Christine the Curmudgeon

Christine the Cumudgeon saw this gem in today’s Dear Abby:

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Paul,” and I have been dating for four years. He has recently started talking about purchasing an engagement ring for me. Paul is well-off, although very frugal, which is how he accumulated most of his wealth.  Paul has been searching online sites for a used ring. He says he “doesn’t want to waste his money on a new engagement ring when he can buy a used one.” This from a man who didn’t think twice about spending thousands of dollars to buy his son a brand-new car or a brand-new boat for himself.

Am I wrong to feel I’m only worth a used engagement ring? This is the most precious gift he could give me — a sign of our love and commitment — and I would cherish it forever. I am deeply hurt and would appreciate your thoughts on how to pursue this issue. — FEELING “USED” IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR FEELING “USED”: There’s a difference between frugal and just plain cheap. That Paul would tell you he considers buying you a new engagement ring is a WASTE shows insensitivity to your feelings. Would he also prefer that your wedding gown come from a thrift store? I know it has been four years, but please take a moment, step back and ask yourself how stingy Paul is about other things.

Obviously, you are a romantic, and Paul is pragmatic to the core. He wants his dollar to stretch as far as it will go. But shopping online for a used ring is risky. Unless he buys from a reputable dealer, he could wind up paying the price of a diamond for a lovely zircon.

Paul may seem like a “gem,” but is this the way you want to live the rest of your life? Bear in mind that while not every woman would be averse to wearing a pre-owned diamond that was recycled and reset, you do not appear to be one of them.

I’ve known guys like this…they spend lavishly on themselves and other people, but throw a fit if their wives/girlfriends spend anything on themselves at all.  Even if it’s with money that she earned herself.  This woman is in for a life of hell if she marries this guy.  Trust me, I know!

I mean, one day, he might walk in, and catch her reading about the best eye cream reviews in a magazine or on a website.  He’ll likely peer over her shoulder and notice that some of these cosmetics don’t come cheap.  Then he’ll start in with an argument, asking her why the cosmetics at Dollar Tree aren’t good enough for her.

Because the stuff is crap, that’s why.  The dollar store products contain all manner of chemicals, and can make your face break out.  There are some things that I’ll buy at Dollar Tree, such as cleaning products, craft supplies, plastic containers in which to store said craft supplies…but nothing that would be put on my face.

And the cheapitude will go on and on.  She won’t be allowed to have anything good for herself, while he buys himself and his son the best of everything.  He’ll try to either make her stop working, or try to get her to turn his paychecks over to him, and give her a meager allowance each week.

They will never go out to eat unless they have a 2 for 1 restaurant coupon.  Now, I have nothing against such coupons, we use them a lot.  But we go out to eat at placesthat don’t have coupons, as well.

The way I see it, as long as all the bills get paid, and money is put away for retirement, why be so disgustingly cheap?

Where the ring is bought is not necessarily important, what’s important is that the ring not have belonged to some other woman who got divorced and hocked it.  The only exception to the used ring rule is if the ring in question is some sort of family heirloom that’s been passed down for generations.

The quality of the stone be disclosed to his intended bride.  I can even see buying a cubic zirconia engagement ring, if that is all the couple can afford, IF the guy does not lie and say that it’s a real diamond.  That’s something I can easily see this Paul guy doing.

My own engagement diamond came from Sears.  I didn’t see any need to go to some fancy overpriced jewelry store, when the diamonds at Sears are just as good.  My diamond is small, but it is of excellent quality, and I have all of the certificates of authenticity and all that stuff that comes with geniune diamonds.

I would NOT marry this guy.  As I said, it will come to no good in the end.

And it seems to me that most of the people who treat it as such are PARENTS.

Christine the Curmudgeon had to go to the ER the other day.  In my case, I was having severe heart-attack-like symptoms, as in, so bad that I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to the hospital alive.

Well, the symptoms pretty much subsidec by the time I got there, but still, they whisked me in for an EKG right away, and was assured that I did NOT have a heart attack.  But I still had to stay and wait, because they wanted to do other tests to make sure my heart was okay.

As we sat and waited, we saw a lot of people bringing in kids.  I could tell that the kids were indeed the patients because the check-in nurse was putting the hospital bracelets on them, not the parents.

