A Bone to Pick: Children's Toy Packaging

The holiday hangover is long gone but my aggravation with children's toy packaging won't budge. Why on Earth do these toy manufacturers feel the need to reinforce a cheap toy with Fort Knox-like securities? Why does a gadget need a cardboard box twice its size, 4 impossible-to-cut zip ties, twist ties, a plastic screen, and cellophane wrapping?!? I mean, seriously!!! Its like, here you go kid, here's a really cool toy, but you can't play with it until Daddy gets the chainsaw, vice grips, and industrial strength wire cutters out.

Since becoming a parent, I've been paying attention to toy packaging. We recycle everything that can be recycled so if I have a choice between two toys, one with recyclable packing and one without, guess which one I'm buying? This is yet another reason why I love getting hand-me-down toys - they come with no packaging! One of my favorite line of toys has eco-friendly packaging, unusual colors, and a sense of humor. There are plenty of companies out there making an effort to be mindful of the Earth and I like that. Check out The Earth Friends, Etsy, and Green Toys. I also find local consignment shops and Craigslist good sources for kid's toys. Your kid doesn't care about the packaging so save some cash and the environment by buying eco-friendly or used.

Hospitality

Bless their hearts, but Tennesseans just can't seem to get their turn signals to work! I have seen people turn corners, change lanes at high speeds, exit the highway, and attempt to merge without so much as a blink from their blinkers. This is not an occasional incident, but daily and even mile-ly (as in, I see it once a mile), and I have seen a police car as the culprit.

As I understand it, hospitality is all about intentionally making someone feel welcome and comfortable. Unfortunately, it seems that Southern Hospitality doesn't extend to the highways-- I personally feel much more welcome and comfortable when the person who is pulling in front of me has at least warned me that he or she may be about to do so.

Why do Nashville drivers, bless their hearts, come to an almost-complete stop when they're turning right?  I don't mean at a red light-- I mean into a driveway, a side street, any time.  Of course, with no turn signal, the person behind these drivers have no idea what they're doing and just assume they're stopping in the middle of the road for no apparent reason.  It can appear to be sudden, causing the person behind the right-turning driver to slam brakes, not to mention the person behind him/her.  Then they turn.  Slowly.  It is not hospitable to the entire lane of traffic behind them to have held them up for a simple thing as a right turn.

Nashville drivers, bless their hearts, are also not good at merging.  FYI, the on-ramp is for gaining speed so that you can be going about the same rate as the traffic that is already on the highway. On the other hand, if you're driving on the highway already, and an on-ramp is about to merge into the highway, it is very polite to move into the lane on the left of you to let that person merge without fear for his or her life. It is about making that person feel welcome traveling the same highway as you, comfortable blending into the speed and direction of traffic.  It is about hospitality.

A Bone to Pick: Household Cleaning Supplies

I've got a bone to pick with the people who market household cleaning supplies. I am really tired of watching well-dressed women dance around their vacuum cleaners and mops with huge smiles on their faces like all they ever wanted to do when they grew up was to have shiny floors. These are NOT real women. Real women sweep and mop their floors with bird's nest hair in their ratty slippers and faded pj's.

These commercials also piss me off because they rarely show men cleaning. My husband cleans, my father cleaned (and cooked), and I want my daughter to expect her future partner to pitch in with the cleaning. I don't think there should be any "his and her chores." I think a home can be happier when it is more egalitarian. And if you both know how to do everything, things can get done when you want them done. Ok, rant done.