the No Complaints department

"A Hungarian is a guy who can follow you into a revolving door and come out ahead of you."
~~  Archie Bunker

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some current headlines:

| |   Canada bans bumping passengers from commercial flights
MSN


| |   Fired Texas Cop in Fatal Shooting of Jordan Edwards Faces Murder Charge
NBC News


| |   Trump asked Comey To Shut Down Flynn Investigation
NPR


| |   White House TVs drown out the shouting
BBC News
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A feature article in The Guardian-UK discussed how the dynamic of a friendship can change when one friend has children, and then all they talk about is their children.

They solicit Reader Comments, so people type in their perspectives and ideas ...many comments along the lines of -- if you don't have children you "moan" to your friends about your job and dating life; if you have children you moan to your friends about your children (and/or spouse).

I kept thinking 2 things:

1.  Couldn't conversation be something besides "moaning" -- i.e., complaining, etc. ... and

2.  I used to have a stereotype that British people were good at "the art of conversation" ...I don't know ...maybe not...




And two more things --

One, I thnk it's maybe preferable to run a household in such a way that the children are loved and valued and properly taken care of, but not necessarily taught that they're the center of the universe.

And Two -- I have noticed that parents no longer teach children not to interrupt grown-ups when they're talking.  (Maybe "Two" is connected to "One" ...)

(Grouch - humph - these parents today! - get off my lawn - pull up your pants - LOL)

One Guardian Reader wrote, in her comment, "...Maybe the problem is the moaning?  Lot to be said for looking on the bright side, whether child free or not."

It makes you remember in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, when Eeyore the donkey would always see things from a pessimistic perspective.  Someone else could look at the same thing and see positivity and blessings....





Recently with the use of YouTube, I switched over from rock-and-roll [I used it all up -- due to me, The Internet is "all out of" Bob Dylan, AND the Rolling Stones... and almost out of President Kennedy...soon people will be reporting these shortages -- and blaming Putin...!  ; )...]


But seriously, with YouTube, I wonder if everyone realizes -- there are a lot of murders and disappearances and mysteries -- "Dateline" -- "48 Hours" -- Mysteries, etc.  Good grief.  Felt myself getting "hooked" -- it's easy to get fascinated, because you sort of learn about human beings' motivations etc.  Puzzles to solve -- it keeps your brain exercising....

There's one called "Dateline Mystery:  The Murder of Jon La Chappelle."  I swear there's another true story that I saw on cable TV a long time ago, that was almost like this one -- Mr. La Chappelle goes into business ("import-export") with a woman from Thailand and she is his fiancé, wearing his engagement ring, and then he goes to Thailand and gets killed.

The one I saw a long time ago was some other guy, and the woman he fell in love with was from the Philippines, and the same thing happened! Allegedly.  He went over to the Philippines for some reason and then -- well, I can't remember for sure, maybe he wasn't killed, but he disappeared...something...

(And another question I have is:  WHAT is "import-export"?  It's one of those things that sounds glamorous and important but also dicey....)


If you're on YouTube and you get tired of murders, there are episodes from Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of "All In The Family."

Classics, oh my gosh have not seen for years, and yet I could say some of the lines in chorus with the character...

The one where Demond Wilson and Cleavon Little break into the Bunkers' house...










The one where Edith has jury duty


(-- all those neighbors saw him go into the building.
-- well, maybe they was mistaken -- besides, he says he's innocent.
-- all those people are born liars. 
-- if they're all born liars, how can you believe the neighbors?)






That show struck so many chords with people, for various reasons.  It was famous for handling "topical" issues, like prejudice, as we used to call it, and social-comment situations...





But the visceral impact of the show was so strong, the characters so "real," that I remember my parents being put off by some aspects of the show that were small details, not even the larger social-issue things...  My mother emphatically did not appreciate that the daughter and son-in-law called Edith "Ma."  And I remember my father couldn't believe Archie took "Twinkies" in his lunch-box, to work....


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