The lost people of Fern Forest (Hilo, Mountain View: mattress, neighborhood, elementary school)

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

They dropped it because they were trying to be politically correct. Spineless democrats.

Separation of Church and State.

TJ had it right.

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by mangodog

My friends on the mainland inform me that many mothers are convinced that the only way to take care of an "unwanted" pregnancy is to abort the bebe. Too bad the kid does not have a say in the matter.

Mega-yawn. Take your views to the politics thread.

[kukuicake]

Originally Posted by mangodog

As I become aged and full of cobwebs,trailing my clothes, I cannot but help wonder about the many varied choices we are exposed to.

Dust yourself off dude.

Just don't dust other people off unless they ask you to.

[mangodog]

We call them slippers, or, more precisely, rubbah slippahs, and they are an integral part of our culture. When babies are born in Hawai`i, they are left naked until they learn to walk, at which point they earn their first pair of rubbah slippahs and are finally allowed to wear clothing. At this point, they join society proper and begin to assume normal adult responsibilities such as paying their taxes and driving. At around age sixteen, or whenever their feet stop growing, a specialist asks what their favorite color is, then proceeds to surgically graft rubbah slippahs to the feet. At this point, the Hawai`i equivalent of a bar/bat mitzvah is held. Distant relatives fly in from all over the world and parents select a future spouse based on who else had rubbah slippahs on their feet that day. Ten days later, the couple is ushered off to an ancient Hawaiian altar, where they consummate their union and enjoy slippahs for ever after. yeah they are great. A skilled person can nimble up any lava rocks with them.

[mangodog]

So these people, ( reference previous post, in S Pacific Nations ) living on $1.30 - $1.60 per hour doing hard manual work and or working in the grocery stores, and or working in the police dept, and or working directly for the government. Their gas costs $4.20/gal and they have very limited choices of veggies and fruit because of nonexistant aforementioned polinators that some dont want to hear me mention again.

So anyway, it is all relative to what someone is used to - hardships for some are not hardships for others. People chose to raise their families in the deserts of Ethiopia as well as frozen parts of Northern Canada and Alaska. We, here in cushy Hawaii with our super abundant choices of veggies and innumerable fruits as well as imported delicacies, find it incomprehensible living with less. Are we spoiled ?

[AlohaHuey]

No, we don't want your views on abortion. Take that to the politics thread.

The rest of your post is rather stating the obvious.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by mangodog

So these people, ( reference previous post, in S Pacific Nations ) living on $1.30 - $1.60 per hour doing hard manual work and or working in the grocery stores, and or working in the police dept, and or working directly for the government. Their gas costs $4.20/gal and they have very limited choices of veggies and fruit because of nonexistant aforementioned polinators that some dont want to hear me mention again.

So anyway, it is all relative to what someone is used to - hardships for some are not hardships for others. People chose to raise their families in the deserts of Ethiopia as well as frozen parts of Northern Canada and Alaska. We, here in cushy Hawaii with our super abundant choices of veggies and innumerable fruits as well as imported delicacies, find it incomprehensible living with less. Are we spoiled ?

I think it's like you said - it's all relative to what someone is used to.

If what you're used to is riding your bike or walking to where you need to go, growing your own garden for veggies and fruits, bartering with friends and neighbors for the things you don't grow yourself, slaughtering your own animals (if you're used to eating them) and living on next to no income because you're used to being more self sufficient and not dependant on buying things... then IMO you're living a really good life! If that's what you're used to, though, that's your base. That's your normal.

I don't think we who live a different sort of life are spoiled, it's just that we're used to living in a very different way.

I do feel like Americans in general, though, seem to have self-entitlement issues. I'm a pretty typical run-of-the-mill American, so I feel OK saying that. We want what we want regardless of what it takes to put it in our grubby hands and we want it NOW and we don't want too pay a lot for it and if we DO have to pay a lot for it, it better come with bells and whistles and be the next greatest latest coolest thing. The only time it seems like we're willing to wait is when we've preordered a new iPhone or Harry Potter book on Amazon or something.

Most Americans just have different priorities than the rest of the world, maybe. And to outsiders our priorities might seem really whacked - wasteful, self-indulgent, even harmful to humanity or our environment, and certainly expensive, but to us it's what we've always known so most of us don't usually see it as a bad thing.

[mangodog]

You are driving down the highway of life minding your own business feeling the clean Puna air lapping your cheeks as your car window is open and the birds are singing... Hey there is this slow moke driving in front of you, just crawling along at 30 MPH and the posted speed is 55MPH. Hey, after all you are on the highway, not a byway. You wonder when he will increase his speed..... now he is doing 29MPH and so you pass him. Whew, that was easy enough, but now he speeds up and is now tailgaiting you. No understand dah brah....yeah... You are both doing about 50MPH and he is right on your tail right ? Just a couple yards behind you. (@$##**!) Now, not thinking, you speed up and exceed the speed limit.... Bingo, this UNMARKED POLICE CAR now pulls you over and gives you a Traffic Award because you fell for the snare, like a poor little bird. Hey, they need to generate income to justify the Dept.

[alaskangrown]

People who get caught in speed traps deserve just what they get! I always laugh when a repeat offender I recognize gets popped by sneaky police. My road is certainly a byway, and people fly down it going 75 frequently (with kids walking home from school and everything). An unmarked police car cited my neighbour for going 80 in a 25 mph zone- almost a $500 ticket! HAHAHAH!

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by mangodog

You are driving down the highway of life minding your own business feeling the clean Puna air lapping your cheeks as your car window is open and the birds are singing... Hey there is this slow moke driving in front of you, just crawling along at 30 MPH and the posted speed is 55MPH. Hey, after all you are on the highway, not a byway. You wonder when he will increase his speed..... now he is doing 29MPH and so you pass him. Whew, that was easy enough, but now he speeds up and is now tailgaiting you. No understand dah brah....yeah... You are both doing about 50MPH and he is right on your tail right ? Just a couple yards behind you. (@$##**!) Now, not thinking, you speed up and exceed the speed limit.... Bingo, this UNMARKED POLICE CAR now pulls you over and gives you a Traffic Award because you fell for the snare, like a poor little bird. Hey, they need to generate income to justify the Dept.

Uh, wouldn't you recognize a cop after passing him? They aren't that unmarked. The blue light on the top is a giveaway, as is the uniform.

The police in Kona love to pull people over where the speed drops to 35. I see people pulled over all the time.