Why I don't say the Pledge of Allegiance

I am not un-American nor. I am patriotic. I'm just not one who says the pledge aloud. It also doesn't mean I don't respect service men. I do respect them and I do think we need them for our survival and protection, and I am thankful there are men and women who lay doe their lives for my freedoms.

When the pledge is said I do stand, I do face the flag, and I do take my hat off if I'm wearing one. I'm quiet and respectful. I stand at "parade rest" while it's being recited. I just don't say it.

I don't like being told to be patriotic on command (and it has nothing to do with the line "One nation under God..." either!). I'm not sure if I can make this make sense. Every single day, before the announcements, we make the kids stand, face the flag, place their hands on their hearts, and say it. It becomes so mote, such a habit that it seems to lose its significance and importance. The kids look bored, roll their eyes, just stand and you can see that they are about a million miles away, and not thinking of the importance of their country.

Now, on Patriot Day, Sept. 11, when the announcements came on and we were asked to stand for the pledge, we also were told what Patriot Day was and he read a story from 9-11 over the PA. By the time he was done, tears were rolling down my face and I said the Pledge. It did mean something to me that day.

I know it should mean something to me every single day. I do know. I really do.

Maybe it's because I'm in a school setting and the Pledge is squeezed between the daily silent reading and the sports announcements. And I'm charged with MAKING kids be quiet, to stand, to not talk, to not mess around, to not pick their noses... you get my drift. No other work place, other than maybe military or government related places and I'm guessing here, makes you stand and say the Pledge.

I also don't like being told to pray, for example. I don't like ritualistic recitation at public events.

I guess this was on my mind today because it just seems like saying the Pledge in a public high school is forced on the kids, like so many other things. And today as I watched the kids during "pledge" time I was disappointed that they didn't care. It was meaningless to them.

I do not want to participate in a public ritualistic recitation when it means nothing to me, only because I'm told it's 9:50am and time to day it. I want to say it because it means something to me. While I understand it SHOULD mean something to me each day, and in my heart of hearts, I don't feel the need to say it unless I want to do so.

And it should mean something.

Maggie

Seeing ItalianSam... is it a good idea?

The answer the the title's rhetorical questions is, "Oh, YES!"

I have a platonic friend- ItalianSam. Well, we're sort of platonic. Well, we are now, but we didn't used to be. A long time ago. Back then he was available, so I thought and was led to believe, and I was available. We were both younger (I was 26 and he was 46- yes a 20 year age difference) and we were adventurous. He was handsome, charming, very Italian, sexy, with a voice like melted chocolate, and intense eyes that could bore a hole through me. He was quite distinguished, with an edge, full of himself, and had a bit of swagger... he was just oozing machismo and moxie and ... well... he was hot. And he had this way of looking at me like I was the only person to exist on the Earth other than him. We met about 11 years ago and sort of 'saw' each other until he decided to reconcile and not divorce his wife. Uh, yeah. Did you just hear the brakes slam to a screeching halt?

After that we didn't 'see' each other unless it was to say a polite hello at a conference. Then I left that company and went on my merry little way in life. So fast forward to about 3 years ago and ItalianSam and I reconnected via the Internet and have been chatting via phone and shooting emails back and forth to each other all this time. Oh, we're flirty and fun but nothing pervy or porno like. We also occasionally remember our time together in the past in good ways... :ahem: He lives near Chicago and now that I'm back in the Midwest vicinity, we keep saying we should get together for lunch or something. There's never been a heavy emphasis of anything indiscreet on the 'or something'- just like lunch, dinner, coffee- that sort of 'or something'.

So now we have plans to meet next week, a week from today as a matter of fact. He has a business trip about an hour away from me so I'm going to meet him for lunch. Well, that was the original plan, but now...

Well, now we're going to meet and then if the weather is nice we're going to Michigan to a beach side resort town. For the afternoon. Together. To walk around the town and sight-see and go to the beach. And then come back to town and have supper. Together. Maybe see what sort of nightlife there is.

This should prove to be interesting...

Ain't misbehavin',
Mags

Runway to Heaven

There is some religious group in my community where the women wear long skirts, have really long hair and don't wear make-up. They don't wear any head coverings. Clothes don't look hand-made. They drive, have electricity and don't seem to have a huge plethora of kids. I have no idea what the religion is, and I really don't care actually, but it's the dress of the women that struck me.

There were a bunch of these women were at Wally World the other day (yeah, I seem to spend a lot of time at Wal-Mart. Just don't ask...) So anyway, I noticed that they all had on long denim skirts. All the way to the ground denim. They also had on tennis shoes. This, overall, was not a fashion statement of the good. It was not attractive at all. While the women were not necessarily ugly, these unbecoming fashion make them all look very, very short. And sort of stumpy. They were thin, but frumpy-looking. Is that the point?

Back in the Wild West I wore a long denim skirt, a pair of pink cowboy boots, a western shirt and a cool belt and I was looking stylish. I was "in"- I was cool. The more I looked at these women, the more I realized several things about myself.

First, I wanted to rush home and hem all my denim skirts short because I didn't want to be confused as a member of this religion, since I have a non-god issue. Then I thought about it. I could never be confused as a member of this religion because of several things. My hair is way too short- right now I'm sporting a very short pixie cut, short for even pixie standards, so my hair isn't long enough to either hang to my ass or put up in a HUGE bun. And speaking of ass, my ass is waaaaaaay to big to be a member of this church. I swear, ever single one of these women are tiny. Small. Thin. Skinny. There is no way I could belong since I have a fat ass, junk in the trunk, loot in the boot, whatever you want to say, I am just not skinny enough to be there.

And I have fashion sense, which is obviously missing here. I am not a fashion snob- I don't make enough money to be such, and I'm also not a perfect size 5 so not all fashions are meant for me so a fashion snob I am not. But I like to look nice and I try be neat and stylish. Not frumpy. I like clothes. And when I see these women they are always in really really long skirts, denim during the week (their answer to wearing jeans if they were allowed to sport pants?) or floral on Saturdays and Sundays- or dresses with really big flowers on them.

Do you think people with short hair are banned? Are fat people banned? Would I have to grow my hair and lose 25 pounds to join? What if I could make a big financial donation? I do own the long ugly denim skirt and have some tennis socks, after all. Do you think the women are given a brochure of clothes and hair dos and don'ts? Do you think they have a religious version of "What not to Wear"? OMG- I just can't see Clinton and Stacey hosting anything like this... And if this was catching on as a big fashion statement, then how come I'm not seeing a Versace or Armani "God Wear" or "Church" line of clothing?

I dunno. While I'm not religious, I really wonder if God cares what we wear. Is someone wearing a frumpy deim skirt, tennis socks with an ankle ball, no make up, hair to their butts and a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt going to get to heaven before a person in jeans and a Harvard t-shirt sporting eye shadow and loafers? It just seems to be a funny part of a religion to me.

Hey, I'm just sayin'!

Off to hem my skirts,
Maggie

In Honor of Good Friday... and yes, I know- I'm goin' to Hell