Rantings Concerning a Certain Pet Peeve

I have a few pet peeves in my life, as my freshman roommates could certainly attest to.  One is un-rinsed dishes.  Another is people mispelling others' names.  (It's their NAME!  Get it right!) And, I realized this week that a MAJOR pet peeve of mine is restroom goers who wash their hands with water.  I've seen it more and more lately.  It's one thing if it's a little kid doing it, but GROWN ADULTS?? Let's think this through:  Anything you touch in a bathroom only adds more germs to your hands.  So, 1) Touch faucet to turn on water 2) Rinse hands... for what?  Oh yeah, this is the stone age where we think water rinses germs off of hands. 3) Touch paper towel dispener or air dryer to dry our now-infected-even-more-hands! 
Let's review the steps of hand washing, shall we?  [See Picture on Right]
I like these instructions because it tells you to turn the water off with a towel.  I appreciate that.
I struggle to know how to approach this problem.  Do I just continue to raise my eyebrows and look in disgust as women skip over the soap dispenser?  Do I viciously throw hand sanitizer their way?  Oh wait:  Freshman year I posted a much-hated sign above the sink that said "Rinse ya'lls Dishes Please!"  Maybe I could post a sign above every bathroom sink I frequent that says "Wash your hands with SOAP!" Ugh.  I don't think any of those things would work. It is hopeless.  May society smarten up and realize that water does not kill germs.  Soap does.  And if you run your hands under the faucet solely to keep up appearances, shame on you!  Your tricks won't work with me.  I see your filthy germ-infested hands!

A Societal Blunder

I have never considered myself to be a feminist.  I have a very traditional view of the way things should be, I fully intend on being a stay at home mother with a masters degree.  I value womanhood and also value a man's role to lead and provide.  However, I had a very strange experience this past weekend that causes me to ponder whether I have a bit of a feminist in me, or whether I have a bit of a pride issue in this regard, or whether niether is true and I am justified in my annoyance. Let me explain:

Saturday afternoon Jackson and I arrive at the Sears Automotive department to pick up my car.  As we walked towards the garage area I was mentally preparing myself to shell out $534 for the routine maintenance that had been done on my car.  We approach, holding hands.  The employee says, "How can I help you sir?" I step forward and say, "Actually, I'm here to pick up my car.  The Chevy Cavalier".  And he goes on his merry way, trying to help 3 different customers at the same time and Jackson and I stand and wait.  I was annoyed inside.  Here I was, coming to give them half a grand of MY money, and they didn't even acknowledge me as the customer.  They immediately addressed the man.  It wasn't his car or his money and I am perfectly capable of getting my car fixed on my own, I have taken care of such matters on my own since I bought it 6 years ago.   I pondered my feelings and paid the man who had committed the blunder.

Fast forward 1 hour:

Jackson and I walk into the optometry section of Wal-Mart, holding hands.  The Wal-Mart employee says, "How can I help you sir?" Once again I step forward and say, "Actually, I'm here to pick up my contacts.  I ordered them 10 days ago and they should have been here by now".  The man finds my contacts, apologizes that I was not notified, and I pay and politely go on my way. 

30 minutes later:

Jackson and I are at the check out register.  Not holding hands.  I pay for my purchases.  The lady hands my receipt to Jackson.  I take it from him. 

We walk out of Wal-Mart and I re-play the past 3 incidents to Jackson and ask his thoughts on the matter.  Originally, I was approaching the topic from a purely sociological perspective.  I was curious as to why those incidences had just happened.  It seemed so contrary to this day and age.  I mean if I had been the employee and saw a young couple walking towards me I would say something like, "How can I help ya'll?" or, "How can I help you folks?"  but I would definitely not assume that the man was my primary customer.  As Jackson and I discussed the matter and Jackson thought I was being slightly silly, I became more and more bothered and my purely sociological study progressed to real annoyance. 

So I pose the question to the blog-reading community:  Am I being silly and getting slightly worked up about nothing?  Or am I justified in my annoyance at a modern-day social transgression?

I am a Creator

     One of my favorite talks is by President Uchtdorf and is entitled "Happiness, Your Heritage".  In it, President Uchtdorf talks to the women of the church and tells us that "the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul".  I remember listening to this talk in Ecuador and Becky and I couldn't help but nod and express our heartfelt agreement with his explanation of how women find satisfaction and joy out of creating.  Yes, I need to express my creative energies or else I begin to be unhappy with life.  When I create, it comes in many forms - I sometimes create sound as I play the piano, or I take a ball of yarn and turn it into a crocheted scarf or blanket, or I create a delicious meal from random ingredients, or I take a disorderly or dirty space and clean and organize in order to achieve a pleasing and relaxed space, or sometimes I take everyday moments and travels and take a picture and create a photo book to preserve meaningful memories.  

     Recently, I have let myself become extremely busy.  Between working full time, fulfilling my calling as Institute President,  and dating I haven't left any time for myself.  This has recently culminated in creating an internal imbalance and I became determined to make time for me again.  Yesterday, I experienced my first slow day at work in months.  I've finally reached the goals I needed to and can slow down a bit on my appointments.  So, with my extra time I spent the day brainstorming and pondering how best to express all of my creative energy that has built up inside of me over the past few months.  I considered buying a ukulele.  A guy in Austin a couple weeks ago taught me some songs and I caught on really fast.  I was pretty much a natural.  I also considered taking up guitar again.  I resolved to practice the piano more.  I resolved to set aside time to work on my photo book.  I made plans to make cascarones (confetti filled eggs) for fiesta next week.  Eventually, my ponderings and browsing on Amazon and craigslist led me to impulsively buy my first sewing machine! 

     I spent a solid 20 or 30 minutes researching customer reviews and comparing brands and capabilities and prices and called my mom for a vote of confirmation that my impulsive purchase was acceptable.  I decided to invest in a nice one and ended up with a Brother CS6000I 60-Stitch Computerized Free-Arm Sewing Machine with Multiple Stitch Functions.  Now I can finally finish my t-shirt quilt and stop having to depend on others in order to use a sewing machine!  And after I finish my quilt I will embark on other creative sewing projects.  I took a sewing class at BYU.  I got a C+.  It is the only C I have ever received all through grade school and college.  You can imagine the bitter feelings that leaves me with when I even think of sewing. Not only that, but I know full well that it is much more time efficient and cost efficient to buy clothing these days than sew it yourself.  However, I feel that sewing is of course necessary for basic mending and acceptable for creating blankets, pajama pants, and skirts.  These are the three things I intend on creating.  Skirts to the knee are hard to find these days and I'm excited to practice and become more creative with different trims and accessories on them.  And I have an extreme LOVE for blankets.  

     Moral of the story:  Don't let creative energies build up inside of you until you consider buying a baby-grand piano, ukulele, guitar, AND sewing machine all in one day!