I AM NOT A FAN...

of cancelling school every time a snowflake falls out of the sky. Shovel it, push it, salt it—we have stuff to do!

of people who throw money at the gas station cashier and grunt, “Five on ten,” and then walk away. How about a…“Hello. How are you today?” What ever happened to “please” and “thank you”? Seriously, where did our manners go?

of littering. Actually, let me restate this. I am REALLY not a fan of littering. When you throw stuff out of your car window, I want to jump out, pick it up and throw back in your car. Or, pick it up, follow you to your house and throw it in your bed. Stop littering!

of snobby people who tell me they never shop at Walmart. I don’t care. I’m there 4-6 times a month. I hate to shop. I want everything in one place and I hate wasting money. If I can save a buck, I’ll save it. The employees have always been nice to me; I have no complaints. If you want to spend more money and drive across the city for toilet paper, be my guest. What I see at Walmart are hard working people, both shoppers and employees, doing their best to get done what they have to get done—most with a good attitude.

of traffic cameras. I feel like my family has become a major contributor to the Baltimore City economy. Red light cameras and speed cameras are everywhere. Give me the good old days when the cop hid in the bushes and then popped out of nowhere with his lights flashing. Your heart raced and your mouth went dry; you kept driving hoping he wasn’t after you, all the while knowing he was. That’s how you get a ticket! Where’s the challenge of a thousand cameras all over the city. Bring back the motorcycle cop behind the billboard!

I AM A FAN…

of funny. Nothing lightens the load more than someone with a good sense of humor. Thank God for people who keep their humor when faced with difficulties. I’m not really one of them, but I know a few and they are the ones I want to sit next to when I’m feeling crushed.

of a good story. A clever, where did that idea come from, story. Not a dirty, horrifying, how-low-can-you-go, story, but one that uplifts and inspires.

of knowing, reading about, and understanding history. Speaking of good stories, nothing beats the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ stories of history. There are 2 books that I credit with leading me to ask questions—the big ones—about life and faith, which eventually brought me to the Lord. One was Mila 18 by Leon Uris and the other was Night by Elie Wiesel, both stories of the Holocaust. I read them in my late teens and they shocked me! How could men do such things to other men? How did people survive? Thank God for men and women who write down their stories, so we can remind ourselves of what was and, if we are not careful, what could be again.

of the next generation. I’m always very excited to see what the ‘next up’ can do. The Olympics were so much fun--I can’t jump, skate, ski or twirl, but I loved watching those who can. What skill, abandon and determination! And I love hearing the kids in church come out and sing with all their hearts, they are truly talented. I’m amazed at how smart my own kids are—how much they know. There is hope for the future.

This blog is just for fun. We all have things we hate and things we love and sometimes it’s fun to pull back the curtain to someone else’s world and see what goes on there. I’m sure you have your own list.

That’s the beauty of living in a free country. We can make a list because we have the freedom to do so. Not everyone has that. We all know of countries, faiths, communities and individuals who have been indoctrinated from childhood with hatred and lies, their freedom stolen. That brings me to the thing I am the biggest fan of…

Freedom!