Sorry, lost my last post mid-write. The use of “awesome” by the young probably has a lot to do with lack of imagination, lack of experience, and conceit. The word was invented to cover what is basically indescribable. It’s a filler, when you are struggling to find a word: “That is (was) really..........something.” What’s wrong with being speechless? While on the phone with a friend many years ago there was a silence which felt uncomfortable. I told her and she, being from rural Kentucky, said, just pretend we’re sitting on the front porch on a sultry summer night, on our rockers, watching the occasional car go by. No words, no expectations, comfortable in the silence. Awesome.
Totally, though maybe a poem would be more practical, seeing as by the time you finish your other books, you might be too decrepit to tackle another one. But, that not withstanding, I encourage you to follow your dream. You could become the standard-bearer for the flag of decrepitude, a smack in the face of sniveling, pimply faced detractors, who in the end would pump their fists as they acknowledge how awesome it is to be decrepit.
However, if you decide not to follow this path of glory and take a more subtle approach, I offer the following poem fragment as an alternative:
They told me it would be great
when I reached my peak
But they forgot to say that soon
after I would rattle and creak.
You can take it from here, your response will be awesome. If not,
I’m afraid, it will stick in my craw
some.
All the best, and keep up the good work that you do.
Dear Garrison, about the shopping carts and where people leave them, I beg to differ with your response. It is indeed the job of teenagers to go out to the parking lot and collect them into a shopping cart train and bring them back to the store, but it is the job of the shoppers to return their cart to one of the various collection areas that are provided. It is not the job of the teenagers to go all over the parking lot to get the carts that lazy shoppers have left in all sorts of inappropriate places, including in their parking space which is now unusable unless the next client gets out of their car to move it. JMHO.
Some parking lots have collection areas but not all and some collection areas are inconvenient and teenagers are young and agile and full of energy and it's good for them to have a challenge.
In reference to the gentleman’s comparison of baseball and soccer I am reminded of the late, great writer Frank DeFord, who wrote: “Soccer is the sport of the future and always will be.” That about sums it up.
The image of stray shopping carts sends shivers down my spine! When my daughters were young teenagers, I was waiting for them in the car in a parking lot one afternoon. When they finally came out, they were fighting with each other while pushing a shopping cart distractedly across the asphalt. Meanwhile, a driver in one of the parked cars began backing out, right toward them! I freaked out! I screamed and ran in their direction. Luckily, the driver heard the commotion and stopped. I pulled them aside, and gave them the one real, emphatic spanking of their lives! Before then, I had tapped their bottoms a few times so they could have a story to relate to their school friends. After this, though, they suddenly understood what a "real spanking" was! They could feel my fright. They never were "distracted shopping cart drivers" again! And the subject of "spanking" never came up again, either. It seems, that at that one time, they realized that parental "oversight" means that parents really care a lot, what happens to their kids. And that there are times when there are reasons why family rules should be obeyed. I feel that, thanks to a shopping cart, my daughters and I came to bond more closely as a family!
Stray shopping carts on a sloped parking lot are often great trajectories for rolling directly into the polished bodywork of automobiles. Our local grocery store, being aware of this phenomena and possible liability, requires the grocery sackers to eagerly offer to assist the shoppers to take the groceries to their cars, keep a steady hand and retrieve the carts while hopefully collecting a tip for their endeavors.
Hi. I hope only select posts are published here... really don't need this broadcast... but I know nothing about this form of communication, so here goes... It makes me feel bad (ly) for you, to see you trying periodically to respond in this forum to... I guess it's called 'trolling'... or maybe that's too extreme.... 'argumentivness' maybe. Who needs it?! They have their points of view... fine! That's all. ''Garrison Keillor and FRIENDS''!! (I not arguing am I??!) I cherish all the good, clean fun (even the manure wagons and outhouses!) you and the crew have delivered ever since I began listening in the mid-'70s. Thank you so much!!! (I've been rearranging the vegetables here for an hour. Time to give up and Post...)
