Choices

I've had a thought rolling around in my head for a week now. I don't know how to write it down without sounding arrogant and snobby though. But Joe and I saw something yesterday that really spurred this thought. Here it is.

So yesterday, Joe and I went grocery shopping. As we were leaving the parking lot, we saw a man standing at the stop sign, with a cardboard sign, begging for money, with a CIGARETTE in his mouth. Lately, there has been a few people there, a small red-headed woman, a thin man with a sign that says his wife just had a baby and needs money for food. But this guy really set Joe off. Begging for money when he can afford to smoke cigarettes! As some of you know, Joe joined the Army for the paycheck. So he starts his same rant about how if this man was truly desperate, he could join the Army and work for his keep. I know jobs are limited, I have a hard time job searching with a college degree, so I can only imagine how hard it is if you only have a high school diploma or a GED. But as Joe says, McDonalds is always hiring.

So what set this whole thought in motion last week, I was headed to class and drove past a group of men that seemed homeless to me. All their worldly possessions in a shopping cart. Sitting on the side of the road. Just sitting there.

So when I ran this thought by Joe, his response was that many people have worked very hard to get me to where I am now; me, my parents, Joe. My parents raised me to have motivation and lofty goals. They also paid for my undergraduate education. But I did the work. I made good grades and stayed out of trouble. And now I'm paying for graduate school, paycheck to paycheck, and working my ass off on classes 24/7. And Joe is making my dream possible by paying for our life with his Army career.

Many of us can jump to conclusions about people. I know I do, sadly. But have you ever wondered what happened to these people to lead them to that bench, with that shopping cart, with that sign begging for money? Joe had many opinions; convicts that cant get a job, drug addicts that cant keep a job, people that just don't care to better themselves and therefore become the nothingness of society.

My parents have always told me and my brother to make smart choices. There's ALWAYS more than one choice, so I should make sure I decide what's best for *me.* I'm not going to lie, I tried pot in college. I drank before I was 21. I dated a few people before I met Joe. I'm not a saint. But I always made sure I was doing something that would be beneficial for me, or at least not crater my whole existence. I dont know where my life could have took that turn for the worse. No matter what, I cant imagine standing by a Safeway begging for money.

My father quotes the movie Robin Hood, with Kevin Cosner. At one point, Robin Hood is down and he asks Morgan Freeman what to do now. And Morgan responds, "Get up, move faster." That has been the family motto for as long as I can remember. Get up and do something. Nothing gets accomplished by just sitting there, waiting.

A friend brought up a good point though. How much do these beggers collect while they are standing by that stop sign? Minimum wage here in Colorado is $7.36/hr. Do these people collect more than that an hour??

The one where I rant about the neighbor's "chaweenie"

We got new neighbors a few weeks back. They got a puppy this weekend -- A chaweenie... the husband says in his very Southern drawl.

Of course this is the first red flag (the chaweenie part, not the Southern drawl). Let me tell you the sad saga that is this dog's life.

This chihuahua/dachshund mix is from a place called "Pet City." I have never heard of this local pet store, but apparently they sell dogs. Lovely.

This dog weighs UNDER 1 and a half pounds. At first I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking the dog was maybe 7 to 8 weeks old. No. This lady told me this dog is 3 months old! No way. Just not even remotely plausible.

Oh, AND it wont eat food. She said she's tried everything, dry food, wet food, people food, chicken and rice. Tell me what healthy 3 month old dog wont eat chicken and rice! She's currently feeding it puppy formula from an eye dropper. I asked her if she had taken it to a vet yet, since it wouldn't eat and whatnot. Of course not. Her mom "raises" yorkies and told her what steps to take. Of course the dog has "low blood sugar," although I'm not sure how she knows exactly since the dog hasn't seen a vet. And she's feeding the dog nutra-cal like it's going out of style.

Now, let's compare my 4 year old, 6.5lb, papered, well-bred, pure-bred yorkie to that, shall we? When we got Rigel at 8 WEEKS old he was 2lbs. And ate like a little pig! He was all puppy belly.

Anyone with a small puppy knows what nutra-cal is and the dangers of low blood sugar with a small puppy. But Rigel never needed it.

So let's say you have a 3 month old puppy bought from a pet store that is seriously underweight and refuses to eat. Wouldn't you take the thing to the vet???

Am I completely off base here with the size and food thing?? Let me know. My mother in law has two miniature Dachshunds. We saw these dogs as puppies and they weren't this small. And they had hearty appetites too. They were fully grown by the time there were about 7 months old. Rigel was at his current full grown weight at about 6 months.

Thankfully, this pup seems to be full of energy. When I brought Rigel outside on his leash, this puppy, Cooper, bounced right over to us and wanted to sniff my little monster. Cooper wasn't fearful of this 6lb dog sniffing him either. I hope this little one is nursed back to health soon and starts to eat something. Joe thinks the dog is under 4 weeks old to still need puppy formula from an eye dropper. I dug Rigel's baby scrapbook out (yep, that's what I said) to do some comparison. We have pics of him at 2-3 weeks, when they still look like little rats, and 5 and 6 weeks when I went to visit Rigel when he was still with his mom. His baby book says he was weaned at about 4-5 weeks old. This whole situation makes me so sad and angry. I'm glad the puppy is out of the puppy mill, but super annoyed that these neighbors didnt know better. And still wont take him to the vet!

Our little flash mob

Everyone is talking about these flash mob things. Even my cousin was in one at his university.

I have to share my little flash mob story. A fellow classmate left her purse in the room before class when her cell phone went off. It was the Spider Pig Simpsons song, of course we all knew it! We decided to start singing it when she walked back in. And in unison, we all started...

Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does. Can he swing from a web, no he cant, because he's a pig. Look out!

It was so much fun and make us all laugh pretty hard.

We sing a similar song in our house about a spider dog... : )