The World Series May Be Over, But We Still Get a Free Taco

I’m on a fast food kick today . . .

For those of you who didn’t watch the World Series last week, Taco Bell will be giving out free tacos tomorrow between the hours of 2:00pm and 5:00pm, local time.

The tacos are being given out as part of the “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” deal, which stated that if a base was stolen during the 2007 World Series, Taco Bell would give everyone in America a free taco.

Last Thursday evening, Jacoby Ellsburg, Red Sox Rookie Center Fielder, made them pay up. Read more about it here.

Don’t think I won’t go to more than one Taco Bell to collect!

WTF Wednesday: Sex Offenders

I’m going to begin a segment called “WTF Wednesday.” I know it’s Thursday, but something made me scream “WTF!!” today, which gave me the idea for “WTF Wednesday,” but I have to write about it today or I’ll fling myself out a window.

I like to listen to the news in the morning while I get ready for work. We’ve got a local station that I’m particularly fond of, and I really like how they fuse human interest and local happenings into their show.

This morning, however, my mouth gaped open as they ran a story about sex offenders.

California’s new “Jessica’s Law” has a loophole in it, allowing sex offenders released from jail to register as a “transient” if they cannot find housing that is more than 2000 feet away from a school or park where children play.

Why was I mad? Maybe it’s because WE NEEDED THIS KIND OF PRESS WHEN THE MEASURE WAS STILL ON THE BALLOT! Voters had the information in front of them last November. The sad thing is that those who voted “Yes” on Proposition 83 allowed themselves to succumb to fear-laden commercials about rapists and child molesters attacking our families and how the new law would protect us all, instead of reading the bill’s text.

But, no one spoke up!

Well, except for this person.

And this person.

And these guys.

And this person.

Anyway. there’s this feeling now that “all of the sudden,” “because of this new loophole,” sex offenders can randomly roam among us, creating yet one more fear and reason to not let our kids play outside or ride their bikes to school.

As a mother, what can I do?

I will certainly NOT use fear. Remember “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?” I will NOT allow myself or my sons to turn into Henny Penny or Ducky Lucky or Loosey Goosey and run straight toward a fox’s den with Chicken Little every time he shouts that the sky is falling.

Instead, maybe educate my sons the RIGHT way. I’ll give them the Facts about Sex Offenders. I’ll teach them how to recognize what type of touching is inappropriate. I’ll teach them how to yell “fire!” and stomp and scream and scratch until the person who tries to abduct them gives up for fear of being caught. And I’ll tell them that anyone–including a family member or friend–who says “Touching is a secret” or “Your parents won’t love you anymore if you tell them what we did” is LYING.

Victims of the Shooting

Since most of the news tends to be focused on the shooter and not the victims, I thought I’d post this blog for you to see:

http://www.bloggingwv.com/virginia-tech-victims-list-and-their-myspace-pages/

Thank you to http://solostinwi.com/cgi/wp/index.php for making it available.

We Should Have No Complaints Today

You know, I’m always thinking, “What am I going to Blog about today?” And most of the time, things come to me and the light goes on and I’ll know exactly what the subject is and what I’m going to say.

Then yesterday happened, and all of the sudden we’re jerked back into our bodies with the realization that we are living our lives ass backwards. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain that the shooting victims’ families are feeling right now. As the victim of armed robbery and shooting myself, I DO know what it’s like to be on the wrong side of a gun (as if there even is a “right” side). It’s probably one of a handful of times I’ve ever felt truly helpless, and the only time I ever feared for my life.

I hate guns, and I hate that they exist. It took me two weeks to speak to my husband after he bought my son a Nerf dart gun without consulting me first. I didn’t want it in my house. (He told me that I was overreacting, to which I replied that since HE’S never been shot, he would NEVER be allowed to tell me how to feel about guns. Ever.)

But in this day and age, I have to live with the fact that my son will see violence in movies and will want to recreate it in our living room. The day he pointed to the TV and told me, “Look mom . . . he’s gonna shoot that guy,” I made him run his fingers over my scar. I told him that guns were bad, and that mommy had been shot with a gun, and she didn’t like guns—even the toy ones.

Despite my insignificant pet peeves and selfish desires (can you believe I even complained about not having HD? How stupid am I feeling right now?), I live an extremely happy life. My family is healthy, we’ve got a place to live, and are blessed to be able to all sit at the dinner table together. No one is missing. No one is sick. My husband and I are both employed, and both of our vehicles are in working order.

We have no complaints. And unless you were directly affected by yesterday’s shooting, neither should you.

Make it STOP!!

Hmm. If the car seat blog didn’t do me some damage, this one will.

All I can say is “Wow.” When the media and special interest groups get their teeth into something, they have a hard time letting go. They’ve already beat Imus pretty much to death. I say it’s time to put the bats down and move on.

I’ve got some experience with this. The neighborhood I grew up in was “ethnically diverse.” We were middle class—sometimes lower, sometimes higher, but I can never ever remember a time when we didn’t have what we needed. And we didn’t care, because we really didn’t know we were growing up in a shady area.

My friends were Black, Mexican, Asian, White, and Puerto Rican—not African American, Mexican American/Latino, Caucasian, or “of Asian descent.”

We picked on each other mercilessly from childhood all the way through high school. I was sometimes a “Wetta,” or white girl (even though I’m Mexican/Indian . . . I just don’t look it), or white trash, or a skank if I was wearing short shorts or a miniskirt. And I’d say things like, “Shut up you wetback!” or “Go play with your cornrows!” and we would laugh and fake-punch each other in the arm and move on.

