Finished reading Unexpectedly Milo by Matthew Dicks. Happy ending. I liked it. It was supposed to be 'hilariously funny' but I guess I don't know what that means. To me, it meant I would laugh at loud. Which I didn't. Which makes me wonder if I have ever read a book that made me laugh out loud? Not that I can recall. I wonder if there is such a book?

I was outside after dinner yesterday digging out dandelions--a chore that I find very calming and therapeutic--when neighbor rolled his recycling cart down the driveway to the street. After he petted dog, he said hello and I returned the greeting. There was an awkward pause because I was digging dandelions and enjoying the quiet and giving no indication that I wanted to converse. "So I saw this YouTube video..." he started. And I cringed inside. He went on to tell me a long story about how a guy in Massachusetts put AirTags into plastic bag collection sites to see if the bags actually got recycled, but all the tags ended up in the landfill. (Neighbor believes recycling is a joke. He also tried to tell me last year that chip bags were recyclable...only because he puts the bags in the recycling cart. So apparently that made them recyclable.) I started to reply, because there were soooo many questions that needed to be asked and holes in the methodology that needed to be filled. But I stopped myself, took a deep, slow breath, and simply said, "I'm not going to discuss issues with you." He apparently didn't hear me, so he said, "What was that?" "I'm not going to discuss issues with you. I just can't. It's too stressful." and went back to my work. He stood there for a moment and then walked away to get his garbage cart. And then he rolled that cart down the driveway and started talking to (at) me about the weather. I'll discuss weather (until it turns to discrediting science). He's not very good at picking up on social cues.

But like I told honey last night, I just cannot do the thinking for these people! Any fool can make a video to post on YouTube. Why do people then view these videos as truth or actual journalism or investigation??? YouTube was, and always will be, an entertainment site, just like Fox News and CNN are news entertainment channels, not accredited over-the-air, FCC-regulated news sites. In this particular instance, I would like to know if the collection sites were monitored 24/7. Did the YouTuber or the YouTuber's buddy grab the bags off camera and transport the bags to the landfill? Who picked up the plastic bags? Did the bags make a stop at a recycling center and then any non-plastic was sorted out (the AirTags) and sent to the landfill? And that was just what immediately popped into my head. CRITICAL THINKING, PEOPLE! Please, use it.

It was like the entry I read yesterday where the person was ranting about Chuck Schumer lying about taxpayers funding the ballroom when it was clearly being paid for with private funds. When I presented the evidence that Lindsey Graham had in fact introduced a bill to have taxpayers fund the ballroom, which is what Schumer was talking about, the writer turned on me. I calmly responded I don't like when ignorance is presented as fact.

I can't do the thinking for all the idiots. You were given a brain (or at least I think you were), please use it. I liked it so much better when the idiots couldn't broadcast their idiocy to the world.

Sigh.

Like the opinion piece I read yesterday about equality and equity for women, written by a woman. That women who 'want it all' didn't think it through because now they're straddled with having it all at work AND having to do it all at home. She didn't even touch on the point that the inequity occurs by allowing the men in our lives (bosses and spouses and sons) to treat us unequally. Who is teaching our boys to be equal partners in their relationships? If you allow boys to witness and participate in inequity, isn't that what they'll reflect as adults? My marriage was imbalanced, but I made damn sure my boys participated in housework from cleaning bathrooms to dusting to vacuuming. My son now does the cooking and the majority of childcare in his marriage. My son-in-law does the laundry, the gardening and the kids' baths. It just bothered me that the author did not lay any responsibility on the men in her life and that instead, maybe it isn't so great to be treated equally. Advocating that maybe having it all (being an equal) is wrong. No, being treated as 'the help' in the household, being expected to wait hand and foot on the man, is what is wrong. History has proven it time and time again. I'll bet this woman was never expected to make coffee for the men in the room at work. I bet she never had an old creepy guy at work come up behind her and give her a massage. You know why? Because the boomer and older gen x women paved the way so this kind of behavior was not acceptable. Quit advocating for going backward to a time where women counted as nothing, couldn't vote, and instead,continue to pave the way for your girls.

Enough said.