Just Show A Little Respect

I appreciate the fact ‘times are a’changin’.’

However, I also think respect and courtesy shouldn’t disappear or hide when you are among friends.

We have a basketball net at the end of our driveway. The neighbourhood kids use the basketball net. (I think the kids should ask if it’s OK to use it rather than just start playing, but apparently I am alone in this view).

So this weekend, the baby and I are playing in his new favourite toy – my car – when I hear a basketball being dribbled down the street. I watch as a neighbourhood teen and his friend start shooting hoops. I also watch as they move the net to a position more to their liking.

As the baby and I exit the car, I see one of the boys hanging off the net. Now the basketball net is one of those portable ones. It isn’t meant to withstand danglers, particularly tall and skinny ones or short and fat ones.

I say hello to the boys at the end of my driveway and ask them to be careful with the net, which they confirm they will be.

As the baby and I head off to the park, I see the ball heading toward the cars and I also see one of the boys pick up this long pole from our property and lower the net.
When we come back, the boys are gone.

Yesterday, my husband noticed the backboard, made out of plastic, is broken, a giant chunk of it lying on the net’s base.

I am annoyed.

If you using something that is not yours, treat it – and the owners – better than you would treat your own things.

I understand the initial reaction when something unpleasant happens is to run away. We all have that feeling. However, one hopes the better part of you steps forward, admits you have done wrong and offers to replace the thing you have broken.

This, of course, didn’t happen.

As I didn’t see the event happen, I can’t accuse the neighbour of breaking the net. However, I think we can go to his house and ask if he knows anything about it. If he says no, we will have to leave it at that. If he says yes, we can talk about respect.

Times are different. Respect, courtesy and doing the right thing should be one of those things that never go out of style.

Ouch

Our mattress sucks.

This is not news. I have been complaining about our mattress - and therefore my bad back - since I first started laying on it consistently more than 10 years ago.

We came close to getting a new mattress, but then I had to buy a new-to-me car and there went the possibility of a comfortable sleep.

For the past year or so I hadn’t noticed how bad our mattress was.

Then our son slept eight hours in a row, two days in a row, and I realized something.

It wasn’t that our mattress had miraculously fixed itself or I had finally gotten used to it.

Rather for the past 15 months, I really wasn’t sleeping in the bed. I was merely resting there for a couple of hours at a time. And for that type of sleep, our mattress is wonderful.

For a night’s rest, not so great.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Why can’t workplaces get the temperature correct?

I am sitting at work with a sweater and my jacket on, wondering if I should slip out of my shoes and put on my outdoor winter boots. Often I am so cold I get all-over body shakes and I use the heat from my lunch to warm my hands and body.

Unfortunately, I can’t hold onto my lunch forever and as soon as it is consumed, the heat is gone and I am back to being frozen.

The only thing that works is to get into my car. crank the heat to high and drive for a hour. By the time I get home, I am usually warm or at least thawed. Sometimes, I require a hot chocolate and a sweater or two.

I commented to my boss this morning that I was wondering why I bother to dress up. No one can see what I wear any way so wouldn’t it make more sense for me to wear jeans, a sweater and running shoes so I could be comfortable and warm?

His response was what I was expecting - you are probably right but you can’t wear jeans.