Make a list and let it go.....

It is time again for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

The prompt I chose this week: List ten things you are currently sick of.

1. People who harm and murder children: Last week a little boy was found buried in a local park. Until yesterday no one had any idea who he could be. A composite sketch that was created by artists with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children after its release yesterday a tip was called in about a woman and her son who had not been seen since last Tuesday. Turns out this woman was the mother of the boy. She admitted to suffocating him, reviving him, then suffocating and burying him in the park. Her reason, that she did not want him to grow up with no one carrying about him like she had. The boy was 3 1/2 years old. As a mom, a woman, a human being this makes me physically ill. Not only did she murder her own child, but she buried him in a playground where another child could have found him. Thank God it was a mother and not a child who found the boys body.

2. Chatty Customer Service Reps: When I call in to a company for customer service, I am not interested in making a new best friend. I want my problem fixed in the quickest most efficient manner. I do not want the rep chatting with me about anything other than what my particular issue is. I don't have time to shoot the breeze, I have too many other things to do and the fact that I have to take time out of my day and life to call is bad enough without being bombarded with questions by a rep who is trying to be my "buddy" instead of just getting to the point and fixing my problem. I don't know who told companies that customers want a "Chatty Cathy" on the phone. For future reference here is what I want in my customer service rep; I want some who is courteous, shows genuine concern for my time not the canned "i'm sorry" line, (show me you are sorry and you have empathy by being efficient and getting me off the phone in the quickest time possible), education, teach me how to fix the problem in the future or give me additional steps to try or other resources so that I may not have to call in again, GET ME OFF THE PHONE, I want efficiency, this comes from being knowledgable. If you have to fill the down time, talk to me about services or tips and tricks that are relevant to ME. Finally stopping thinking customer service comes in one form. I will take a knowledgeable rep that fixes my problem quickly without making small talk over a chatty rep who keeps me on the phone forever ANY DAY!

3. People who look at me like I am crazy for speaking ENGLISH: Don't get me wrong I am all for immigration, and I understand that learning a new language can be difficult. I have no problem with offering translators, translated forms, or bilingual customer service. However when I go to a restaurant, store or any other business in the USA and speak English to the employees I do not expect to be treated like I am from another planet. I do not want to be looked at like I am the one in the wrong. I have no problem being patient with someone whose English is not good, or who is just learning or genuinely trying, my problem is with those who refuse to learn the language of the country they live and work in. I would not move to Germany and expect for everyone to speak English to me. I would expect that I will have to learn German.

4. Laziness: I keep saying that I am going to give my house a good cleaning - but I get it "picked up" and then don't finish. I decide there are other things I also need to do. That as long as it is "picked up" I am doing pretty good. But I need to get rid of a bunch of stuff, and I have got to actually do it! Maybe I should put an appointment into my BlackBerry and then I will finally get it done.

5. The notion that torture prevents future terrorrism: Remember the Golden Rule that we all learned when we were in Kindergarten - Do unto others as you would have them do to you. If we want to foster an environment in which diplomacy, conversation and open debate not violence is the first option we cannot ourselves use violence as a resource. All that torture prevents, is us from making peace with our "enemies". It prevents us from having any credibility in the world arena. We must hold ourselves to the same standards as we hold others. We must be a shining example for the humane treatment of all. By torturing anyone we become exactly what the terrorists believe we are - bullies. We are the greatest country in the world and we should conduct ourselves as such.

6. Companies stuck in the DARK AGE: How is that in 2009, there are still companies that require you deal with them via snail mail? Why can't I submit a request over the internet, or at the very least over the phone? It is completely inefficient to run your business this way.

7. Preschool: Now my problem isn't with all preschools, just the one we were sending my son to. I have been a SAHM since my son was born and last summer I decided he needed to be around other children. So I enrolled him in preschool for half a day. At first he had a wonderful teacher she was so sweet, and you could tell she loved her job. She was really good at it too. But she was reassigned and then left the school. Since then my son has come home with injuries noone can explain, picked up habits that I cannot stand, and seems to never "listen" to them. Finally on Monday I get a call that my son told his teacher "Guess what we are having, we are having sex" Now he had no idea what he was talking about, and only told the teacher that because another child told him not to. When the assistant director calls me to tell me this incident, my son is crying and she tells me that another child had been talking to my son about sex the week before, something that I never knew. I was a preschool teacher, I know the rules, I know how hard it can be, but this is total lack of supervision. My solution, I am taking my child out of the school. My husband and I will keep him busy for the summer and in the fall he starts Pre-K so he would have left his current school anyway.

8. People who exploit God, Jesus & religion for profit and to excuse bad behavior: As I write this I am sitting here watching a Nightline report on kids in the Congo who are being accused of witchcraft and then tortured as a form of exorcism. They are burned, beaten, starved and accused of causing all the problems in their families. After they are "exorcised" for $50, approximately half the average annual income, they are often banished from their families and forced out on the streets. The government is doing nothing about it, and the "Pastors" believe it is a gift from the Holy Spirit to do what they are doing calling it "healing". The other night I saw a report about a young man who is a pastor and travels the country preaching, and healing. Now my problem is not that he is a child who is a pastor, or that he is preaching, who am I to say whether or not he is called by God. I can't and won't. My problem is with his father who sees him as a "cash cow". He made reference to how much money Joel Osteen makes a year and says his son can make at least that much, and that it is his job to make sure that he does. I pray that God is with these children as they are being exploited in his name. I pray that he will watch over and protect them from the hipocrisy of the adults around them.

9. Parents who think it is everyone elses' resposibility to raise and watch over their children: It is not up to Myspace to make sure pedofiles are not talking to your teenager or that they are not uploading provactive pictures or other inappropriate activities - its your job to know when and where your child is on the internet and what they are doing. It is not the video game manufacturers responsibility to make sure that games do not influence your children - it is your responsibility to know what the games are before you buy them. As a parent it is your responsibility to make yourself aware of the technology in your home or that your child has access to. We need to get rid of the notion that we are supposed to be our kids friends. WE ARE THEIR PARENTS! When my son is an adult, then we can be friends, until then I am his mom period. Although he is only 4, I make sure that he is very aware of the rules. That will not change as he gets older. I am careful about what he is exposed to, and he knows exactly what he cannot watch, listen to, play with even that he cannot have soda. And he will tell you. My husband and I have a plan for what is appropriate for him and at what ages, how we will monitor, and how we will safeguard him. We are very aware that he may not like it, that he make think we are crazy or pull the whole - "but so-and-so's parents" on us. Thats ok, we expect it, and it won't change what we do or how we do it. Ultimately it is up to us, he is our son and our responsibility.

10. That I could not come up with a 10th item. I guess I only have 9 dislikes right now. Maybe it is the migraine that is plaguing me tonight, I am not sure but in any case this brings this weeks Writers Workshop to a close. Hope you enjoyed.