I'd like to discuss a
bit of Critical Thinking to my readers, those in or considering
university—especially the more elite schools. Public knowledge suggests future
employers may investigate not only public records, but also social media, to
cast an opinion of the type of personality they may be hiring. The same is said
of admissions offices for universities. Now some people may say to themselves,
“Oh, well I was just a kid going through some tough teenage years. They’ll get
it.” The cold harsh reality is whether you’re a kid or not, when you threaten
to hurt someone else, or drag someone else through the mud, don’t think your
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. will state anything more than what you’ve
said—FOREVER! Negative comments even mentioning your name by someone else
reflect more than what’s on the surface. A critical thinking person, like a human
resource administration or school admittance officials train to distinguish the
good apples from the bad by using this information. So when your date dumps you
and makes a fool of you at the office Christmas party, go home and beat the
hell out of your pillow, but do it in private where the repercussions won’t come
back to haunt you later and permanently. After all, everyone knows that if the
announcement posts on social media, it’s a fact.
My tidbit
of advice goes to those charitable people who want to donate to the needy this
holiday season, the way the story of Jesus depicts Him giving His life for
others. For those who have been fortunate enough to find their dream job during
this country’s financial crisis, good for you. I’m glad some of us are finding
relief. I’m certain the search was treacherous and you’ve certainly earned it.
But for those who have children and are sweating to figure out how much more
you can water down the milk to make it last, I hope this next portion does
justice for you.
There are so many giving people who
want to assist, but despite their efforts aren’t aware that Barbies and
Transformers may not even have a place to reside after brightening the face of
a child. After the child is surprised and plays with the toy for a spell, he or
she returns to a bed oft times temporarily for the night. The only items these
families can keep is what they carry, including their clothes and small
children. In order to assist homeless families, the best way to help is by
giving in other ways. Food is the most important. Now I’m not suggesting that
you go through your cupboards to discover all the food with the expired dates
to kill two birds with one stone. I’m talking about being charitable—not
housecleaning by disposing of old food to people so hungry they’ll eat
anything. Food that requires refrigeration is also not the best because it has
a limited shelf life. If, for example, someone received six gallons of milk
with an expiration date in a week, they may have milk coming out her ears and
then nothing in the fridge a week later, so purchase canned or boxed food without an expired date. It’s too bad
they don’t have gift cards for food. But they do have them for Walmart and
other grocers.
The best
gift of all for parents is a working position with a couple of work appropriate
outfits or a gift card specifying work clothes. If you know the sizes of the
children, clothing is something every
child needs. Wrap the gifts and give them to shelters. Then the workers don’t have
the opportunity to pick through the gifts, not that all places do this, but
some will unfortunately take advantage of their positions.
Speaking
from experience, when a kid attends school for seven hours a day in clothes
that
I did
something I’m proud of and though it may seem small, to me it’s huge! Most of
you probably have put together I’m an ex-invalid by now if you’re a returning
reader. Yesterday, my seventh grade son’s online school went ice-skating. Because
my third grader was still in class, he had to go alone. He skated around the
ice several times with his hands crammed in his pockets before pausing to tell
me he wished his sister were here so he wouldn’t have to be alone. I did
something absolutely stupid! Without telling him, I walked out to put on a pair
of ice skates, which I haven’t done since the accident. When he came back
around, I gave him a thumbs-up and saw his smile light up the entire rink. He
took me by the hand and we skated. My biggest fear was falling—not because I
didn’t want a bruise, that’s expected—because I was scared to death that if I
fell I would damage my back and end up unable to walk again on my own. But I
did end up bouncing along a couple of times. After I finally tired, I came off
the ice smiling bigger than ever and even walking a little taller. Watching my
son skating more confidently now, even daring to spin a few times, I couldn’t
help but grin enormously. 
Another mom was dark-skinned and
gorgeous, grinning from ear to ear. She and a group of girls had long skirts on
with their skates, so I imagined their beliefs were very different from my own.
The woman was holding her cell phone up to take pictures. The doorway wasn’t
very wide, so I asked her if I could take a picture of my son and she politely
stepped aside. She explained how her daughter had never skated before and I was
stunned. Aside from holding onto the side with hand, her daughter was extremely
graceful. I asked her if she wanted my son to help her daughter skate. (Cameron
stopped along his travel to ask each person who fell if he or she was okay.)
She laughed and said her daughter probably wouldn’t want to, so I asked her
myself. Taking Cameron’s hand, her daughter smiled and the two of them skated
around and around, laughing the whole time. Her mother turned to me and said
her sixteen-year-old daughter had never held a boy’s hand before, so she
accomplished two new things today. All in all, the day was an absolute gift.
Cameron’s hands stayed out of his pockets and his smile remained glued to his
face the rest of the day.
Now you can
enjoy my latest story about a girl who, through one individual error, changes
the rest of her life called Humpty Dumpty.
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