But how sick could these kids have been to need ER treatment?  Most of them didn’t look sick at all, and they were running around, screaming, climbing on the furniture, and being all-around annoying.  If they are healthy enough to run around and act like kids, then WTF are they doing in the damned ER?

Hell, I could not even make it from the car to the ER without help.  Mike had to go and park the car so it wasn’t blocking the ambulances.  The security guard lady had to help me into the waiting area, got me into a wheelchair, and wheeled me up to the check-in desk.  That is part of their job.

Now, I did see a few kids brought in for good reason.  There was this one boy, in a Little League baseball uniform, who looked like he’d broken his arm; someone had put a temporary splint on it.  And then there was the lady who brought in an infant, panicking because the baby had a very high fever.  Yep, that’s good reason to come to the ER, especially given that by this time, doctors’ offices are closed for the day.

But as for the seemingly healthy kids who were being annoying…I was annoyed that THEY WERE SEEN BEFORE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN THERE LONGER.  And the people who’d been there longer looked to be a LOT sicker than these kids.  Hell, even though my symptoms had subsided, I was still too out of it to beg the nurse in charge of the waiting room to PLEASE change the channel on at least one of the televisions to the Sox game, so I’d have something to look at besides endless Michael Jackson death coverage on E! News.

The sign on the wall says that they see people in order of the severity of their problem.  So, if you are using the place as a walk-in clinic because your kid has the sniffles, theoretically, you are supposed to wait longer.  But I guess the fact that these were KIDS gives them special privileges, which includes being seen sooner than people who come in with chest pains and other, actually serious stuff.  Even if it’s just for the sniffles.

While I’m on the subject of the whole Michael Jackson thing…it it REALLY a good idea for hospital’s ERs to have stories like this on their TVs?  I mean, a patient comes in with chest pains, gets the initial EKG which says “no heart attack”, but which is not a full evaluation as to whether said patient has heart problems.  So why risk upsetting these patients by making them wait in a room where the TV talks about how someone dropped dead of a sudden heart attack (especially a guy who is about a year older than I am)?  But it seemed that people wanted to watch this, although I certainly did not.

So, partly because kids with the sniffles are more important than me and other people who came in for true emergency reasons, I had to wait way longer than should have been necessary to be seen by a doctor and get the rest of my tests done, so I could know if my heart was okay or not.  Hell, I had to wait forever to get out of the Waiting Room From Hell, and go into the actual ER area where, thankfully, I had a little private room with my own TV.

It turned out that there is nothing wrong with my heart…but they insisted on running the full battery of tests anyway, just to be sure.

But I’m still pissed at stupid people who go to the ER for dumb crap, like ear infections or sniffles.

So the local news in Christine the Curmudgeon-land  aired this story, and it was posted on Facebook…

It’s a story about how some people, who are severely affected by the recession, are stealing basic necessities, such as shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste.  If you can’t see the embedded video above, go HERE to see it.

So anyway, Fox25 posted this on their Facebook page.  Christine the Curmudgeon could not resist being snarky, aka *calling it as I see it*.  Apparently, some jerk named Joel did not approve.

I commented that I’d be willing to bet the rent that those who were stealing this stuff had cable TV and other expensive items.  Someone else agreed with me.  I added another comment about seeing people who were using food stamps and WIC vouchers to pay for stuff, yet had perfectly done hair and nails, as well as expensive cell phones, as iPhones.  I mentioned that I can’t even afford an iPhone, and Mr. C. earns a good income.

So Mr. Bleeding Heart Joel gave me crap for *judging* these people.  Oh, maybe they are foster parents or something, he said.  Maybe they just fell upon hard times, he said.  And since they use those EBT cards for food stamps, the fact that I KNEW that they were on food stamps makes me nosy, and I need to mind my own business.

I’m sorry, Joel…but when I’m stuck in line at the store behind a food stamp recipient who is trying to buy beer with her food stamp benefits, and is loudly arguing with the cashier about it, I can’t have any sympathy for her.  Especially when she is perfectly dressed, coiffed, and is yapping on a cell phone much more expensive than my own.  She was so loud about FOOD STAMPS that half of Massachusetts probably heard her.  And you accuse ME of being *nosy*?

Joel, you ignorant slut!

My feeling is that the people who steal are also trying to cheat the system in many ways, they steal so they can pay the cable bill, or to go to the nail salon, go buy a HughJass HDTV, and such.  Decent people who fall upon hard times will get rid of the damned cable, the trips to the nail salon, the hair appointments, the pricey cell phone, etc., before they’d stoop to stealing.  I know plenty of people who are suffering due to the economy, and none of them go around stealing from anyone.

