So yes, I knit in public (KIP). It happens. Lots of people do it (though not many around here, it seems). Monday night, we had a rare opportunity to go to a movie with friends. As is usual for me, I took along my smallest current work in progress (WIP). I can knit in the dark by touch if it is a simple stitch and does not require me to follow a pattern, and that is what I do at the movies. It keeps my hands moving and keeps me from eating popcorn (which I'm really not a big fan of anyway, but if it's there, I'll eat it).
Jodi (one of the people we went with, and the one who sat next to me) just did not get it. There are now commercials before the previews (how sad is that?) and once we got settled in our seats, I broke out my WIP. Jodi exclaimed, "Sara! Why are you crocheting? Are you that bored?" and before I had a chance to reply, she turned to her husband Randy and exclaimed to him that I was crocheting. I calmly corrected her, "I'm not crocheting, I'm knitting, and it does not mean I'm bored since I am fully capable of multitasking, thank you very much."
Throughout the course of the rest of the commercials and the previews, and into the movie, Jodi would occasionally lean over to me and tell me to stop crocheting. She even leaned across me to talk to my husband and tell him to make me stop. Well, since I wasn't crocheting, I had no trouble ignoring the request (though actually ignoring her was harder). I only stopped when I realized that I had picked up a stitch somewhere. I couldn't see well enough in the dark to find the mistake, so I put it away and settled in to watch the rest of the movie.
If I had thought I was truly distracting her, I would have stopped without a problem. But I know for a fact that she only noticed me knitting during the movie because she saw me doing it before the movie. And if she ever would have looked closely enough, she would have noticed that my eyes rarely left the screen, so obviously I was watching the movie. I actually was more engaged in the movie before I stopped knitting than after. She moved about and made much more noise than I did with her insistence on checking to see whether I was still knitting.
The sad thing is, what annoyed me the MOST about it is her insistence on calling it crocheting! I love to crochet, and I do it well. But I can't do it by touch and therefore would never crochet in a dark movie theatre. The first mistake on her part I will overlook, but the continued repeated mistakes still bug me.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Election Stuff
I've had a week now to process the results of the election. I've seen people who are totally elated over the results, people who are completely devastated over the results, and many shades of gray in between.
At first, I was very excited about voter turnout. I thought that Obama's win indicated a higher turnout of voters in general, especially young people (18-25 age range) and minorities - groups who historically feel that politics does not apply to them (or, more appropriately, that the politicians do not care about them) and consequently do not show up to vote. I honestly thought that this standard of not showing up would continue and would cost Obama the election.
Then I found out that the overall numbers were about the same for this election as they had been in 2004. Slightly higher, yes, but overall very similar. So I thought that maybe a different demographic had decided to stay home this election. More digging proved different. Young people and minorities had slightly higher percentages than before, but only very slight - one or two percentage points. So obviously, the demographics of the American Voting Public have not changed.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the results. I still do not believe that Obama is the right person for the job, at least, not right now. I do think that some of the voters chose him simply because he is black, others because he is young, and many, MANY others chose him because they hate the current administration so much that anyone associated with it is an automatic no-go for them. None of these are "good" reasons to choose someone for the highest office in the land, but then again, at least those people showed up at the polls and voiced their opinions.
However, I don't think that McCain was the right answer, either. Neither candidate was my choice for POTUS. I did vote, and it took me a lot longer than usual because I sat there and thought about how I truly felt on each of the proposals as well as a fairly long debate with myself on who I would choose for President.
I am truly concerned for Obama's safety and that of his family. There have already been attempts on his life. He is in a very dangerous position; there are people out to get him. I do hope that he survives his four years in office, and I really hope that he is able to fulfill at least one of his campaign promises. The Democrats having a majority in Congress will help him in that regard - he is not likely to find strong opposition there.
At first, I was very excited about voter turnout. I thought that Obama's win indicated a higher turnout of voters in general, especially young people (18-25 age range) and minorities - groups who historically feel that politics does not apply to them (or, more appropriately, that the politicians do not care about them) and consequently do not show up to vote. I honestly thought that this standard of not showing up would continue and would cost Obama the election.
Then I found out that the overall numbers were about the same for this election as they had been in 2004. Slightly higher, yes, but overall very similar. So I thought that maybe a different demographic had decided to stay home this election. More digging proved different. Young people and minorities had slightly higher percentages than before, but only very slight - one or two percentage points. So obviously, the demographics of the American Voting Public have not changed.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the results. I still do not believe that Obama is the right person for the job, at least, not right now. I do think that some of the voters chose him simply because he is black, others because he is young, and many, MANY others chose him because they hate the current administration so much that anyone associated with it is an automatic no-go for them. None of these are "good" reasons to choose someone for the highest office in the land, but then again, at least those people showed up at the polls and voiced their opinions.
However, I don't think that McCain was the right answer, either. Neither candidate was my choice for POTUS. I did vote, and it took me a lot longer than usual because I sat there and thought about how I truly felt on each of the proposals as well as a fairly long debate with myself on who I would choose for President.
I am truly concerned for Obama's safety and that of his family. There have already been attempts on his life. He is in a very dangerous position; there are people out to get him. I do hope that he survives his four years in office, and I really hope that he is able to fulfill at least one of his campaign promises. The Democrats having a majority in Congress will help him in that regard - he is not likely to find strong opposition there.
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