Pet peeves, beauty, beasts and fairies -- FNFFA

I did my patriotic duty and went down to Wal-Mart to buy some Murikan stuff -- steak, ham, pork and beans, toilet brushes, and Co'Cola. I think my bill was about $170 all told. In front of me was an older lady (even older than me -- at least she'd looked worse) with a few items. I was laying stuff up on the belt when I realized that there was a discussion taking place between the young man checking and the lady. Her bill was $27 and some change. All she had was $24. I actually started to reach into my pocket and pull out enough to make up the difference when I saw that she had a big box of Busch in the cart. She was also buying a Red Baron frozen pizza. It's been a while since I bought beer and even longer since I bought Busch, so I'm not sure how that worked out, but it was obviously quite a bit of beer. I might have still ponied up the difference if had been Coors -- at least it would have been American lawnmower beer. Instead I waited patiently while the lady decided that she didn't really want the pizza. I then unburdened my overloaded cart, paid cash, and got back more change than she had just spent on beer.

Not that I am unsympathetic -- I've had to do some fast mental calculations to make the money cover the meat a few times myself. I'd like to think, however, that if I were a little tight at the end of the week, I might have sense enough to go for a six-pack or a twelve-pack instead of a case or whatever it was.

The prettiest people are supposed to be here. Having never been there I can't say, but it could have something to do with thong bikinis.

I’m no expert on what women consider good-looking in a male, but it is a fact acknowledged worldwide that the best looking women are from Texas.

In case you missed the link in my One Cosmos comment here is an article from a couple of years ago in which a feminist discusses 'oh, the horror' fairy tales.

At least she likes Shrek, even if she doesn't quite understand it. Shrek is reminiscent the old "Fractured Fairy Tales" from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. It is very much tongue-in-cheek and uses some of the fairy tale tropes to amusingly satirize society as a whole.

Perhaps the most appalling statement the author makes it this one: “I do believe these fairy tales do have negative psychological effects as they sometimes stimulate the imagination more than is necessary or in the wrong direction altogether.” What’s the point of being a kid if you can’t have an over-active imagination? My complaint about most children’s television is that it is not fantastic enough.

There are plenty of mistakes you can make with kids. One is to infantilize them, do not allow them to develop a sense of responsibility, shield them from the consequence of their actions. There are plenty of AINO’s (Adults In Name Only) out and about. Another common mistake, seemingly contradictory can be made at the same time: not allowing a kid to be a kid. Parents want children to think “sensibly” like adults, to avoid flights of fancy, to be well-grounded, dull, soccer-playing midgets. Check out the kids on sitcoms. They are usually the sensible ones. The father figure, especially, is an overgrown child, mocked for his ineptitude.

The goal with children is to encourage fantasy and imagination while gently teaching the skills necessary to navigate in a sometimes rough world. One of my favorite examples of this was on the old Andy Griffith Show where Opie killed a mother bird with his slingshot then dutifully raised the orphan babies.

On the other hand I'd be willing to bet that Ms. Anti-Imagination was a fan of Sex and the City. Fairy tales, indeed.