brutally aware.

I used to hang up when I answered the phone to hear "Please hold for important information regarding your..."
Then I decided to fight back.

I would tell them "Did you not receive my payment last month"? When they began with "Yes, but..." I stopped them dead in their tracks.

I told them the last thing that I needed in my life right now was a phone call reminding me that I owed them money. When Citi Group called the last time, I asked them if my being late caused them to lose any of their bail out money, and if it did maybe they could make up that revenue in the new stadium they had stupidly built with my late fees?

You know what? The calls have dwindled, I can actually answer the phone now. You have to stand up for yourself. There are millions and millions of people so in debt that they have no way of being able to settle their debt. I am not one of them, so why not call THOSE people!

Granted we are hurting, but I am not ignoring nor defaulting on anything that I owe anybody.

My husband said that they call me because I am one of the few that actually sends in a payment.

Well then send me a "Thank You" note and leave me alone. You know I send you a check with a fat late charge tagged on.

I ought to be "Customer of The Year". They should be sending me a plaque. Hell, I probably BUILT the new new "CITI" stadium.

Once my writing career takes off, I may write a book entitled "How to Tick Off Creditors and Influence The No Call List".

I feel like telling them if I have ONE more phone call to remind me of our plight, I will join the millions of others that ignore debt...live under a bridge and THEN how will they find me?

After writing this, I am almost WAITING for that next phone call...TOLL FREE of course and giving them a toll free ration of crap that they will wish they had never heard.

I pay my bills, I have had to pay them late , but I pay them...call someone that doesn't pay them at all and THEN get back to me!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Tis the Season to be Jolly....Fa la la la la la la la ooomph!!!

It is a rough year for everyone, it is a year to return to the true meaning of Christmas...not the exorbitant spending but the joy of just having your family with you enjoying the decorations, cookies and the fact that you have your health and a home to live in.

My family is in such a greater place this Christmas. Last year at this time my husband had been ousted at his job, we were in dire straits and luckily my "Family" at work took me under their gracious wing and gave us the greatest Christmas we have ever had.

My job as a server has taken a big hit... people just don't tip like they used to. I can understand, but wonder if THEY understand that I make $2.13 an hour? If I don't make tips... I don't get a paycheck .

Sunday, I went into work giving the same type of service that I have for thirty years. My first tip was $5.00 on an $81.00 tab. My second was $5.00 on a $65.00 tab... HEY!! At least I was going in the right direction!

Just to give you an example; I sold over $850.00 and walked out of the restaurant with $90.00. I would have normally made at LEAST $125.00. Not only that, but my oldest son came in and gave me a 50% tip and some of my regulars came in and did the same. Without their generosity, I would have made $50.00.

I realize people do not have to give me any tip at all, and I am grateful for EVERY dime that I receive.

If I make a 10% tip...I feel grateful for that tip.

If I receive a 5% tip, I may feel dismayed but I am still grateful that I am bringing in SOMETHING.

I have been a server for over thirty years, and this has been the lowest of times in my occupation.

People come in, already ticked off that the economy is in the tank and that they may lose their job at any time. If they are in my store...spending hard earned money, I realize that now more than ever, they expect me to almost kiss their feet or at least make their visit so good that it doesn't seem quite so painful to leave me a tip.

I have stepped up my service, I go above and beyond.

Sometimes my customers appreciate it and sometimes they don't.

In my business you take the good with the bad...my job is to make it all average out.

Some days, I make "PHAT" money...some days just suck!

But if you give people...ALL people the ultimate in service, you will make out on the positive side of things, build new customers and keep yourself in the "Red".

I work with so many young people that JUST DO NOT GET IT!

I guess that I was young one day...although I can't seem to remember being young anymore.

It reminds me of the beginning of the Dickens classic..."It was the best of times and it was the worst of times".

It may be the worst of times... but we have to make the "Best" of it.

I am a firm believer that if you tough it out...if you give it your best... you will be rewarded, you will be taken care of and you will be okay.

Say a prayer for us servers; We need it as do so many millions of people at this point in time.

Have a Merry Christmas...remember it isn't about presents, it is about being .

What are YOU being?

Til next time...COTTON