It bothers me that businesses put up signs saying “Happy Memorial Day”. This particular holiday is not supposed to be one of light hearted frivolity but of solemn remembrance. It’s alright if we use it to mark the beginning of the summer season but we can still reduce the implications of celebration a little bit. And I’m sure there will be no reduction in “Memorial Day” sales events just because I’m a little bit annoyed. But there should be.
Over the past weekend those young men, and some young women, were out on their “crotch-rocket” motorcycles and in their souped-up, whiny little Asian cars. Being the old and curmudgeonly guy I am you can probably guess that I hate those darn things. A thousand Harleys with aging biker guys and their chicks on board don’t irritate me like a little pack of those motorcycle riders on Suzuki’s racing up the highway in the middle of the night. When I see them all wrapped up in their colorful clothes and helmets, with matching backpacks, racing off from a red light, lifting up on their rear wheels and mindlessly zipping in and out of rows of traffic I wish for a little machine gun or grenade launcher mounted on the front of my hood, so that I could blow those creatures right off the road. The noise they make and the dangerous stunts they pull on the road far surpass the crap we did back in high school. The almost weekly fatalities on those bikes and in those cars attest to either more idiots on the road or the evidence of more dumbing down of our educational system. By the way, what actually is in all those back packs those people always seem to have strapped on their bodies?
We had a nice crowd of relatives here in town over the past few days. A baby shower for my youngest daughter was the excuse for the gathering and it was a good one. The ladies and girls had their shower. Some of the guys had a round of golf. Several of us got to visit the casino for a while. And the kids had the opportunity to run around, jump in the wading pool and generally have a good old time. Out of town guests were divided between my brother’s large and spacious home and our little bungalow. He had all the little kids except when they came to our house for pool and play times. It was a fun weekend, un-marred by family squabbles or serious injury. That’s rare for our crowd although as we age it seems to be the more common trend. I guess we’re losing that extra spark of contentiousness that we had in our younger days. And I don’t see the next generation exhibiting much of a feisty streak. It’s a shame to see such a time honored tradition fading away. Maybe at the next gathering I’ll get all drunked up and stupid and punch out one of my brothers for old time’s sake and to set an example for the youngsters. Or maybe I won’t.
NASCAR is rolling into town again for the first race event of the two we have here each year. I noticed this morning when I was going to the grocery store a whole mess of RV and camper traffic heading up towards the track. And in the store there were people decked out in their souvenir Earnhardt t-shirts buying large amounts of soda and snack foods, along with big packages of hot dogs and hamburger meat. In years past it seemed that steaks and ribs were piled into the shopping carts. It must be a sign of the hard economic times. I know the race promoters are worried about reduced spending both in ticket sales and all the other junk that the fans usually buy. Maybe they should consider spicing up the race events to draw additional new attendees. A death match of some sort might be a draw. Or maybe an all nude, women driver night time race would help. The ladies would have to race in convertibles though to make it more “visible”. Even though I’m not a big race fan I’d hate to see the area lose that attraction. It helps out the local economy and reduces the need for a higher tax rate. But with the new administration in our state government I’m sure they’ll find a way to make it more difficult to keep NASCAR coming to town. It will probably be in the area of ecological impact or perhaps in higher costs for vendor permits that the government will stick its meddling fingers and cause a problem. We can never underestimate the driving greed and power playing of our politicians.
Okay, I’ve had my say for this morning. It’s time to address my household chores so that I can continue to be a stay at home geezer.
Have a fine day.
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