Etiquette & Youngins

I teach at a private school in Jersey. I only do it once or twice a week, they are exhausting, and I will tell you why.

One day, I used the word "etiquette" and no one in my class knew what it meant. That about sums it up for you.



These aren't kindergartners either, mind you. They're around the sixth and seventh grade range, but are actually, in my opinion, just graduating first. Besides their extreme sexual attitudes (all they do is "MTV-like" movements in the mirror and talk about their obsessions with being fat - even though they are all of about 12 pounds combined).

Anyone who owns a cell phone should know what etiquette is. Actually, there are pre-schoolers that have them now, so I guess I need to re-evaluate my comment.

Anywho...these girls don't say please and thank you. They don't say "excuse me". They were even fortunate enough to perform at a college basketball game, and when everyone said they "did a great job!" - nothing came out. I don't get it.




My best friend's mother taught us every little thing there was to know about etiquette when we were in first grade. I even bought the Emily Post revised Etiquette Book that now touches on certain topics such as cell phone, email, gay marriage, and even texting etiquette.

I told the girls to go home and ask their parents what etiquette was. Long story short, no one came back knowing what etiquette was. This scares me.




(I found this website www.EtiquetteHell.com. Sounds fun. Check it out.)

And the final one...White Castle Wedding? Bah.

I have been planning a wedding for almost a year and a half now, and it's getting so close (June). April will be the time when (hopefully) everything comes together, and I don't have to worry (as much) anymore about random wedding details.

Speaking of, I was sitting on the couch today, enjoying some strawberry yogurt and Sportscenter, when my fiance brought a certain article/video to my attention. Yes, it's true:




Why?

Andy and I met at his old college house in College Station, TX, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna scoop everyone up and have our reception there, among the beer kegs and playboy posters. I mean, it would be a hell of a lot cheaper, but I think I'm going for quality over, well, non-quality.

I've had White Castle once (only because Andy and I watched that movie where it takes two stoners hours to get to a White Castle in Jersey, so I really thought I was missing out on some amazing burgers. Not the case.) I've never seen such a tiny, thin, gray burger in all my life. It was insane. The fries were even soggy! I've never complained about a fry, but I was this close to asking for my money back. I hate people like that, but I was that appalled.

Another one...Duff & Clyde???

Here's another one from my other blog...


I was waiting to contribute to the aging of my skin for a tanning bed, and I came across an article in InTouch magazine about how Hilary Duff is going to play Bonnie Parker in The Story of Bonnie & Clyde that is to be released in 2010. Oh, I can't...




Hilary Duff? Of all people? We couldn't go with a more respected actress (or just a respected actress to begin with)? She bothers me. Anyone with a clothing line called "Stuff by Duff" really should not be in the "respected actress" category. I understand that Hilary resembles Bonnie fairly well, but I don't that's going to cover up her lack of acting skills. Why couldn't they have chosen Reese Witherspoon or someone that will actually attract movie-goers?

I'm Once Again Lazy...

So, I've decided to combine my two blogs cause I am once again admitting to be lazy and don't want to keep up with 2 blogs...so, here are some things I did on the other blog that I'll just copy paste over here.


From yesterday:
So, I was just watching Oprah earlier, and she was venturing into the cult - I mean, polygamist community - The Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch, located in the great state of Texas (of course, like we need another individual/group of characters to make us look strange). It was extreme and obviously disturbing. However, it was somewhat interesting to say the least.








I think the biggest thing was seeing the denial in all the men's faces as Oprah interviewed them. It was the most ridiculous thing. How do these women not see through this? Oh yes, because they are "brain washed". Well, not according to anyone there, obviously.

If their brains hadn't been molded by their parents (and by parents I mean one father, another man who they I guess see as their "leader" -I think his name is Merril Jessop-, and one to three mothers) into what they are today, then they obviously would not be there.



Kind creepy, ain't he?













One girl was actually taken out of the "community" by her mother when she was 15ish, and immediately following her 18th birthday, left her mother to go back to the polygamist "community" because she wanted so badly to return to the people who loved her (and I'm assuming those hot dresses and hair styles).


When the teen girls were asked why they all dress the same, they looked at Oprah all confused and said (and I quote) "our dresses are clearly not all the same". Oprah laughed at this, as I would have, and asked the girl to elaborate. The girl said that, if they like a dress that another has on, they will ask "where did you get that dress?" I'm just a tad confused by this. Aren't there like three women who make the entire communities clothes? Clearly I hope they understand that department stores nowadays do not carry such "elaborate" designs (and by "elaborate" I mean outdated/awful).




As funny as I try to make this, it really is so sad the way that these kids are being made to do nothing but work from the very moment they can walk (I'm sure that the crawlers are welcome to clean the floors, or something).



