I stand by my decision...

Today, I came across a blog written by a teacher about school lunches. It's called "Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project." Basically, this teacher eats school lunch every day. She takes pictures and describes the food... if you can even call it that. She insists that students need good, healthy food for lunch each day in order to be good students... and for them to learn how to eat well so that they will not have to fight obesity and other health issues.

I agree with her completely. I know how crappy I feel when I indulge in food that is not so great for me. And that food is at least tasty. I can't imagine how I would feel after eating disgusting food that is also not good for me.

Sometimes, she also brings up the fact that the schools are lacking in funding which means that they may have to get rid of some teachers. And that means increasing class sizes -- up to 40 students per classroom. CAN YOU FATHOM HAVING 40 KIDS IN ONE CLASS WITH ONE TEACHER?? I can't.

I worked in a middle school for about 3 years. I wasn't even a teacher. However, I did spend some time in the classrooms. The most I ever saw in a classroom was around 30. And those classes were INSANE. The teachers are at their wits' ends and the students are bored and attention-deprived and not learning. It is not pleasant for students or teachers.

All of this reinforces the fact that I will surely home-school my children. I want my children to learn. I don't want them to have to deal with the crap that public school puts them through. Philip and I were both gifted children who ended up just being bored in school. That is a waste. I don't want my children's talents to be wasted. I want them to be encouraged and pushed. Not bored and frustrated.

When my children reach a certain age, I will probably put them in a private school so that they can participate in school activities and gain an actual high school diploma, but I will make sure that they are going to a good school. And, I will make them take their own lunch. That way I can be sure of what they are eating. And, since my children will be vegetarian, I doubt that the schools will be making an effort to give them something they could eat anyway.

D@mn girl. You got a fine @ss.

A few days ago, I went to Walmart to pick up a few things. While I was perusing the thirty different brands of car wash detergent, a twenty-something male walked behind me. As he passed me, he had the nerve to say, "Damn girl. You got a fine ass."

WTF?! In what universe is this an acceptable thing to say to a woman?? Especially to a strange woman, in a Walmart, by herself, at 11:30 at night?

I was in shock. I couldn't even look at the guy. I just walked away and pretended that I didn't hear what he had said.

Would any woman ever react well to this comment?? I mean, it's disrespectful, creepy, and uses bad grammar!

It's not that no one has ever complimented me on my derriere. I know that my bottom is pleasing to the eye. I am one of it's biggest fans. ;) However, just because I'm aware of my butt, doesn't mean that I want creepers in Walmart talking about it... especially as disrespectfully as that.

When I finished my shopping, I came home and told my roommate about what happened. He said that he knew women who would enjoy receiving a (I use this word very lightly) "compliment" such as that. This was even more shocking to me than the "compliment" itself.

It is very difficult for me to understand how a woman would ever think this was acceptable, let alone flattering. Do these women have no respect for themselves? I am more than my body, and I would like to be seen for that.

If you like my body, fine; wonderful. Just try to tell me in a more tactful/respectful manner.

If the man would have approached me, made small talk, and complimented my body/beauty in a respectful manner, I would have been flattered. It still would have had the same end result (me walking away without interest in the gentleman), but I would have walked away from the situation without disgust and a little more hope for the male part of the species.

Take a hint, gentlemen: if you want a tramp, follow this guy's lead. However, if you want a woman who respects herself and who will be an equal partner in a healthy relationship, grow up and learn some manners.

Pistachios

Well, there is a pistachio scare in the news lately. I don't have to worry. I haven't eaten pistachios in more than a decade. I can't look at pistachios without being disgusted. And since I had to be disgusted today, so shall you. :)

When I was little, my parents would buy pistachios very often. It was a splurge that my parents insisted on. We didn't have a whole lot of money, so we didn't have cakes or cookies often, but every time we went grocery shopping, pistachios were bought. My parents love them. I don't think I loved them like my parents do, but I didn't think they were bad and I ate them once in a while right along with them.

Mostly, I just liked to suck the salt off the shells. I would pop one in my mouth and suck on it until the salt was gone and then I'd break open the shell and eat the nut. One one particular occasion, I sucked on the shell and popped it open as I normally did. There was a little bitty worm wriggling around in the center of the shell.

I was absolutely mortified. For those of you that don't know, the pistachios are already partially opened, so I was basically sucking on this worm. I thought I was going to vomit. I don't normally think of worms as horrifying or even that disgusting, but the fact that I wasn't expecting it and the fact that it was in my mouth really shook me.

I couldn't handle it. I haven't eaten a pistachio since then. In fact, every time I see a pistachio or someone mentions pistachios, another wave of nausea passes over me. That worm traumatized me. If it's been this long, I don't think I'll ever get over it. I will probably never have another pistachio in my life. I'm glad that I didn't love them before, or I might be disappointed.

Anyway, for the rest of you, check out this pistachio scare, and beware. Even if you don't get Salmonella, you might still get more than you bargained for.