Day: August 15, 2019

The Grass Is Greener

Fandango7 Comments

C8988ECC-804A-45E6-8D93-C565382929DA“I really wish you wouldn’t pin all of your hopes on finding some great new job,” Alex’s wife told him.

“Gail, you know how unhappy I’ve been at work,” Alex said.

“Yes, you’ve been quite overt complaining about how much you hate your job,” Gail said. “So vocal, in fact, that I’m surprised that you haven’t been fired yet.”

“And that’s precisely why I contacted the headhunter,” Alex said. “All I want to do is examine all of my options and improve my odds of finding a new and better job.”

“You’ve got almost seven years at the firm, Alex,” Gail said. “Are you sure it makes sense to go to a different place where you’ll be a newbie?”

“Don’t worry, Gail,” Alex said, “I’m a big believer in that old saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence.”

“That might be great if you were a gardener, Alex,” Gail said. “But you’re a lawyer, for crissake.”

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (wish), Daily Addictions (pin), The Daily Spur (hope), Nova’s Daily Random Word (overt), Your Daily Word Prompt (improve), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (newbie), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (Grass).

#writephoto — The Fool on the Hill

Fandango27 Comments

AC40970F-B894-48C5-A7FA-ABE5222E1C15Day after day, the man on the hill slowly walks alone with his walking staff in hand. Nobody knows who he is, or why he walks the hill day in and day out. He walks there all day long until the sun goes down, watching as the world spins around and around.

Most of the townsfolk refer to him as the fool on the hill. Some of them have tried to talk to him, but he never listens to them and he never has an answer to their questions. In fact, he never even seems to notice them. He just smiles with what they call his foolish grin. Hence, nobody wants to join him.

He knows that they don’t like him and they really don’t want to know him. They think he is just a fool with his head in the clouds. But he doesn’t care about them. He actually feels sorry for those townsfolk, who live their hectic lives without making the time to explore nature and to appreciate all that it has to offer.

They may think of him as the fool on the hill, but in his heart, he knows that they are the real fools.

Written for this week’s Thursday Photo Prompt from Sue Vincent.

“They Hate All Jews”

Fandango99 Comments

058D2F16-CF6C-4CB0-8DC7-511D2C600216Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in a statement this morning that two U.S. congressional representatives, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, will be denied entry to Israel. Both Omar and Tlaib are Muslims who have been critical of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians.

Netanyahu bowed to pressure from Donald Trump to refuse to permit them visit Israel in what was a planned trip.

Donald Trump, who, sadly, is the President of the United States, should never have tweeted what he tweeted this morning. He should not be abusing the Office of the President by pressuring foreign leaders to take actions against Trump’s political enemies, especially when they are duly elected representatives of the United States Congress.

Let’s get one thing straight, shall we. Opposing the policies of the Israeli government or its leader does not make one antisemitic. Opposing the policies of the any government or its leader does not mean that you hate the people who live in that country or Americans whose descendants came from that county.

I don’t like all of the policies of the Israeli government, but I don’t hate Jews.

I don’t like the policies of the Saudi Arabian government, but I don’t hate Arabs.

I don’t like Putin’s Russia and its role in interfering with our elections, but I don’t hate Russians.

I don’t like the Chinese government’s authoritarian policies and abuse of human rights, but I don’t hate Chinese people.

I don’t like that Trump-like buffoon, Boris Johnson, who is the new British PM, but I don’t hate everyone with a British accent.

I hate Donald Trump and I hate the policies he’s pushing. But I certainly don’t hate Americans. Only those who support Trump.

Why Did You Leave Me?

Fandango50 Comments

FD8163BA-5CD1-4CD6-9849-7268D2218E12Last night, one of you stopped following my blog.

Yeah, that’s right. When I went to bed there were 2,440 of you. Now there are only 2,439 of you.

Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Of course I noticed. And I’m deeply hurt.

The least you could have done is said goodbye. And you could have told me why you left. That would have been the decent, courageous thing to do.

But no. You just quietly slipped away in the dead of night while I was sleeping.

Was it something I said? Have you simply grown tired of me?

Hey, I realize that I’m an acquired taste. I’m not for everyone. But seriously, who is?

And yes, I will occasionally say something controversial or provocative. Okay, perhaps more than occasionally. And sure, sometimes the views I express may be different from yours.

How boring would I be if I avoided controversial topics altogether?

I do understand that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, you know. I’ve been around the block a few times. Quite a few times, actually.

But whoever you are, you made a conscious decision to stop following this blog.

So now you’re gone and I’ll never know why.

You never call. You never write.

FOWC with Fandango — Newbie

Fandango35 Comments

FOWCWelcome to August 15, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “newbie.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.