Some Good Flicks to Watch

I haven’t done a movie review in awhile so I think I will take this time to rate a few movies I’ve seen

Blacksnake Moan – Excellent!  What a great cast!

Shooter – Wahlberg at his best.  I watched this one twice.

Zodiac – A chilling picture that brings back so many memories of the terror this guy spread around California in the late sixties and early seventies.  Great stuff!

The Illusionist – A classic!  It is one I will purchase for the library.

Night Listener – A disappointing movie that had so much promise.  Sigh.

So what movies have you all seen lately?

I Ain’t No Homo, I Just Hanging Out With the Boys…

Senator Craig is gone.  Resigned.  Finally admitted to improper conduct in a bathroom after making a pass at an undercover officer.  He denied it.  He swore it wasn’t true.  He even objected to the thought that he had ever even considered a homosexual encounter.  He let us all know that this was a witch hunt!

I for one believed him because anyone can doctor a tape and I’m sure that in Area 51 they have such capabilities since aliens reside there and can surely generate such damning evidence…

NOT! 

Just kidding.  I’m glad he had the sense to resign. 

I wonder if he has ever considered entering the priesthood?

Customer Service at Its Best

I think anyone who has ever had to work with the public knows that a harried crowd of customers on a wild Saturday morning can be trying.  The trick to great customer service is how you keep smiling even though you are tired, stressed, and want to be anywhere but there.

This morning, after finding two of our favorite Saturday morning haunts were either closed or so busy we didn’t want to wait, my gal and I went on to Denny’s.  I haven’t eaten in a Denny’s for years but it looked fairly clean and the smell of breakfast was inviting.  We were encouraged to find no one was throwing up or keeling over from ptomaine poisoning so we were content to wait our turn to be seated by any of the worn out looking waitresses.

After having four of them walk by and not even pay us a bit of attention, the cashier looked at us and shrugged like she didn’t know what the deal was.  She flagged down a waitress who promptly seated us, dropped menus on the table and left to get us coffee and a coke.  When the food was delivered, I asked for my favorite condiment, Tabasco Sauce, when I was informed they didn’t serve Tabasco Sauce, but did have Louisiana Hot Sauce, if I wanted some of that.  I sat there thinking on that choice since any true connoisseur of hot sauces know that offering someone Louisiana Hot Sauce in exchange for Tabasco Sauce is like offering someone a Ford Tempo instead of a Mercedes Benz.  It ain’t the same, sister, so don’t try to pass it off as such.  While I’m contemplating an inferior condiment, the waitress demands an answer.

“Do you want Louisiana Hot Sauce?  Yes or No!”  I told her yes and thought maybe I was overreacting to her attitude until my gal mumbled, “Now how is that for customer service?  Yes or NO?”

I have to agree.  I don’t care how tired you are, if you are serving the public watch the attitude.   More over, if you are offering an inferior product to them because you are too cheap to serve the good stuff, then you should be even more willing to show a kind spirit and good customer service.  To add insult to injury, she even overcharged us on the ticket.  The only redeeming factor of this whole experience was the time spent with my gal as that is always a treat.

So do you want to go to Denny’s?  Yes or No!  For me the answer is simple…

NO!

Little Joe

A friend of mine just lost his six year old son.  The child was born with plenty of complications and was most likely going to have a life full of medical issues.  I dreaded going to the funeral as they really get to me when it is children who have died, even the sick ones.  I can only imagine the horror and pain parents go through burying their precious child.

I listened to the eulogies given by both the mother and father, watched the Power Point,  complete with music, that showed little Joseph in his grandmother’s lap being read to, sitting with his sister, and surrounded by loving parents.  I watched as family members held onto each other for support and as usual, I got that ever pervasive sinking feeling that there are times in this ol’ life that the world just flat sucks.

It was about the time I was ready to walk out when I saw Joseph’s sister come to life.  She had caught the attention of another child in the audience and held up her beanie baby dog and shook it at her.  The other little girl raised up her own stuffed animal and waved it back at Emma who then showed her that she also had a blanket for floppy dog which brought another stuffed animal from the child in the audience.  Emma pointed at her freshly braided hair and shaking her dog at the little girl again, smiled a big toothy smile before her aunt turned her back around to face the front.

The whole exchange didn’t last more than 20 seconds but in that short time I realized in the midst of life’s most suckiest moments, we find hope in the redeeming actions of children who seem oblivious to the storms of life around them and only see the joy of another who has found the happiness of relishing the simple pleasures of life and revelling in them.

I hope those two small girls never lose that hope and thank them for renewing mine.