This and that

I did go down to Sherman. I needed to get out and away from town for a while.

It was kind of a mixed bag. At the restaurant I went to for lunch, there was a family (parents, grandma, a couple of under-7 kids). One of the boys was acting up - didn't want to eat what he ordered, and was generally being fussy. So his grandmother commented to him, "I am going to stop at the store and buy a dress and sandals for you. Because if you're going to ACT like a girl, you're going to DRESS like a girl."

Wait, what? Wait, really, seriously, grandma, you SAID that?

First off: as a former (chronologically-speaking) girl, and someone who still sometimes jocularly refers to herself as a girl, I take great issue with that statement. Being "fussy" is not girl behavior. It's either fussy, spoiled-human behavior, or overwhelmed-little-kid-who-maybe-needs-some-fresh-air-and-a-few-quiet-minutes behavior.

And second: punishing a child by forcing them to dress as the other gender? That's just all kinds of messed up. I know parents and grandparents can get frustrated and kids can be real pills, but...that just seemed wrong to me.

It made me really sad. I almost went and said something, but I decided it was one of those "discretion is the better part of valor" situations, because it would have been sticking my nose in a situation and if the woman could say that to her grandson, what might she say or do to me?

People make me crazy.

I will say on a happier note, another woman - either a grandma or an older mother - came in with her son/grandson, and when they got their food, he sat and held hands with her while she asked a blessing over it, and then he smiled at her and started to eat.

***

I did buy a few craft supplies - one place I was at had their cotton quilt batts on a good sale, so I got another one to have on hand, since I'm planning to do more hand quilting in the future. (And this is where I go all survivalist: I find myself thinking stuff like, "Well, if the economy REALLY tanks, if things get really bad, at least I'll have supplies on hand to amuse myself by hand quilting." Well, that, and the piles and piles of yarn I have on hand. If we were to get a new Ice Age and wool socks would become as good as currency, I'd be all set.)

I also splurged at the Target on a tiny jar of rosewater-scented cold cream ("Boots-the-Chemist" - Target carries their stuff, and I like it partly because it seems to work well for me, but also partly because of having read in British books about people "going down to Boots'" for something or other.) I thought briefly about how I could buy a big tub of Noxema for less, and it would do about the same thing, but you know...I like rosewater scent. And there's a point where petty economies wear on me. I did also buy my annual (or every year-and-a-half) supply of t.p.: one of those great big multiroll packs. Which is expensive to do all at once, but at least I can put it in my "storage" closet and not have to think about buying any for a long time. (And I guess 24 rolls for $15 isn't too bad.)

***

I noticed a couple of car models I've not seen before. One I just saw briefly, it had what looked like "Kompressor" emblazoned on the back. (that may have been the engine option and not the actual model, according to Google).

It seems like car names are getting odder. (Well, my own car - Edge - is odd enough, but I just tell myself that the engineer in charge of its design was a fan of the slightly-lesser-known members of U2).

I also saw a Nissan Armada, which immediately made me chuckle and think that one of Nissan's competitors (I guess they don't really have a rival, like the Ford-Chevy rivalry) should come up with the RoyalNavy. Or perhaps the LordHoward.

I do wonder if manufacturers will eventually run out of names, or if they'll start recycling names from the past, figuring 90% of consumers won't recognize them, or they'll just do random combinations of letters and numbers (Well, some manufacturers already seem to do this). Or maybe they could use punctuation marks. (Though I suspect there wouldn't be much market for the ":" or the ";" considering what you would have to say when someone asked you what you drove.)

Or maybe they could do the Emoticon. And the particular options package would be determined by the type of emoticon. (Is there an emoticon that connotes jerkiness? Because I think that's the option that a few of my fellow drivers have gone for.)

***

And it's just really hot again. I do not approve of the heat. I do not like to think that this might last until October.