My mother adores Spring because it's go time for her to host all manner of garden parties at her abode. And you must know that her garden is one of those Martha Stewart affairs, but it's at its most Martha Stewarty during the season of blooms. Ms. Stewart would be so impressed with the perfectness of it all.
One of Darlene's signature garden party beverages is mint tea. This is essentially sweet tea combined with ginger ale and fruit juice / mint. It's so sweet that it will literally put you in a diabetic coma.
And the garden party women love this punch-like tea, though most can only stomach one small glass because not only is it super sweet, but the carbonation bloats you instantly. In fact, if you down it too fast, you'll surely belch like a drunk sailor. And, of course, this isn't what Martha Stewart would approve of, therefore the bulk of this elixir typically comes to our office for Rob to consume post-garden party.
-------------------------
An old Samson friend has seemingly found his feet at a local, family-owned (via one of his long-time friend's) gig that's serving his skillset well. He and I caught up a few weeks back, and I came away relieved that he'd finally turned a corner relative to his very longstanding vocational woes.
My only concern is whether his past will creep back in and somehow torpedo the situation. For based on what he described to Rob, he's been handed a sizable amount of independence there. Independence that could very well be his undoing. Again.
-------------------------
I came across this YouTube video of a late-night TV show earlier this week:
-------------------------
Self control isn't equally divvied out amongst human beings. And it's especially unequivocal amongst the younger crowd.
The World Wide Web provides a private browsing experience that's infinitely vast and varied. And as such, it can instantly be catered to your own personal whims, interests for better or for worse.
Of course, all of this wouldn't be such child's play were it not for search engines which give us the ability to instantaneously queue up whatever we imagine typing in.
-------------------------
After a few days of downing mint tea during this past workweek, I became convicted that I've no longer the metabolism of a younger man. Therefore, the excess sugar I was ingesting surely wasn't going to do my 48-year old waistline any favors.
Yet, this delectable drink is such the prescriptive equivalent of liquid catharsis. How could I now refuse its historical culinary "relevance", for I've been overclocking my pancreas by ingesting it for decades now?
Perhaps drinking smaller and smaller quantities over the course of each day might serve as a compromise? Or, should I simply pour it all down the drain, and instead pretend that it never showed up at the office to begin with (without telling Darlene)?
It must be poured out on Monday.
-------------------------
Incest amongst siblings does occur at times. Older brothers / sisters (bio or step) may just take advantage of their younger sisters / brothers out of curiosity / boredom / hormones. Considering the fact that everybody's living together under one roof, and particularly within large (bio or blended) families, sexual abuse amongst siblings is a risk factor to be wary of.
I can vividly remember hopping in bed in the buff with my babysitter's (a neighbor) oldest daughter, Dianne. She and I were both in elementary school at the time (same grade), and the game we were playing was called "Being Married". We both knew just enough about the marriage bed to know that husband / wife may just take it upon themselves to sleep sans clothing.
A year or so later, I divulged this "Being Married" game to my dad whilst crying tears of shame. For I'd held this secret close for quite many months. His response was as follows: "Did you happen to put your wiener between her legs?"
I repudiated in disgust. As a then 9/10-year old, the thought of that made me want to vomit. Plus, his logic for asking that particular question simply didn't compute.
-------------------------
My old friend with the aforementioned (somewhat newish) gig also nonchalantly assured me during our dialogue that his computer was being monitored by Covenant Eyes there at his desk (he claims to have installed it himself). But on the other hand, he also indirectly volunteered that his supervisors (including the owner) have openly demonstrated to him quite the cavalier approach to using their own office PCs for "fun & relaxation" - on occasion - versus work related usage. My eyes grew wide upon hearing this.
Therefore, essentially, they've demonstrated poor judgment for him to perhaps follow suit.
And in time, he may very well.
The problem is, my friend has a criminal record. Therefore, he's just one small step away from landing himself in jail were he to make a split-second poor choice with said workplace PC. And that may sound overly critical of me to say, but my own story impresses upon me still.
And these type fears do keep me up at night. For I care deeply about my friend.
And I despise this world that we live in, but specifically as it relates to the monster that is the World Wide Web.
