RuneDragon's blog: "My Mental Ramblings"

Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack. 1973 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his rifle to show Jack. 2006 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail And never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for Traumatized students and teachers. ++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school. 1973 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled. 2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it. And chances are it probably would be a shooting or stabbing rather than a fist fight today +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students. 1973 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class. 2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School Gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car and his Dad gives Him a whipping. 1973 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to College, and becomes a successful businessman. 2006 - Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster Care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that She remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy's Mom has affair with psychologist. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school. 1973 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock. 2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car Searched for drugs and weapons. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant. 1973 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a Special school for expectant mothers. 2006 - Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies The ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion Without her parent's consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told To be more careful next time. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Pedro fails high school English. 1973: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college. 2006: Pedro's cause is taken up by state democratic party. Newspaper Articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a Requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit Against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned >From core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing Lawns for a living because he can't speak English. +++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, Puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed. 1973 - Ants die. 2006 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic Terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, Computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is Never allowed to fly again. +++++++++++++++++++++ Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary, hugs him to comfort him. 1973 - In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing. 2006 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She Faces 3 years in State Prison. "Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Love sees, not with the eyes, but with the mind. Therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." (Midsummer's Night Dream Act 1 scene 1) I guess back in those days this kind of sentiment might have held true, when what we are on the inside is more important than the outer trappings that people see with their eyes. Too bad it doesn't seem to be that way anymore. We are constantly being judged by appearances. What kinds of clothes do we wear? What type of car do we drive? How much is our home worth? Almost nowhere does this hold as much weight as in the affairs of the heart. Survival of the fittest for the furtherance of the species. The bird with the brightest plummage is seen as the most attractive potential mate. The strongest lion that can provide the best gets the lioness. And what of that most primative of animals, the human? The best guys get the best girls. More often than not the outer shell is the largest hurdle to overcome in trying to attract the attention of someone you might be interested in. We diet to try to fit into some masochistic view of what we should look like, and when even that doesn't work to make us happy we shell out a ton of money to plastic surgeons. We go into debt up to our eyeballs to get a good car or fancy clothes to try to dress up the package, hoping someone will be interested enough to unwrap the gift of the person we are inside. I think I have a great sense of humor, a good personality, and am pretty intelligent. I have a good job and I take pride in being responsible in it. I own my own home, and while my clothes might not be name-brand they are in good shape and I keep them clean. All of this aside, though, doesn't seem to be enough nowadays. Some people have it in their minds that every woman should look like Julia Roberts and every guy should be another George Clooney. They hold out trying to find the outer wrapping of their dreams, not giving anyone the chance to show them that it is what is inside that counts. Beauty is great, but it is a fragile thing that fades with time. The true love of a worthy heart and pure soul can be timeless and well worth the patience and effort. So next time, try to take time to unwrap the package and see what is inside before you try to figure out how much the gift is truely worth.

If you are reading this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank a Veteran! Now that I have your attention, today is the recognized Veteran's Day in America. As a proud Veteran of the United States Armed Forces, I have to say that it shouldn't take a special day each year to recognize the sacrifices the men and women that choose to put on the uniform of our country have made. If you see someone wearing a Veteran's hat, a shirt with his/her Navy ship on it, or especially someone in uniform etc, take a second out of your day to stop, thank them for what they have done and shake their hand. It takes a special person to voluntarily kiss their loved ones goodbye in the morning and put their lives in danger to protect our way of life.