Sorry, lost my last post mid-write. The use of “awesome” by the young probably has a lot to do with lack of imagination, lack of experience, and conceit. The word was invented to cover what is basically indescribable. It’s a filler, when you are struggling to find a word: “That is (was) really..........something.” What’s wrong with being speechless? While on the phone with a friend many years ago there was a silence which felt uncomfortable. I told her and she, being from rural Kentucky, said, just pretend we’re sitting on the front porch on a sultry summer night, on our rockers, watching the occasional car go by. No words, no expectations, comfortable in the silence. Awesome.
I'm thinking of writing a book, DECREPITUDE IS AWESOME. What do you think?
In Massachusetts we would say "wicked awesome."
Totally, though maybe a poem would be more practical, seeing as by the time you finish your other books, you might be too decrepit to tackle another one. But, that not withstanding, I encourage you to follow your dream. You could become the standard-bearer for the flag of decrepitude, a smack in the face of sniveling, pimply faced detractors, who in the end would pump their fists as they acknowledge how awesome it is to be decrepit.
However, if you decide not to follow this path of glory and take a more subtle approach, I offer the following poem fragment as an alternative:
They told me it would be great
when I reached my peak
But they forgot to say that soon
after I would rattle and creak.
You can take it from here, your response will be awesome. If not,
I’m afraid, it will stick in my craw
some.
All the best, and keep up the good work that you do.
Bryan
Dear Garrison, about the shopping carts and where people leave them, I beg to differ with your response. It is indeed the job of teenagers to go out to the parking lot and collect them into a shopping cart train and bring them back to the store, but it is the job of the shoppers to return their cart to one of the various collection areas that are provided. It is not the job of the teenagers to go all over the parking lot to get the carts that lazy shoppers have left in all sorts of inappropriate places, including in their parking space which is now unusable unless the next client gets out of their car to move it. JMHO.
Some parking lots have collection areas but not all and some collection areas are inconvenient and teenagers are young and agile and full of energy and it's good for them to have a challenge.
In reference to the gentleman’s comparison of baseball and soccer I am reminded of the late, great writer Frank DeFord, who wrote: “Soccer is the sport of the future and always will be.” That about sums it up.
Frank may be great but he's late and the future is here and soccer is the sport for kids with endless energy and not much hand/eye coordination.
The image of stray shopping carts sends shivers down my spine! When my daughters were young teenagers, I was waiting for them in the car in a parking lot one afternoon. When they finally came out, they were fighting with each other while pushing a shopping cart distractedly across the asphalt. Meanwhile, a driver in one of the parked cars began backing out, right toward them! I freaked out! I screamed and ran in their direction. Luckily, the driver heard the commotion and stopped. I pulled them aside, and gave them the one real, emphatic spanking of their lives! Before then, I had tapped their bottoms a few times so they could have a story to relate to their school friends. After this, though, they suddenly understood what a "real spanking" was! They could feel my fright. They never were "distracted shopping cart drivers" again! And the subject of "spanking" never came up again, either. It seems, that at that one time, they realized that parental "oversight" means that parents really care a lot, what happens to their kids. And that there are times when there are reasons why family rules should be obeyed. I feel that, thanks to a shopping cart, my daughters and I came to bond more closely as a family!
Have you ever agreed with anything someone else has said? WC Hall
Stray shopping carts on a sloped parking lot are often great trajectories for rolling directly into the polished bodywork of automobiles. Our local grocery store, being aware of this phenomena and possible liability, requires the grocery sackers to eagerly offer to assist the shoppers to take the groceries to their cars, keep a steady hand and retrieve the carts while hopefully collecting a tip for their endeavors.
For the record, John (who prefers soccer): many of us 50+ white guys wouldn't be caught dead at a Tea Party rally.
Hi. I hope only select posts are published here... really don't need this broadcast... but I know nothing about this form of communication, so here goes... It makes me feel bad (ly) for you, to see you trying periodically to respond in this forum to... I guess it's called 'trolling'... or maybe that's too extreme.... 'argumentivness' maybe. Who needs it?! They have their points of view... fine! That's all. ''Garrison Keillor and FRIENDS''!! (I not arguing am I??!) I cherish all the good, clean fun (even the manure wagons and outhouses!) you and the crew have delivered ever since I began listening in the mid-'70s. Thank you so much!!! (I've been rearranging the vegetables here for an hour. Time to give up and Post...)