Sunday, May 06, 2007

Seven Wonders

Yesterday I heard a Democratic operative declare that Hillary should be considered for president because she has done so much for women's causes. I'm left wondering what would be said in the liberal mainstream press if it is declared that a man should be considered for president because he has done so much for men's causes? I think these are functionally equivalent statements, but I'm confident the mainstream media message plays far differently between the two. In fact I suspect a male candidate would never DARE to form that sentence in the first place.
I wonder why?

Three out of every four women I saw at the grocery store today were obese. Not kidding. Not chubby, I'm talking rolling bags of fat. Three out of Four.
I wonder why?

I saw a special on TV (which places it in immediate doubt) about older men approximately my age using internet chat rooms to score with barely teen girls. The Houston PD was setting them up by pretending to meet with them, then busting them when they appeared. Even Miss America has worked a sting operation. Some of the guys they showed were 50 somethings with huge bellies, pocket protectors, etc. So I'm wondering what are we selling/telling our young teen girls that makes them susceptible to these individuals? That is, why would they agree to meet them in the first place? And why in God's name is a fiftyish man interested in a 13 year old girl?
Just wondering both things.

Why do people try to rush to the front of the line to board an airplane. I mean every seat is assigned (except for Southwest) and I have never had an airline not check to make sure every ticket holder is on-board before leaving. Since it takes about 20 minutes to load an airplane and every seat is assigned why are folks elbowing up to the front as if its first come first served?
I wonder why?

Do you notice store employees always ask you "How are you?" or they cheerfully say "Hello!"
But when you stop to tell them how you are, they are walking away, or if you say hello back to them they aren't actually listening? So obviously retailers think their employees should do this, but they don't instruct them to actually care?
I wonder why bother with one half and not the other?

I have Satellite TV. It goes out in big storms, every single time it rains hard, without fail. An announcement is produced on my TV screen that the signal has been lost probably because of weather conditions. Yesterday my satellite TV provider sent a promo mail postcard telling me this is the season of tornadoes and storms in Texas. So, they say, when the big storms come, be certain to tune in to their programming for valuable insights to survival.............???? OK, will do, there must be a subliminal in the blank screen.

23 comments:

Reach said...

Is not wonder an amazing tool? I wonder if every invention, or advancement, came from this wonder full tool?

As I read your post, I bagin thinking of the etymology of this powerful word.


The noun version of this word was wundor in Old English, and it meant `marvelous thing.' It, along with several cognates in the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, comes from Proto-Germanic *wundran. The word attained its present spelling in the beginning of the 14th century. The verb form developed from Old English wundrian `marvel,' which was related to wundor. It also has cognates in German and Icelandic.

Be Safe,

Reach

Seven said...

He....leave it to Reach! My friend, I wonder about you!

Jenn said...

Without getting all politica here...I'm not voting for Hillary. She's too partisan. Maybe if she had done so much for *human causes*...then, I might pay attention.

It's the twinkie-milkshakes.

Gross. Just gross.

I think they rush to board so they can all put their carry-on luggage in the first three rows. That way, they're full by the time the passengers who actually sit in the first three rows get there.

I always try to beat them to the punch by asking how they are. Throws them off a bit.

I hate satellite TV. I have it and have "enjoyed" mosaic television all weekend.

I love wonder.

Seven said...

Hi Jenn,
Well, that was thorough. When my son was around 3 years old he would say..."I wanted to wonder" just before he would ask a question. For example "I wanted to wonder if you would read my books tonight"
I don't know why that phrasing stuck in his brain, but I have always remembered it. Now many years later BEG and I use the phrase for fun and memories.

Lynilu said...

OK, now, you asked the questions. You gonna get de answers!!

1. Well, dear, it is because “men’s issues” are non existent!! We’ve all been living by “men’s” standards for millions of years! Hellooo??? Where’ve you been???

2. Grocery store, obese people, today’s standards. Nope, makes sense to me. We are given too much ... fat, sugars, additives, “fast” food, “convenience” foods, ..... need I go on?

3. Shudder. OK, I’ve got no answer to that. I don’t even have a smart remark. It’s just creepy, and I don’t get it either. Ick.

4. I agree with you, however, our societal standards press for being “first.” It doesn’t matter if being first means diddly-squat, we need to be first!!!! Ridiculous.

5. The term “service” is lost. No longer is the customer right, so there is no reason to really listen, because he/she has no power over the job. Have you ever complained about this? I have, but the person about whom I have raised concern is still there when I revisit the store. I usually just don’t return. If I’m not al least important enough to be heard, they clearly don’t need my business. They will continue to serve those who will put up with rudeness and oblivion.

6. OMG!!! I’ve wrestled with that one, too! What a ridiculous arrangement!! You’d think they would (shudder!!) have a cable line for emergency times! Oh, well! I have fewer problems in this area with satellite than with cable, so I guess I stick with them ... in spite of themselves.

And, honey, do you realize that your seven wonders were only six? I guess they were so serious that #7 was consumed!! giggle! Have a good week ahead!

Lynilu said...

