Thank you for voting!

Red, white and blue

I don’t know what the result will be but I will be glad when we can see some real news on the TV. It seems like more people have voted than ever before and having lived in a dictatorship, it is a wonderful gift to be able choose your government.

I have a funny story to take the some of the sting out of the lack of etiquette this year. A few months ago, we had a local election in our city. Many people who live here are naturalized Americans who were born elsewhere, so there are dozens of accents including mine. One British friend has lived in the States for over 30 years but has a pronounced English accent. At the election site, one of the volunteers noticed the accent and asked to see her papers…!!! Well… she swiftly told the volunteer that in 30 years of being an American, nobody has asked to see her paperwork. (The volunteer has no reason to do that as your election card or driving licence will come up on the computerized system). The lady behind her was a naturalized American from Russia and she flipped too, “This is like Stalin in Soviet Republic, asking to see papers!! (imagine a thick Russian accent)”

This is Kerry’s moral tale for today. 😇 Never make assumptions about someone’s ethnicity, nobility or nationality based on looks or accent.👸

PS: This blog may shortly be posted from Mexico, depending on the result…😉😎🌴

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Sorry, sorry and thank you!

This is what I am going to look like for the next few days. I am in word hell trying to figure out the best words to use in my article and keep within my word count without leaving out something critical. This a brief break to apologize if I don’t respond quickly or post anything interesting.

I tried to catch up with likes and followers over the weekend and was surprised that one comment on another’s poetry blog was quite unpleasant and rude. If the commentator had any sense he would have noticed some disordered thinking in the poetry. If you don’t like something – just move on. I have had a few likes that were from dubious sources or from people with very different views from me. I just ignored them and hoped they went away to the WordPress prison (is there one?).

Hypocritically, I opined on someone’s blog idolizing Steve Jobs. The man created some amazing products and was very rich but I don’t think we should emulate him to enhance our lives. It’s just stuff!!! There are so many people in this world to admire including the Tunisian quartet who won the Nobel Peace Prize. This is a quote from the Washington Post –
An alliance of Tunisian workers, employers, lawyers and activists won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a decision meant to honor the quest for democracy in the nation that gave birth to the Arab Spring as well as urge it on at a time when its still-tenuous gains are increasingly under threat.

My brain is hurting so I am going to binge on TV. BTW, I have washed and the cats haven’t had to wash my armpits (you know who you are, fellow blogger…)
BTW.2 here is the link to my book which I haven’t had time to publicize – http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Cairo-This-memoir-travelogue-ebook/dp/B015JFY1F0

Please don’t put offensive signs on your car

After driving to the supermarket, I was behind a white behemoth of a car literally plastered with signs. As we were stopped at traffic lights I could see that they were mostly anti-abortion and Christian signs. The one that upset me the most was that she had altered the Coexist sign to say, ‘Only Christians know how to Coexist’. Well, for a start, that’s not true. How quickly we forget about the terrorist atrocities from both Protestant and Catholic factions in the UK. Secondly, it took away from the sensitive, compassionate message of Coexist. She had so many stickers that it was a distraction to other drivers. As she drove off, she was either unfocused, on her cell phone or maybe couldn’t concentrate from the noise of her myriad children, perhaps? Whatever the case, she was veering into my lane and I had to toot the horn to warn her of my presence. It wouldn’t be very pro-life if she killed me, would it?

I have no problem with regular stickers – I have one that says ‘one cat away from crazy cat lady’ which is patently untrue… The stick figure family stickers seem to boast of their fertility but are generally harmless as are those that proclaim your religion (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Wicca – who cares?), military affiliation or even, at a push, your fraternity. Nowadays, however, I wonder about hazing or inclusion – we don’t have fraternities in the UK. America is heading into a hot political season and I can only imagine what nasty stickers will be displayed for or against the likes of Donald or Hillary. During the last 2 elections I was horrified at the hateful car stickers, mostly about President Obama. Why can’t you keep your unpleasant opinions to yourself – no wonder people have road rage. It rarely happens in Texas but sometimes in other places people will let a shop door bang in your face. I always say, “Did you leave your manners at home?” Let’s all be less rude and much more polite to each other.