I have safe drinking water coming out of a tap in my home.

I have hot water coming out of a tap.

I have electricity 24 hours a day.

I have health care covered by my government.

I have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.

I have several stores with abundant food that I can afford within walking distance.

I have more than one pair of comfortable shoes.

I can listen to music in my home anytime I want.

I have a library within walking distance.

I'm not forced to observe any religious rituals or follow any beliefs.

I find I'm still amazed when people display the

"there's my way and then there's the wrong way"

attitude.


No middle ground.

No shadow of doubt.



Where does that kind of arrogance come from?

Ah, extrovets.


So fond of other people.


So unaware of their feelings.

Humans seem to have a need

to confide in someone

they trust.



After enough betrayals

you learn

to trust only yourself.

You say,
"If you loved me you'd a), b), c)......"


To which I reply:
"If you loved me you wouldn't ask."

For a long time I felt relieved that I had no children who would have to face the future.

But now I find myself thinking about the people to come who will be "like me" - those who may not be biological relations but who will be emotionally, socially like me.

In the possible societies that I see coming I fear greatly for them.

I see people out with dogs who not only allow, but actually encourage them to bark.

They call this "playing" with the dog.

That fact that this can disturb anyone who is walking, working or living, sleeping, reading nearby obviously never enters the heads of these self-focused nitwits.

When people are this self-centered and self-absorbed on such a local basis is it any wonder that there's so much seemingly unresolvable conflict in the world at large.

Why do so many girls/young women seem to believe that they don't have to move for anyone when they are on a sidewalk or a hallway in a building?

It's like they think they're on a fashion runway or a red carpet or something and they're so important that everyone should make way for them.



Boys can do this too, but usually only when they're in a pack.  They're a little more polite when they're on their own.



I have also noted that, generally, the more "fashionably" a woman is dressed the more demanding and obnoxious her behaviour.

(By "fashionably" I don't mean nicely dressed, I mean wearing articles (often expensive) they have been told are "in" or "the latest" etc.  These are also the type who will tend to wear way too much makeup and sport some tortured extreme hairstyle.)

Last year when I needed a new pea jacket there were very few to be found, and mainly in discount places, and I ended up settling for one that was acceptable but not perfect.

This year there are pea jackets in every clothing store, in many different brands, colours, styles.

This is one of the (many) things I loathe about the fashion industry.  This pretense that there is a lot of choice.   Sure, there's choice, but only in the things that someone has decided to push on the market this year.

So I will continue to wear my "acceptable" pea jacket until it is worn out and hope that next time I decide I have no choice but to replace it that it happens in a year when the fashion nazis have again decided to market them.

Form and function.

Form or function.




Function before form,

always.

Generally I like female politicians.  Overall they seem to put human beings ahead of things.

But, at least in Toronto and Ontario, they have a tendency to harp on about "families".  They seem to get so focused on families and children and to forget that there are many many people in this province living on their own, and the number is growing.

We have needs too, and I think just as much right to a comfortable and secure life.

Which, at times, includes not to be surrounded by children and parents and family-friendly places.

Sometimes, we lone types would like some peace and quiet and place to be with other adults.

There's some shitty person on my floor who drags furniture around when doing housework.

Too lazy to lift it, or bother putting pads on the legs.

So everyone else around has to listen to that awful penetrating vibration on and on.

I think there are two kinds of people in the world.


Dog-lovers,


and people who hate dog-lovers.

When I hear about the world,


about the Middle East,


the Ukraine,


Africa,


I come to understand why


my mother,  in her later years,


was filled with such


despair.

I come to understand,


why old ladies tend to live on tea and toast,


and old gentlemen tend to live on tinned soup.

What is this?


When, how,

did it start?




They carefully pick up their dog's poop,

in a little plastic bag,

and tie it shut.


Then leave it by the sidewalk.

And walk away.



A message?

The days are filled with construction noise:
drills, hammers, saws, machines, thuds.


The neighbours come home and the evening is filled
with bangs, clunks, doors closing.


The neighbours get up and the morning is filled
with bangs, clunks, doors closing.


The outside noise filters in:
dogs, horns, sirens, skate boarders (ka-thunk, ka-thunk).


I've lived many places,
all spoiled by humans and their thoughtless noise.


How I hate them.

Walking on the streets:

People.


Shopping in the stores:

People.


Riding in the elevator:

People.



Coming home,

I crawl into bed:


Traumatized.

Windchimes on an apartment balcony.




Seriously?

Outdoor speakers.


For those who think

They're the only people



In the world.

Installations, repairs, service.



Isn't it sad

that in our modern world,




it's such a rare treat,




to find

someone

who actually knows

what they're doing

Sometimes,


following exposure to human beings,


I do wonder,


if,

actually,

I am,


the same species.

Used to be,



people moved to the suburbs when they had kids,

and bought dogs.





Now they stay downtown,


making noise.



And leave dog poop on the sidewalks.

Teenage boys playing soccer.


The grating sound of pubescent male voices.




Maybe it helps their parents,

like birds,

boot them out of the nest.