Decent people in need will look for help, and ask for it.  Stealing is NEVER the answer.

Finally, Joel told me to quit judging people and help those in need.  Well, Joel, you need to STFU, because I’ve probably helped more people in need than your sorry ass ever did.  I’m just pickier about who I help, that’s all.  I won’t help anyone who is trying to scam the system, that’s for sure.  But I will help honest people that I know, who are just trying to get by.

Joel is a wanker.

It’s a song that has NO PLACE at the ballpark, in the opinion of Christine the Curmudgeon.

After 9/11, most ballparks started substituting “God Bless America” for the traditional “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch.  Both Mr. Curmudgeon and I found this to be very obnoxious.  First of all, it was annoying that they demanded that we stand and remove hats when the song was played.

The fact is, the ONLY song where the standing and removing hats thing is necessary is the National Anthem, yanno, the “oh say can you see” song.

But then there is the fact that this song is basically a PRAYER, as it mentions God and asks him to bless America.  I’m agnostic, and would rather not hear people singing about any gods during a ball game.  It offends me.  Even Mr. Curmudgeon, who identifies himself as Christian, but belongs to no organized religion, finds this offensive.

Needless to say, the singing of this song at ball games has made us both very uncomfortable.  We could have rebelled and refused to stand and all.  We tried it once and were made to feel even more uncomfortable by people around us.  It was easier to just stand and get it over with.

Fortunately, the singing of this song seems to be going out of fashion at ballparks now.  When it was once sung at every game, it went down to just Sundays.  But now, some ballparks don’t even do it on Sundays any longer.  The Brockton Rox and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have gone back to good old “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the stretch.  Which is as it should be.

We’ve been to Fisher Cats games on other days of the week, and they don’t do “God Bless America” then, either.  I’ve been to a couple of Portland Sea Dogs games in the middle of the week, no prayers there, either.  We will be going to a Sunday game there in July, so I won’t know ’til then if they still do the Sunday singing or not.

The Pawtucket Red Sox, though, still do it.  I’ve been to two Sunday games there so far this season, and they did it.  Once was with some Amercian Idol wannabe bimbo singing it (that’s a whole ‘nother rant), and the other time was a recording of Kate Smith.

The Fisher Cats have become our favorite minor league team, and we’re glad they did away with the prayer crap.  It makes it more enjoyable to attend the games when we’re not made to feel uncomfortable over a song.

Yeah, “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” is kind of silly.  I mean, why would you ask someone to take you out to the ball game, when you are already there?  But at least it is harmless and doesn’t offend anyone.  No religion involved.

Thanks to all of the ballparks who have seen the light and did away with “God Bless America”.  You’ve made my ballpark experience more comfortable and enjoyable.

…those TVs that they have at each checkout at Shaw’s.  Not only are they annoying, but in many ways, they are STUPID!

I mean, there you are, at the checkout, and they put on a segment with some Food Network star, such as Rachael Ray, demonstrating a recipe.  Now, you know how I love cooking shows, but there’s a reason why I think having them at the checkouts like this is STUPID.

It’s very simple.  Think about it.  When you are at the checkout, you are ready to pay and leave the store.  You’re not going to look at this recipe being prepared on TV, and run back to find all the ingredients for it.  Maybe that is what Shaw’s hopes you will do, to increase your total bill, but it is not what most people, including me, hope you will do.  Especially if you are in front of me and already have most of your crap on the conveyor belt, and someone to guard it while you run back and get all that other stuff.  That is a good way for me to hate you, and wish you death by food poisoning.  Being made to wait one second longer in line than necessary is not a good thing to do to me.

Cooking shows should be watched AT HOME, not IN the damned supermarket.  At home, you can either take notes so you can recreate the dish, or you can just go to the show’s website and see if the recipe you like is posted there.  Sorry, sometimes they make you buy the companion cookbook, but not that often.  Most shows offer most of their recipes online for free.

If I ned entertainment while waiting in a long line, I can just look at the tabloid rags.  Isn’t that what they are there for?

At least those TVs don’t have commercials for stuff like the most effective diet pill. And TV lawyers. But I shouldn’t say that too loud, don’t want to give them any ideas!