Over Coffee

March 30, 2007

   I finally made it to Disney World!   Surely I must have been the last person in America who had not visited there; at least that is what my children said. Admittedly, we did not go to Orlando expressly to visit Disney, but to attend a Cinderella wedding.   My dear husband tacked on two days at Disney to our trip and we’ll just have to go back because two days weren’t nearly enough for me. I loved the place!

    It is my considered opinion that we ought to turn the operation of this country over to Disney and quit fooling with these dishonest and self-serving politicians of all parties, most of whom are reckless spenders on their own behalf.   My friends, everywhere one looks at Disney is a pleasing sight. There is no clutter, no litter, nothing is abandoned or broken or needing paint. Transportation is clean, efficient and sufficient. The gardens are all tended and colorful and the fireworks are the best I’ve seen anywhere. And best of all, the nations represented at Epcot aren’t at war with us. It was a delight to visit the different represented nations and enjoy the special events and foods that are particular to each of them.

    As a result of residuals from a badly broken ankle years ago, I soon needed wheels in order to get around, unable to do all the walking that we wanted to do. It was easy to rent a wheelchair and so my dear husband pushed me around like a sack of rocks, giving himself quite a workout in the process. Surely Disney is one of the most disabled-friendly places on the planet; we were shunted off in special queues and were not required to wait in long lines. Disney assumes that if you arrive in a wheelchair, you also cannot stand for a long period of time, which I certainly cannot do any more. In truth, I really never properly appreciated Americans with Disabilities until this experience at Disney when I was one.

    The magic of Disney seemed to permeate this crowd. Nobody messed with anybody else’s stuff in the stroller parking places while folks were on the rides. People were courteous and polite as a general rule. No shouting or rudeness. I’m sure there were plenty of nasty people in the crowd, but since everyone was acting with good manners, so, indeed, were they.   That’s a lesson for sure—if the surrounding culture is one of kindness and courtesy, people might think twice about putting their butt on their shoulders, as my mother used to say about rude people. Indeed, how can somebody act awful to you if they have just been hugged by Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse!

   May you all have a little bit of Disney in your life!

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    Here is a picture of my beloved Clovie, one of the best dogs ever. Indeed, Clover was smarter than some people I know and certainly one of the most loving of pets. She adored us, our sons and their friends, and as the years passed, our grandchildren, and our neighbors’ children. We have answered the doorbell many times to have little neighborhood kids walk right in to have a visit with Clover, not us. Clover knew everybody who came to our house on Halloween and the children all knew her. They are missing her, too.    

    Thanks so much to dear readers and friends who have sent me condolences. There are so many pet lovers around, folks who understand the bond we humans can have with our lovable pets. Thanks, too, to Mary Jane who wanted to see a picture of my Clovie. She’s got a chocolate Lab, too, Coco .

    Now that Clovie is gone, I’ve seen two snakes in the garden. One was a garter snake, but the other was probably a little more ominous, although I only glimpsed its steel gray tail as it was escaping. The resident hawks will have to help me out here.

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      I was sorry to read that our Georgia Legislature flunked HB 21, which would prohibit government from printing official documents in any language other than English. That measure is dead for this session. I remember former Gwinnett County Chairman Wayne Hill saying that while he was in office he did prohibit the use of other languages in official county documents. I don’t believe it is that way now.

      I believe the onus is on the immigrants to make themselves conversant in our English language if they aren’t, and not our job to spend our tax dollars trying to teach them English or provide easy access translation.   Do other nations do this for their immigrants? Which ones exactly?    

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       Signing off from the pollen palace, thanks for reading. I hope all is well.

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