Your Dad Would Be Proud

Blake McGinness, a nine-year-old boy from Kingston, Ontario, is a son any father would be proud to call their own. His own father, Rick Lees, died last year of a stomach aneurysm. The family couldn’t afford a gravestone, so for now some of Blake’s toys mark his dad’s grave.

Blake wanted to give his father a proper gravestone, so he decided to sell hold a yard sale in order to raise money for the gravestone. Word quickly spread and people came from all over to support this boy’s cause. One man drove from Montreal to donate an autographed Montreal Canadiens hockey stick. A company in Texas offered to provide a gravestone at no cost to the family.

Blake’s yard sale garnered thousands of dollars, and thousands more were donated to a trust fund. Since the cost of the gravestone has been covered, Blake plans to donate the proceeds from the yard sale to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

And to think he’s only nine-years-old. The world could use more people like him. Way to go, Blake! Your dad would be proud.

More Tax, Less Service

I have a major gripe with our local police department. Yesterday the wife and I were involved in a fender bender; some asshole rear-ended us. He apparently doesn’t know that you’re supposed to pay attention to the car in front of you. I get out of the car, and the first thing the asshole does is tell me to move the car. Now, I wasn’t driving so it wasn’t my job to move the car, but if the careless mofo thought we were moving into the adjacent parking lot he had another thing coming. I’ve been around long enough to know that when there’s an accident you don’t move the cars until the police come. Idiot moved his car; we didn’t. I call 911 to report the accident and the lazy, moronic dispatcher asks two things: 1) is anybody hurt, and 2) is the damage over $1000. I reply that nobody is hurt, and I tell her that I have no idea how much the damage will amount to as I’m not a mechanic. Well, she then tells me that they’re busy and the idiot driver and us will just have to exchange info. I was flabbergasted! Since when do the police not show up for an accident. That’s their job.

Well, the idiot who hit us said the damage to his car was well over $1000 so I got back on the phone and had another lovely conversation with the useless dispatcher. After informing her of the damage amount and demanding a cop be sent out she grudgingly said she’ll send someone out as soon as she can. Thanks, lady. Don’t do me any favors.

Five minutes later officer pork arrives. A minute later a second one shows up. Amazing. First one hands us off to second one who takes license and registration from both drivers. Twenty minutes later he hands us a paper with both parties’ info and tells us we have to fill out two copies of the accident report and mail one to the RMV and one to the police department. That’s it. He doesn’t ask what happened, he doesn’t fill out an accident report, nothing. What the fuck was he doing for those twenty minutes? And since when is it not the job of the police to respond to accidents and write up accident reports? Unbelievable! It appears all the police in this town can do is direct traffic, and they can’t even do that well.

Taxes keep going up, and the services we get keep going down. Makes me so happy to live here. I’m thinking of sending the police department a bill for having to do their job – filling out the accident report (and not just one copy, but two).

Seriously, what’s next? The convenience store gets robbed and they’ll only come if the amount stolen was more than $1000? Or some poor schmuck gets jumped but they’ll only come if there’s more than $1000 worth of injuries? I think they should just learn to do their fucking job!

No Screaming Kids Allowed

Finally! A place where patrons can dine in peace, or at least without screaming kids. The Olde Salty restaurant in Carolina Beach, North Carolina has put up signs declaring “Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated!” And apparently it’s been a boon to the establishment; business has picked up since the signs have been in place. Imagine that. Business has increased with the lack of screaming of kids. Who would have thunk it? I’m honestly surprised that more restaurants haven’t done this. Let’s be real, there’s not much worse than trying to enjoy your dinner (or lunch or breakfast) with kids constantly screaming. I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences with this, as I’m sure most of you have, too. If a restaurant in my area had the balls to put signs up like these I’d be more than willing to give them my business.

Of course, even though the majority of people are in favor this (as the poll clearly shows – 93% in favor at the time of this writing), some people still think we’d like to dine along with their screaming kids. One idiot in particular went so far as to say she believes the sign is illegal. Come again? Illegal? Whatever. She has an autistic child and claims that the restaurant is now discriminating against special-needs kids. She said, “I think she (the owner) needs to meet some of these kids, and I think she needs to see that they are awesome. Please don’t shut them out because they don’t fit in the perfect box everyone wants them in.” Ummm, they might be “awesome” but if they’re screaming they have no business being in the restaurant. It’s quite simple. And people don’t expect these kids to fit in a perfect box, but if they’re screaming, once again they don’t belong in a restaurant. I don’t care if the kid is a special-needs kid or not. Screaming children have no place in restaurants. Most of us would just like to enjoy our meal in peace.

Oh, and to clarify for idiots like the one mentioned above – the restaurant does not kick screaming kids out to the curb. They do, however, ask the parents to take the children outside until they’ve quieted down. That’s what responsible parents would do anyway, so this really shouldn’t be a big deal (unless you’re a deadbeat).

What Will They Ban Next?

So this crappy state known as Taxachusetts has decided once again that the fine people living here obviously need the government to protect them from themselves.  Seriously folks, it’s getting ridiculous.  The latest item to be banned in this state is….drumroll please……..novelty lighters.  Um, excuse me, some idiotic politician actually sat down and thought this was a good idea? How did that go I wonder? “Geez, this fine state is going to hell in a handbasket. We need something to get us back on our feet again. Hmmmmm……ummmmmm…….hmmmmmm. I know, let’s ban novelty lighters! Yes! What a fantastic idea! Surely that will help the state and the fine people living here. I’m a genius!”

I mean, honestly, anybody with a brain knows that novelty lighters are so much more dangerous than your plain old average lighters, right? Um, no you say? They’re not? Hmm, perhaps someone should tell that to the politicians. Do they really having no issues more pressing than this? I find that really hard to believe. And the bullshit spewing from their mouths about how this ban is really because of the children – because the children want to play with these lighters – is such a crock. It’s not the government’s responsibility to protect us from ourselves – it’s our responsibility. In this instance, it’s the parents that are responsible for their children. I’m sick and tired of the majority of people having things taken away and/or suffering because of the actions of others. Seriously, enough is enough!