the thing is...

I'm old.
Yes, I am.

Not in mind or spirit, and not relatively speaking.

I'm old in the sense that I am banged up, bruised, wounded, scarred and broken. You see, Im a 39 year old chef, that's old in restaurant years. Ive been working in restaurants since I was 16, and I've never held any other job. I've been pounding the quarry tile and have slaved amongst raging fires and sharp blades for a long time; that's what makes me old. Because of this business, I have aged faster than you. I have more grey hair than most 39 year olds, especially in my beard. I have bad knees. When I squat, I have to pull myself back up and every time. It feels like this could be the time my knee finally blows out. I have a bad back. It's always sore and needing of a massage. It takes 20 minutes of stretching just to get out of bed. I get up way before the sun rises to go for a 2.5 mile walk, just like the old men I see on the way, to loosen up. I need to lie flat on the floor, at least once a day to relieve the pain , and usually it's in the banquet room at Esquire Grill. I have chronic pain and soreness in all my joints, just like you see in the commercials for old men. If I'm using my knife for an extended period of time, I have to stop and massage my hand and elbow joint. I cant grip with my hands. I need help opening jars, just like your grandmother does. The repetitive use of tongs all night turns my hands to unusable stumps by the end of service. My hearing has deteriorated over the years, probably due to the constant roar of the ventilation hoods I work under 11 hours a day. I have never in my life smoked a cigarette, never even held one in my hand, though I bet I inhale more toxic, carcinogenic carbon than your "pack-a-day" guy from the magma-hot mesquite I sweat over night after night. My feet? Always one step away from agonizing cramps, cramps that interrupt my REM sleep in the middle of the night while trying to squeeze in 5-6 hours before I return to work. My hands are worn with callouses, the hair is singed from open flame, skin is scarred from deep cuts requiring stitches and burns from hot splattering oil. My knuckles are arthritic and swollen, just like old man hands.

I'm old.
Told you so...

the thing is...

my kids don't need to see this crap!
There we were, just sitting around the couch after dinner, tv on a local station, (we weren't watching anything in particular the tv just happened to be on), kids about doing their thing and WHAMMO! OUT OF THE BLUE!, Tweens!....in their underwear!.....dry humping!....on the tv screen! She in a dark blue bra and low-cut panties, legs wrapped around a handsome square jawed, GQ, Preppy type with ripped, 6-pack abs....moaning!...in ecstasy! Seriously?
I couldn't find the remote quick enough to turn it off before the scene ended. My daughter goes " Whoa! what are they doing?" She didn't need to see that! This was on a Network channel!...during Primetime! When families are usually in the living room!
My jaw dropped to the ground, I look over at Nanci and her eyes were as big as softballs.

"Unbelievable" we said to each other.

How and when did television get so PG-13? and Why? Then I remembered a comment made to me by an old childhood friend I am fortunate enough to reconnect with via Facebook. He posted this comment: " I turn my tv ON when I want to turn my brain OFF" then a few weeks later I made a comment on facebook that I was tired of turning the tv on only to hear about horrible things going on in our world. He responded saying "where you go wrong is to turn that thing on at all, my brother. turn off the streaming corporate propaganda that lies to your children and teaches them to forever want more."
It got me thinking.....you know he's right! My children cant benefit from anything on tv, not the news, not primetime television, not the commercials that teach them to forever want more, not the cartoons that are WAY too violent for them, nothing.

This made me re-think something I have been against for a very long time, video games. I have never been a fan of video games, (wasn't a "gamer" when I was a kid) I vowed they would never enter my home and my kids would never be allowed to have one. I figured they would get enough of it elsewhere, I didn't need to be the one to give it to them.

My kids have played with a Wii, and I will admit it is pretty fun, G-rated fun as a matter of fact, whole family fun, no-need-to-worry-about-half-naked-twentysomethings-interrupting-my-family-night-fun. Besides, my son loves to kick my butt in dodgeball....of course I let him win!
So guess what kids! you're getting a Wii for Christmas! So I can control what you play and see and not the 'streaming corporate propaganda'

What else am I to do with a 50 inch LCD screen now that we don't watch tv?

the thing is...

Show me one person that NEEDS healthcare, DOESN'T HAVE healthcare and DOESN'T WANT healthcare.