When Oprah asked what they did for fun, they said that "work is fun." Oh, well of course. That's what all kids in the world say when they are brain-washed by their parents to do so. You gotta just pray for the well-being of those kids and hope that they someday get rescued from this (at least so they aren't forced to wear one of these lovely ensembles pictured to the left here <----).



And, as for my advise for the future, if you are planning on starting a polygamist community, please venture to another state. We are all crazied up down here.

Northern Vocab, etc.

Here are some random differences in vocab/tendencies that I have had to wrap my brain around:

"Munchkins" - called a donut hole in Texas; more than likely began through Dunkin' Donuts, which is probably the problem to begin with (I think I saw one Dunkin' in Texas once, and I think it closed a few months later, not sure why).

"A scissor" - instead of people asking if anyone has "any scissors" or a "pair of scissors" people ask "Does anyone have 'a scissor'?" To me, I almost feel like the individual is asking for half of the pair of scissors, maybe to stab something or slice something open (like you would with a razor blade). I still don't get it I guess.

cApITaliZiNg EvErY OtHeR LeTter WhEn TyPiNg - That sentence fragment just took me three times as long to type than a regular sentence. Perhaps it's just me being lazy again. Speaking of typing, there is also the -

Aaadddding multipppple letttttersssss to uuurrr wooordsss - Another one of those things I guess I'm just tooooooo lazy to do. (See, there we go, I did it!) Also, I just ran spell check, and my computer almost blew up.

"Little Beers" - one of my most favorite things I've found up here. They are little shots (of what I can't remember) with cream on top; actually looks just like a tiny beer! So adorable. I need try to request one when I go out back home and see what happens. I'll probably get a Miller Lite in a tiny cup.

Violent fights in football stands - I was appalled at the first one of these I saw and how many of them followed in one game! I had no idea people did this at NFL events, because I have been to many games down south before and never have seen such a thing (at least at pro football games). Ah well. At least if it's an uneventful game, people are creating their own entertainment.

A "pie" - called just a "pizza" in Texas. For the longest time, I could not understand why "pie" was so popular with everyone (thinking "pie" as in pumpkin, cherry, pecan, apple, etc.) I get that it comes from the phrase "pizza pie", but I still can't get used to it.


These are just the ones off the top of my head, but there will be many, many more to come. Sooooo UnTiL mYYYYYYY neXt PoSt...

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. The title is pretty self-explanatory, so all I have to say is that I live in Jersey now, but used to live in the city. Life is pretty different up here and shockingly enough, you experience differences in every part of the tri-state area. I thought all New Yorkers/Jersians were the same before I moved up here; oh how naive of me. However, everyone thinks that I wore boots and spurs back in Texas and get around via horse and saddle, so I can see that I'm not the only naive one in the area.

I was in the Laguardia airport one evening, waiting for my delayed plane (of course, what else would I be doing in a New York airport), and I overheard two girls talking about how they are about to visit Texas for the first time in a few months. One of the girls was very distraught because she didn't have boots and had never ridden a horse in her life, so how the hell was she going to be able to get around in Austin? I rest my case.

I left Texas and moved to Manhattan about a year and a half ago, so I actually experienced living in the city. Never again.

Oh, the suburban life is for me. My car is here, I can drive it without worrying about crashing into a crazy taxi-ite, I can drive to the grocery store and not have to carry my groceries six blocks back to my apartment, I can drive myself to work instead of walking 7 blocks and taking the subway, only to walk another 5 blocks to the office. So pretty much, I'm lazy.

I have almost figured out the differences between people in the different boroughs, cities, areas, etc. I'm on a dance team, and most of the girls consist of Long Islanders. Before meeting them, I only knew of certain stereotypes, but thought that there was just one stereotype of a New Yorker. Wow, was I wrong.

Slowly, I'm starting to be able to recognize the differences in accents, attitudes, families, etc. For example, I've found that people up here have a lot bigger families and are alot closer with extended family members than anyone I know from down south. People live with their parents alot longer (probably because of the extreme cost of living by themselves as apposed to staying at the rents'). Dude, at the first sign of being able to afford an apartment, us Texans are out of there. I guess after I went off to college, I experienced life living without parents for 4 years, so it was extremely difficult to go back to the same type of life I had in high school (the only exceptions being curfew and, yes, they tried to give me one when I first moved home from college. That lasted about 2 weeks.)

So, with all of that said, I plan on taking ya'll on a little journey through my brain, someone who was born and raised in Texas and is all-of-a-sudden thrown into the heart of the north. Everyday I see and experience things that would make my friends and family back home take a second look, and then of course finish with a little "bless their heart" (or at least turn to the person next to them,give an extreme opinion, followed by a "bless their heart").