Winter Issue - January 2017

Hello All,

Hope this finds you well - and warm...

This issue is pretty small - my apologies... I will make up for it in the Spring - I cannot do that though, without you...  we need submissions... email them to me at holidaycafe.nicole@gmail.com

Musings for Moms - My Thoughts

Recently, there has been a few stories on the news and social media that have made me stop and give a moment to what I was actually hearing/reading.

Let's start with school buses.  Putting your child on a school bus can be a scary thing.  You are entrusting another person to get your child safely to/from school.  I am sure by now that everyone has heard about the awful story in Tennessee when the driver was speeding and slammed into a tree.  I believe FIVE children died that day... 

A little closer to my home, a recent news story talked about how the vehicles weren't properly insured, that some of the drivers of the bus company in question have been charged in the past for DUI, robbery, assault, etc. It was also said that the company didn't perform the necessary back-ground checks and child abuse clearances. If you read the story, you will even find that one of the bus drivers didn't even have a driver's license.  Now how does that happen.  I mean, they are going to be driving a BUS, wouldn't you as an employer want to physically see their license - maybe make a photocopy and have it on file?  

So, let me get this straight... we are entrusting our kids on buses where the company cannot even manage to do their job and make sure our kids are protected by doing simple back-ground checks.  It really isn't that hard of a process to get the forms... I did it so I can participate in things at my sons school.  Companies need to suck it up, dip into their profit margin and get the clearances so parents can have their minds at ease when their kids step onto that bus.  We have a ton of other worries about our kids, we don't need more to think about. And for the love, make sure they have a valid driver's license - that seems like a no-brainer but I guess it's not...  

Am I just crazy in thinking that we should be holding the bus drivers to a higher standard because they are driving our children around?  I am not one of those people that has to be the only person that drives my kids around - they have gone in other friends/family members cars, but I trust that because either that persons own kids are in the car or because they are family and love my kids, that they will drive in a manor that wouldn't endanger my kids.  

The second thing that gave me pause recently was the story in which Lena Dunham told that she wishes she had an abortion.  Now, she has never been pregnant - she just wishes she had one so you know, she could reduce the stigma of abortions and girl power and all that... 

I am not going to get into a debate over pro-life/pro-choice here, I am simply going to say that that has to be one of the most insensitive and disgusting things I have ever heard.  People that have had abortions have their reasons, but to say that you would want to put your body through that trauma both mentally and physically just so you can belong to a group... or some such business, well, to be honest I cannot even really wrap my brain around it.

There are so many people out there that cannot even get pregnant, that she is wishing to get pregnant just to terminate said pregnancy to reduce the stigma of abortions. I think there is always going to be a stigma to abortions regardless if Lena had one or not.  

We live in a world plagued by stigma.  There is a stigma about women who breastfeed their children, there is a stigma to c-sections, there is a stigma to just about everything women do, so how about we just try not to call unwanted attention to our gender and actually become proactive in making the world a better place?

My final gripe, I guess you could say, is the player that is crying foul after her scholarship was pulled for giving the middle finger. Now, hear me out... I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and I have flashed my middle finger frequently when irritated.  My problem with this is she was representing her school, wearing her uniform.  I am sure if she was photographed outside of some random building in jeans and t-shirt, the implications would be far less.  And now she is suing because she feels like she was wronged.

Was the punishment harsh, perhaps.  But it was a televised event - and there is clearly photographic evidence of it...I have a problem with the people that think they can just do whatever they want (the entitled) regardless of who they hurt in their wake.  She was representing her school - and thus her behavior should be top-notch... Sure celebrate the win, but is flipping an obscene gesture to a media outlet celebration - or just being a brat?

When did people start loosing respect for others (and themselves for that matter)?  That they think that they can get away with acting poorly and speaking poorly to others and those others just have to take it.  And why are we enabling people to get away with this bad behavior?  Why is it that we cannot tell people when they are wrong anymore?  Everyone gets offended... What has become of our society?!

Fake is Fake

Dear Natalie,

You are to much of this
Not enough of that
Doesn't matter your talent or your act
Politics is the iron fist

Give me a little of this and I will give you that
No empathy! No class!
Let's be fake it's a piece of cake
We only think of ourselves
You're sexiest, you're crude, and definitely rude
You're a real class act

I get tired!
I get aggravated!
I see you are fake
I am true thru and thru

Pass me up I will make you regret
I just need that one shot that will make you fret

Best of luck
Best wishes
I will keep you in mind
or maybe even next time

Sincerely,
The forgotten One

Natalie is the author of The Many Colors of Natalie, a book of poetry.  She holds an associates degree in Specialized Technology Le Cornon Bleu Pastry Arts and in her spare time is an artist and percussionist.

recherché redux

a ploy on his part
to purge the
bulldog gloom
with new furniture
neglected repairs
whittling the
wish list
convert to walk-in
lux tile showers same
as in our Maui resort
in March
create a cushy cocoon
for our loitering demise
a faultless vignette
so others can see
we weren’t all that
content in mediocrity
a promise
he made to us
to grant every desire
to get back what
was wrongly lost us

so how can one
possibly still feel
glum
birthday suited
in a recherché walk-in
showered with
celadon glass tiles and
the best of intentions



Wanda Morrow Clevenger, author of This Same Small Town in Each of Us
Paypal link: http://edgarallanpoet.com/This_Same_Small_Town.html

Blog: http://wlc-wlcblog.blogspot.com/

Amazon Reviews: https://www.amazon.com/author/wandaclevenger