Define "normal"

I'm seeing a lot of crap that's irritating me recently. I don't know if it's my mood cycle or not, but it is seeming to me that maybe I might not be normal in my reactions. I see something that points out how much we live in a society of followers, and it irritates me. 

An example. A friend posted this story on facebook, with her own note that it "made her cry".

"SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour."SON: "Oh! (With his head down).SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"The father was furious.DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"
SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling.SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"
SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.
"Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

Some things are more important."

My comment to this story was "Where the h is he working that he makes $100/hr?".

Well naturally I got admonished, and told I missed the point of the story.

No, I don't think I did. I don't think I missed the "Like and share" at the end of it, I don't think I missed the fact that there is nothing a little boy "needs" to buy with $50, I don't think I missed that this obviously made up, unrelatable parable is was written by someone who a) likely doesn't have children and has no idea how they actually behave and b) is more than likely a pompous ass who feels himself better than his peers because he makes time for his family.

I also didn't miss that this was shared originally by a car salesman, in an obvious attempt to show how caring he is to his customers, and therefore you should go buy a car from that guy. He's a family man.

Maybe I'm not normal. Maybe I should just say, oh what a sweet story, and it's so true! We really do need to take stock of our lives blah blah blah passive aggressive bull shit blah blah blah. It makes me wonder if these stories ever do make a difference to anyone reading them. Is your life so fragile that something like this would make you think and act differently?

Let's talk food

I follow Alton Brown on twitter and I often learn a lot from the man. Learning about the science behind food is something I find interesting, and he knows his stuff, so his comments are something I pay attention to.

He posted a link to an article in the New York Times about the science behind junk food. I read it a couple of times, finding it fascinating. I love marketing as well, so marketing food is something I could read about for hours.

If you haven't read the article, you really must. It has me thinking about what is in my fridge and cupboards.

We are not the healthiest people on the planet, but we do believe in moderation. Scott is a little bit over weight, but not significantly. His weight issue is more from his inability to do physical activity than from his eating habits, although I'm certain that does nothing to slow things down. I'm underweight, and despite what doctors tell me, I'm certain I have thyroid issues that cause that. My eating habits are not fantastic, and I don't watch what I eat as well as I should. I do eat moderately well, simply because we do so as a family.

As I'm a homemaker, it is part of my responsibilities to prepare meals for the family. I'm a bit of a naturalist when it comes to being mom, and try to make as much from scratch as possible. It's not easy on a limited budget, as some times those cans of tomato sauce they claim is great for pasta is cheaper than making a big batch ourselves, nor do I always have the time. But since I recognize that most things processed includes ingredients that are not always the best for us, I do like to make real food when I can.

There are things that set me off about food. While I'm fascinated with this article about junk food, it is obvious most people just don't get it.

Case and point: This is something I saw one of my friends post on Pinterest today. 

Now. Let's look beyond the obvious fact that this information has nothing to do with weddings and that this website is very obviously just a home for links stupid people find interesting. It's an obvious money maker for someone in this social networking society. But. This is a page that is being repinned all over the place, because people BELIEVE it. 

Well, a cake mix plus a can of blueberry pie filling must be healthy. It has blueberries. We all know of the fantastic anti-oxidants blueberries have.

If you were to point out the absurdity to the normally reasonable person who thought to try this themselves, they would likely admit that of course it isn't healthy. The amount of sugar and preservatives in both the pie filling and cake mix negate any benefit the fruit might otherwise give. (FYI, a proper blueberry pie filling consists of blueberries. That's it.) But the then reasonable person would then say, well, we all have our vices.

And we do. I admit, I like my Doritos and Coke every once and a while. I am fully aware I should stay away from that shit. But to pass it off as healthy, no. No, no, NO.

Anyway. I don't know what point I'm making here. Emptying my brain, I guess. And knowing now, from the first article, about the link between salt in junk food and salt in our  regular food (addictive properties whaaaattt?), I'll make a better effort to stay away. I have noticed in our own family, when there are alternative snack options like fruit and veggies, salt is less used at the dinner table. Why I didn't make that connection before, I don't know.