BTW, I used to embarrass my kids when I felt ignored or otherwise wronged in a store, because I jump in with all four feet. Yes, four(4) feet, because I become a snarling mama bear!! Don't mess with da lady or her cubs!! She'll git ya!!

Reach said...

And here I was thinking that we the readers were 7's Seventh Wonder!

Good one Lynilu

Seven said...

Silver Lovely,
Do you know the phrase "So, who's counting?" Well now we know.
I think women have more power in a shopping situation just because they are professionals. I'm betting you fit the description!
As far as those answers....I think yes for the most part, but I just don't understand so many obese women. You and Jenn answered its eating too much, and not to sound rude, but yeah 'no kidding'?
I guess for my seventh wonder I should phrase the question with more articulation, "Why are women in the US eating so much? I understand they are overgrazing the field then lying in one place too long, but why? Is the wonder about mens attraction to sub-teen girls related to women's lack of caring about their weight?
Yes, I understand men are fat too. It's not so much a dismay with women as it is a dismay with lack of control, or concern with the why of it all.
Recently I heard an argument that........nevermind, I'll post about that this week instead.
Thanks for being here Ms Lovely and please be nice to storekeepers.

Seven said...

Terry (aka Sweathog #1)
I think there are parallels. Kotter was teaching a class of remedial students in a Brooklyn HS. However, I also think he may have been teaching English? Not sure about the subject, but with your English history acumen I think you might be Mr. Kotter in out scenario. Maybe I can play Arnold?

Monogram Queen said...

Hmmm I just found your new URL via Lynilu. That's alot of "wondering" going on Seven! Missed ya.

Seven said...

Patti,
I have been a bad boy about posting and getting back to my friends. Some of it work and outside tasks, and I also confess to bad manners toward people that care about me.
You are always treasured here.

Lynilu said...

You said: "As far as those answers....I think yes for the most part, but I just don't understand so many obese women. You and Jenn answered its eating too much, and not to sound rude, but yeah 'no kidding'?" I realized that I forgot a major factor ... depression. I think we eat to much because we are unfulfilled in other areas. (I know I'm gonna be slammed on this, but I'm speaking from experience, both professionally and personally.) This is too complex to fully visit here, but I sum it up by saying that as a nation we have too much, expect too much, and do too little. Once I got my head together on the first 2 and upped the amount of the 3rd, my weight began to drop off like mad. I could almost look behind me and see the chunks of fat along the path! EEuuww. Bad image.

You said: "Is the wonder about mens attraction to sub-teen girls related to women's lack of caring about their weight?" UH-OH! Now you've really stepped in it!! Your implication is that men's attraction to women is (all? mostly?) physical. OK, yes, initially, however, if one loves another, those things are in the back seat to the deeper emotions. Also ... being attracted to someone who looks good is natural, but emotionally healthy people DON'T act on sexual urges that are out of the scope of society. May I, without recrimination, please, use you as an example? You see a cute 16 yo girl, and you think, "Mmmmm," or something along that line. But you, my dear, would stop there. If you don't consciously think, "Yikes, she's just a kid!", you will at least back off because you know it isn't "right." People who do cross that line are not well. They are pedophiles, whether they admit it or not. So, please ... don't blame the pedophilia on obese women! You have 2 distinctly separate issues going on there. When I was 50+ pounds heavier than I am now, my husband still loved me, because he love who I was when we met and I weighed 120 and that love didn't die because I weighed, well, a lot more!

I agree with you completely ... the lack of control is rampant. As a whole, we indulge in destructive behaviors (eating, smoking, chemical abuse, violence, etc.) rather than taking responsibility and fixin' whut be broke! The mental health status of a large part of our society needs a tune up. It might not work for everyone, but when I self-corrected my emotional outlook (and in-look, too, I suppose), I didn't need a diet. My whole life changed, and my healthier eating was simply part of it, but not an artificial "diet."

Yeah, I'll be nice to the shopkeepers. I spent all weekend doing so! But it was (sorta) in the line of duty. I'll post about it soon, but I've taken on something I never intended, a volunteer-task-turned-paid-position. And silly me, I thought I was retired! When details are ironed out, I'll tell everyone about my potentially very exciting new challenge/joy. Starting a new career at 63 ... See? I told you that the nation is mentally ill, and I'm a prime example! LOL!

To Reach - By golly, you have a good point! We, Seven's readers, are absolutely WONDER-ful, aren't we?? ;-)

Seven said...

