Just because I'm wearing black, doesn't mean I'm goth .

My father has this crazy idea in his head that when I paint my nails black, I clearly am goth, or emo, or whatever. Now if you know me, you realize that this is a completely ludicris thing to say as I'm the farthest thing from emo or goth. So when I came downstairs the other day with my black nail polish, black sweater, and black pants on it, I think I gave my dad a minor heart attack.

But I wonder why people are so ready to believe that as soon as you start wearing black you are emo or goth. Doesn't that count as judging? Shouldn't my own father be above judging me, his daughter, whom he very well knows is not goth.

I guess that is just today's society though, the action to judge is involuntary. When you walk down the street and see the teenager with 15 different piercings what is the first thing you think? I know I immediatly think punk, smoker, possibly thief. When I see a blonde wearing lots of pink I immediatly think air head. Apperances really are everything, and there is no getting around it. I want a couple facial piercings but I won't get them because I don't want employers to judge me, I don't want to be seen as a trouble maker because that is what society associates with lots of facial piercings.

Its sad that this is the way we work, and that this is the way we have always been. Some say now that it is 2011 we are supposed to be above judging and discrimination, we are supposed to be more open to different things, but to that I say, we never have been and most people don't see it as a problem. So who is really going to start?

Contrary To Popular Belief, Manners Do Matter

        Manners were never really a concept that I understood when I was little. The importance of manners to a 5 year old tends to go over their head a tad. However, now that I'm 17 years old, applying for jobs and to Universities, manners are kind of a big deal.

       Manners exceed more than just please and thank you, or holding the door open for someone, etc. Manners include things like closing your mouth when you're eating, and not talking when you're eating. It includes keeping your elbows off the table when eating as well. It includes chivalry, not slurping your food, holding a fork properly and using a napkin. Don't interrupt people when they're talking, listen when someone is talking to you, etc. Manners are pretty basic things, and in my house they were practically drilled into my head every day.

      When I was younger my mother had a little diddy she would rattle off every time my brother or I had our elbows on the table.

Mable, mable,

while you're able,

get your elbows off the table !

This is not a horses stable,

but a dignified dining room table.

If we continued to put our elbows on the table after she had told us about 3 times, she would threaten to stab our elbows with a fork. Which hurts, by the way. When my brother and I were rude we would be given time outs, or we wouldn't get dinner. My dad, being a tad old fashioned, even threatened to use his belt on me once.(... what can I say, I was a bad kid.) At the time, I hated it. I didn't understand that manners are crucial, even in today's society. However, now that I'm older and more mature, I understand why manners matter, and think that it is funny, and a little sad when I go to other's houses and see their atrocious manners.

      My parents might have pissed me off a lot when I was younger, however now I am extremely grateful to them for the manners they have instilled in me. I have a better chance of getting jobs and into universities because when it comes to interview time, I can easily fly through them, not worried at all about how they view the way I am conducting myself. :)

TLC has a show called Toddlers and Tiaras and its about child pagents.

These children quickly become pampered princesses. They are spoiled rotten, getting anything they want. They aren't allowed to have a normal childhood, because their mothers or fathers want them to be successful in the world of pagents. They get their nails, their hair and their make up done. They are put on diets at a young age and put into excercis regimes. They are forced to take dance, singing lessons, or music lessons. What happened to going outside with a friend and making mud pies when you're little?

This little girl was a participant in a child pagent. Her name is Aliyah, and she was on season one of Toddlers and Tiaras. Do you see the fake nails, done up hair, do you see the amount of make up she is wearing? I think that is more make up then I have ever worn in my life, and she honestly can't be more than 7 !

So I searched on youtube for this show, as I have never watched it, and came across this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsy-rRzkufQ

Do you see how bratty, and rude these children are to their parent's ? And do you see their parents taking them to get spray on tans?! And the fact that the one girls dress cost $2000. I'm sorry, but that is just ridiculous. When you have little children they should be doing little kid things like playing outside, or playing sports or drawing. Not getting manicures, not having dance routines beat into them, and certanly not getting spray on tans! They need to be enjoying their childhood, enjoying their freedom to wear and do what ever they want. They are too young to have to worry about that stuff !

 And of course the girls like it, because they get to play dress up and act like grown ups. I just don't see how parents who love their children can put them into such a horrible world.

The Little Things

Growing up is a big thing and funnily enough its not the big things, like being old enough to drive or eventually when I can legally drink, that will mark me as a grown up, but the little things. For me, some huge points in my life have been things like joining the ski patrol, something I dreamt of doing my entire childhood because i grew up around it; both my parents have been patrollers for over 30 years. Another big one was being deemed mature enought to read a book with some ... suggestive scenes in it. But I think the biggest thing that has happened, which really made me stop and think wow, I'm growing up, was probably when I was able to intelligently discuss and debate world problems and issues with my mom.

In my family, we watch the news every night, my parents have always liked to keep updated with what is going on in the world and as a result i really value being knowledgable on the world and everything going on with it. I stay ontop of the news, I google stuff that I'm interested in, in my personal blog I often talk about world issues that frusterate me and I think that people who don't stay ontop of the news are ignorant and ... to put it nicely, really need to fix that.

After watching CBC for the past couple days, my mom and I have been discussing the crisis in Egypt a lot. Wondering what the outcome will be, wondering what Mubarak will do, wondering how this will effect the world. We've been trading theories, opinions and ideas back and forth agreeing and disagreeing with each other on certain things.

Last night while lying in bed I realized, wow, this is huge. Being  able to intelligently give opinions and ideas, to inform my mom of somethings going on, and to sound like I have credible opinions, is monumental for me. Its exciting to feel this, its kind of amazing as well, I feel like an intelligent contributer to society. :) I feel grown up.