Kindness? What's That?

It saddens me to know that the younger generation (including mine), has absolutely no concept of what kindness is. For example, if I'm on the bus and see an older person I'll give them my seat. They smile and thank me. But there was another instance, when the bus was packed shoulder to shoulder, and a very pregnant woman got on the bus. Of course I would have offered her my seat, if I had had one, but I was also standing. Much to my surprise, not one person was willing to give up their seat for her. Now I don't get mad often, because I'm not a confrontational person, but this really pissed me off (sorry about the language). Naturally, being who I am, I addressed a small group of teenagers, and suggested to them that one of them let her sit down. They looked like they were ready to argue, but when other passengers voiced their agreement with me, they conceded. Not only does the younger generation not know how to provide kindness to others, they don't seem to know how to accept it either. This became clear to me when I saw a young man drop some money, and I gave it back to him. He looked at me like I was some sort of three-headed monster, trying to trick him. So are kindness and manners completely lost or can we get them back? The only thing that I (or anyone) can do is continue to show kindness to everyone we meet and hope that they pass it on to others. So please do something nice for someone else, not to gain something, but just because it's the right thing to do.

The Tower

Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy!!!! Life in my apartment building is like a soap opera. This is probably due to the fact that two thirds of the tenants are either related, or have known each other for years. There are the romantic "dramas" partners switching partners and all that, that entails. Then there are family issues, well mostly just one that is well known. There is a guy named Bob who lives here, and I've known him almost all my life. He used to be with a woman named Sherri, but they split up ad she moved away. ot long after he got together with another woman named Lucifer (and no I don't like her very much) and she moved in with him. His family were willing to give her a chance, regardless of the shady company that she keeps. Last week amost immediately after Bob and his son went away for the weekend, Lucifer started going around to Bob's friends borrowing money, apparently it was for cigarettes. In total she got money from four of his friends (including my Uncle), and told them that "they better not tell Bob" and that she would pay them back on Monday. Of course the money was not for cigarettes, since it is well known that she does drugs, which begs the question of why they would give her money in the first place? Anyway, so Monday came and nobody got their money back. I continuously urge my Uncle to tell Bob, and that he has a right to know, but he won't listen. But that's not why his family disapprove, because as bad as that is, she topped herself on Monday. In order to get into this we have to go back to Saturday and introduce another "character". There is a woman named Sarah that lives on the floor below me, and she has two young children. On saturday she decided that she wanted to end her life, so she took a belt and hung herself in her closet. Her youngest child walked in and found her, and ran to the neighbour (her friend) for help. They got to her in time, perform CPR and brought her back, and she was taken to the hospital. Now we're back to Lucifer's part. She went to visit Sarah at the hospital, and helped her to escape by jumping the fence. She then brought her back to the building, where they proceeded to Bob's sisters and friends, laughing and bragging of their "cunning" escape. Lucifer hid Sarah in Bob's apartment (without telling him), and refused the police entry when they came looking for Sarah. Unfortunately for her (and Sarah) Bob let them into his apartment, and to his surprise there was Sarah sitting on his couch, drinking a beer. The police took her back to the hospital, and told Bob that he could be arrested for hiding her. So this is the reason why Bob's family don't like Lucifer. The thing that confuses me is, instead of agreeing with his family, Bob is defending Lucifer and is on the outs with everyone because of it. That's all the drama that I know of for now, but I'm sure there will be more to come. I'm also sure that I'll hear about it, after all when your Uncle is the maintenance man you hear lots of things. Stay tuned for more stories from The Tower. Wishing you Peace, Love, and Happiness.

Only You Can Hold You Down

I would first like to say Hello. Since this is my first time blogging, I would like to tell you a bit about myself. I am 24 years old (well almost), and the youngest child of four. My sister (for this and future posts we'll call her Mickey)is twelve years older than me, my oldest brother ( Drew) is a year younger than Mickey, and my other brother (Josh) is one year older than me. Most people think that being the youngest is a pretty good deal, and for most it might be, but not for me. Okay so yes, I did get more attention from my mother, and still do. But that's not necessarily a good thing, especially if you have a mother like mine. She is an extremely insecure and needy person, and has a tendency to act like a child. This meant that most of the responsibility fell to her children, and we had to grow up fast. Mickey and Drew were pretty much raised by our grandparents (on our mother's side, since we all have different fathers), but my grandfather passed away before I was born, and my grandmother passed when I was about one year old. So Mickey and Drew took care of Josh and I for the first few years of our lives, but they moved in with our Aunt (mother's sister) and Uncle when they were sixteen and fifteen. Unfortunately that left just me and Josh. My mother became very unreasonable, accusing my aunt of "stealing her children". Most of my mother's attention was focused on me, which meant Josh was shunted to the side, this resulted in a very strained relationship between Josh and I. So now, I would like nothing more than to have a cordial relationship with him, but I think he still resents me. Because of the treatment he received from our mother, Josh also moved in with our Aunt and Uncle when he was fourteen. Which further infuriated my mother, and made her cling to me even more. I think in her mind I would always live with her, and even to this day she still believes that. So when I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle when I was sixteen, she felt betrayed and still holds a grudge against my Aunt. Fast forward to today, she now lives close to Mickey, her hubby, and their four children. But some things never change she still sees me as her "little baby" (oh how I hate when she calls me that). I think escaping the reversed mother-child relationship was the best thing I could have done. I love my mother, but if she had her way, I wouldn't succeed, so I couldn't leave. She did however give me one good thing. After living with her example, I adamantly refuse to be like her, and I have worked that much harder to succeed, where she failed. I also have a long list of what not to do when I eventually have children of my own. Now I'm going to University, and in my free time I'm writing a book. Some people might wonder why I would write all of this for anyone to read. My hope is that it might teach others what I have learned. That it doesn't matter where you come from or who your parents are, only you can choose the path you take in life. Everyone can do great things, only you can hold you down. Wishing you all peace, love and happiness.