Silver Lovely,
You lay the foundation for a penetrating discussion. I was actually only wondering about the association not constructing a case for the same. My thought on that issue is far more complex than I articulated. It has to do with the visual associations that occur within the male brain, the patterns and imprints of womanhood that we are taught and that we also respond to in a biologic fashion. A teen girl of 13, 16, whatever is not the appropriate vision of that sexual ideal and by default places the teen in a 'hands-off' subset for the mentally healthy male. My point of wondering is that if so many women de-value their own sense of self-worth through gluttonous habit fueled by depression (your point) then why would they expect men to continue to visage them as an attractive partner (womanhood)
It begs the question of why a mentally healthy male can be castigated for losing his sensory markers when faced with a wife that has become a scale-buster yet condones the mental difficulty of the female using the excuse of "you must continue to love me for who I am, when in fact much of the who she might be is in depression driven physical failure" (not the gentler side of 7, yet truth spoken clearly) This idea smacks of excuse making rather than appropriate mental remedy. Remember men are motivated most often from a visual base. Hence, Playboy, porno movies, etc. Women work more from words and warm feelings evoked by the words and loving actions.
It appears to me we sometimes reward the female version of things as being 'acceptable' while men are quickly labeled as 'unacceptable' on the social stage. So, we have obese women that lament why men move toward a younger fitter women, thinking it is about love. The truth is that we are usually honoring our biology, which is very often dishonored, or perhaps more charitably, 'misunderstood', by women in our culture.
Do not misunderstand that I am building a case for blaming pedophilia on the female obesity epidemic. Pedophilia is wrong and has nothing to do with the other. I only wonder out loud if we dig deeper than the surface, what lies below that can be used for our own good?

Lynilu said...

Yeah, I actually got most of that. I was just pontificating. I do it so ... lengthily!!

One point I would stand by is that I believe the vast majority of our society is mentally off center. I DO NOT mean crazy, but we are not an emotionally healthy group. The abundance since WW II has left most of us lazy, expectant of gifts (or perhaps rather "things" of life that they do not want to work for), and demandingly egocentric. That is a set-up for mental unbalance or depression. So many blame all "wrongs" on the ever-famous "them," without accepting responsibility to, in the famous phrase of generations past, "pull themselves up by their bootstraps." The self-indulgence at the levels we have in the US is a door knocker for depression and all its cousins, Obesity, the twins Laziness and Sloth, Miss Focused Desires, etc.

The Venus/Mars difference you point out is so correct, and in many ways, make the world go round ... as well as the occasional bump-in-the-dark events, and I don't think that is bad. But (yep, there is always one, isn't there?) let me add this to your comment about ...."you must continue to love me for who I am, when in fact much of the who she might be is in depression driven physical failure"; women should NOT have this attitude, but neither should men shirk the fact that they *might* own some of the cause for the female's depression. I am not saying that he caused it, but with the difference of communication styles, many men just plain don't get it. Sometimes women are depressed/obese because life at home has become boring, and if their lives are shared, does he own PART of that? Maybe, maybe not. If he is looking at other women (let's forget the child thing for now) with intent to act, should some of his energy be used to figure out why he no longer has that "lovin' feeling" for the mate? Is it *her* responsibility to keep his interest focused on her, or is is a shared responsibility for both? (On this last one, I have an opinion, and that is a task for the couple, not one or the other)

"I only wonder out loud if we dig deeper than the surface, what lies below that can be used for our own good?" Yeah, me, too. I'm so saddened that our society has become so ... disengaged and irresponsible toward relationships. I grieve that there are so few 50 year anniversaries in ratio to the population. And I commend you and BEG for an apparently dedicated effort to reject those statistics. More people should look under the surface ... of the relationship, of their partner, of themselves.

My recent life has forced that upon me. It isn't always pleasant, but by golly, I've learned!! Loving partnerships are worth the work. If I ever find it in me to love again, I will promise to (1) not enter such without great forethought and planning on both sides, (2) work continuously to maintain that relationship at a healthy level, and (3) enjoy living and having love in my life again. It takes work. It is worth the effort.

Seven said...

Those are words of earned and valuable wisdom. Worthy of etching in stone. It actually parallels my next planned post in some ways. It will be a discussion of generations and 'generation' talk.
Solid mature feedback. Hugs.
7even

Lynilu said...

Thanks, dear. Looking forward to that next one!

Rick said...

Dude, you have got to make "Seven Wonders" a regular feature! The title demands it. And for the record, the women at the grocery store are the same ones who crowd onto the airplane... or the ice cream line. Mox nix.

Seven said...

Good idea Mr Leonard. Proof of why it is important to take advice from those smarter than yourself. I will try to wonder up some more nonsense.

Stepping Over the Junk said...

The whole younger girl, older guy thing always baffles me...although my boyfriend is 50 and I am 34, that is different from 50 down to 13. Ugh. Gives me the weebie jeebies.

As for the satellite, my mom finally got rid of hers because in every snow, she would have to go out with a broom every few hours and dust it off to get her tv reception. The storm warning ad cracks me up, on your service. Ha.

As for the fat women at the grocery store, well...I think that may be true for most of America, wherever you go. I sometimes take the kids to Friendly's for a treat (every few months) and what cures me from going too often is seeing that every person that walks in the door is about 10 times my size...as are their children.

Seven said...

stepping girl,
Sad isn't it? At least it makes me sad to think how little self-respect exists in that situation.

Enemy of the Republic said...

I'm actually supporting Obama, fully knowing he won't win. If Chuck Hagel doesn't run (yes, I do vote for Republicans), then my cat Muffin has offered his services. Muffin in 2008.

Seven said...

Obama is one helluva public speaker and there is tremendous charisma in place. I think his youth and DC detachment is an asset, but he will have to weather the hate, smear, spin and venom from the Clinton camp.

Enemy of the Republic said...

I will never vote for that woman!