No one asked for apologies. Because we didn’t care. And even if we knew that others would throw hurtful comments our way, we knew they were just ignorant and looking for a fight, and we hardly ever came back sideways at anyone.

But after that, I began to notice changes in society. We were playing in a sandbox, and all of the sudden we were thrust into a world of negativity. Of course, we were all educated and knew about cultural differences and destructive perceptions. I watched it happen as a couple of my black friends went loco and began to think the world owed them for something that they felt my ancestors did.

My response: How in the world can I be blamed, when 200 years before their ancestors were brought over, my ancestors’ families were being killed and their land was being taken away from them!

But that’s a whole different blog.

One thing I never understood was how it was perfectly acceptable for Rap artists to use derogatory terms (i.e. “Nigga,” “Ho,” “Bee-otch,” etc.), but outside of the world of “musical creativity,” the terms were offensive—or even worse, downright deplorable.

How is that NOT a double standard?

Tell me how it is that recording artists expect to sell millions of albums—albums that contain derogatory terms—and not have their fans begin using the terms themselves?

Not that I’m assuming that Imus is a fan of Ludacris or Biggie Smalls or Snoop Dog. But nevertheless, he’s the one in the hot seat for using the terms.

And yes, I believe he went too far. I also believe that the whole situation has been blown out of proportion. He and his producer were goofing around, talking about something that millions of Americans think about while watching women’s basketball, but would never say out loud in public: “That’s not a girl . . . that’s a guy in a wig!”

Being a University of Tennessee fan, I watched the basketball game in question along with my husband. In the comfort of my own home, I was able to say things like, “Jesus! What are they feeding them!” or “Does the NCAA do locker room inspections to make sure the players aren’t wearing cups?” and not be considered a racist. I’m not a racist. It’s just well-known that some female basketball players are more masculine than others.

But, I didn’t go saying anything on national radio about it.

So now Imus is a “racist,” and apologies are flying, and many want him fired. Why? Because he’s a white man (perhaps an ignorant white man), and he said something out loud about young black women that really shouldn’t have been brought to air.

Now the NAACP, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson are all lobbying for Imus to get yanked.

Tell me, where were they when black recording artists released albums containing songs about “niggas” and “hos” and glorifying the killing of cops—or worse, each other?

Again . . . how is that not a double standard?

One more thing: would it have made any difference if Imus’ producer was black?

Cash or Credit?

It’s no joke that gas prices are eating away at our wallet. I drive a Honda Accord, and every time I fill up, it usually costs about $45. For a Honda. My husband drives a Nissan Titan. Gulp gulp.

We also live in California, where gas prices are the highest in the nation. We don’t live in San Francisco, where gas prices have been flirting with the $4 per gallon mark. But for us, it’s not unusual to pay on average about $3.23 per gallon.

It used to be that I could roll up, swipe my debit card, fill up, and be on my way with relative ease. If I was in a good mood, I’d maybe even buy the car wash.

But lately, I’ve been noticing a trend that is making me grouchy: One price for “cash,” and another price–significantly higher–for “credit.”

Like lots of people that I know, I don’t carry much cash. I’m a woman–if there’s cash in my wallet, I’ll spend it. I also don’t use credit cards. BUT, I do use my bank’s debit card. I have to, if I’m to keep track of household expenses easily.

Do I add an extra step to my list and stop for cash before I fill up? And why do the gas stations choose NOW–when customers are being hit the hardest–to begin charging credit customers extra for fuel?

Now there are lots of arguements out there regarding why gas stations do this. As a small business owner, I know first hand that my business is charged every time I have a credit card transaction–usually about 2.5% per transaction. Gas stations are charged in a similar way. But I don’t charge my customers extra for it! I take the hit and write it off at the end of the year. Gas stations, understandably, can’t do this because they have to remain profitable throughout the year. But aren’t there other ways they can stay profiable and still make it look like they’re not gouging the “credit” customer?

And here’s another thought: Why do some stations charge extra for “credit” customers, and not others?

One more morsel: Some would say that gas stations don’t profit from fuel sales, but rake it in on the convenience items they sell inside the store. (Similar to going to a basketball game and paying $8 for a beer.) We all know that it’s a rip off to pay $1.69 for a 16oz bottle of soda, but we buy it anyway, right?

Maybe I should stop bashing the gas stations and use the trickle-up theory. Why is it that oil companies are enjoying record profits while we have to bear the brunt and pay the price? Who controls the price of oil per barrel? How is this not similar to the California energy crisis of 2001 where Enron illegally charged our state millions of dollars for power?

Frustrating, indeed.

Seat Belts and Car Seats

Oh . . . this is going to get me into so much trouble. I just know it.

I’ve been simmering for a while about this story–three adults and one small child killed by a drunk driver in my hometown of Sacramento CA. (Related article can be seen here: http://www.sacbee.com/391/story/145354.html)

And while it is deplorable that there was yet another fatal accident caused by a drunk driver, can someone please tell me why, a) None of the adults killed were wearing a seat belt? and, b) Why in God’s name was the child not in a car seat?

The crash may have undoubtedly killed the adults in the front seat–the drunk driver took care of that. But, what about the passengers in the back seat? And the little boy–riding on someone’s LAP instead of being secured in a safety seat–will never get to ride a swing, eat ice cream, or read a book. Dare I say his mother took care of that?

This was a horrific accident, made much worse by carelessness. Am I the only one who thinks that someone could have survived if they’d taken three seconds to put their seatbelt on? Or take a few minutes to put a little boy in his car seat?

As a parent, I am mortified that this could happen to me. But at least I know I can reduce my family’s chances of dying in an accident by using my seat belt, and teaching my son how to use his.