----------------------------
Late night TV used to be broadcast late at night (before YouTube brought "free" content to us 24/7/365). Hence, the content was catered towards adults since broadcast TV fell under federal broadcast regulatory standards. Growing up, my 'rents never watched late night talk shows, for they / we were in bed usually around 9:30 or 10 PM.
I can vividly remember sleeping at my deceased grandmothers (around the age of 12) in the same room with one of my - also now deceased - uncles and one or two of his sons (my cousins). I believe I was sleeping in a rollaway bed and they were piled into a convertible couch / bed setup.
My uncle insisted on watching TV 'till late into the night, therefore I couldn't fall asleep. His last late-night show finally concluded around 11:30 PM, upon which time the TV was (thankfully) turned off.
The clip I posted above was eye-opening to Rob earlier this week. So much so in fact that it really tested my resolve relative to doing some World Wide Web searches for "men in jock straps".
Wouldn't that have been a fun rabbit hole to fall down in?
--------------------------
A young man with a whole lotta kidlets was in the news this week. You likely read about it. He and his siblings are reality television celebrities and have been for a number of years now.
He resides in Arkansas (I believe), and was arrested this week for downloading child pornography from the World Wide Web. He's accused of doing this at work. Federal agents made the arrest and seized the computer hardware at his place of employment.
As a boy, he'd been caught sexually abusing some of his siblings, therefore if he's guilty of downloading child porn, it would be in line with his well documented past mistakes.
What's being reported is he had no unmonitored / unfiltered World Wide Web access at home, yet at work, he was vulnerable. Just as we all are, but refuse to see it that way.
-------------------------
My employer (Delta State University) terminated me back in 2013 for breaking their IT policy, and my goodness, you would have thought I had set fire to the entire campus based on their reaction to both what I'd browsed to on occasion (during my 12-month tenure there) as well as what I'd posted (on my then personal blog) 30-days prior to the initial meeting with my superiors.
Regarding the latter, my last blog post was titled "In the Company of Pedophiles", and the content of this succinct post (per my recollection) compared me to pedophiles due to my penchant for consistently returning to gay porn consumption via the World Wide Web. Per my knowledge of male pedophiles (who prey on boys), many utilize gay porn as a means to lure / exploit / prey upon their victims in anticipation of an assault.
Despite the fact that I'd never committed an act of pedophilia, I considered myself to be just as despicable, for simply consuming gay porn via the World Wide Web. This is no doubt a stretch, but you must realize, I was at my wits' end, desperate for help at the time. And this was my way of digitally/ publicly self-flagellating.
The Jerry Sandusky debacle had occurred in the northeast a few years prior to this, therefore universities, in particular, were on edge relative to both the risk of legal ramifications as well as bad press from so called faculty / administrative "bad apples".
And I was singled out as one of those potential "bad apples" due to my willingness to be as explicitly vulnerable / stupid as I was being. And of course, it didn't help that I was a gay man married to a woman with three small children. Rob = Freak.
And btw, I too (like Mr. Duggar) only had unfiltered / unmonitored World Wide Web access available to me ON WORK PROVIDED DEVICES (DESKTOP PC / CELLPHONE) throughout my tenure at Delta State University.
-------------------------
Eventually, employers are going to have to become liable for what individuals who work for them can access via their company provided Internet-connected devices.
When I stepped out of architecture school in 1995 with my beautiful, hard earned diploma, I wasn't equipped nor was I expecting to have to someday deal with the slippery slope that is the World Wide Web (available on my office PC). What I did know was (& was prepared to do) I would have to use a PC all day to draw (AutoCad), and therein, I was equipped to handle that.
Therefore, for many of us, the availability of this bottomless pit of smut on our work computers is simply unreasonable. Ridiculous. Stupid.
Too many lives are being ruined (including entire families of those convicted) by this nonsensical death trap / monster called the World Wide Web.
It's time to remove access to the smut via the World Wide Web from the workplace. It's a jobsite hazard that's putting too many people at unnecessary risk. Segregate it. Put it behind a paywall. Whatever. Just do it now in order to save additional individuals from so much heartache.
No comments:
Post a Comment