The World in Which We Live

Some people annoy the heck out of me.  And frustrate me.  And make me want to punch something.

Granted, I am not a very violent person.  Nor am I a person who gets angry a lot of the time.  But some people have lately rattled my cage.  Such as:

~The boy who dumped my cousin and threatened to call the cops on her when she left him a letter telling him how she was feeling

~The "friend" I dropped everything for all the time only to have her push me away, then contact me only when she wants or needs something

~The family of my loved one who basically disowned him because he couldn't live up to their expectations and who now may have put him into a tax crisis

~The Tae Kwon Do master who took money when he wasn't supposed to

These are mainly the people who annoy me at the moment.

But really, what kind of a society do we even live in?

I've been taught my whole life to be kind to others, to do the honest thing, to speak the truth, to take responsibility, to respect others even when I disagree.  Why can't others do the same?  Why are abortion clinics and threats of hell being thrown around when we should be extending our hand to our brothers and sisters?  Why are some people takers, taking time and energy and everything else but absent when we need them?  Why is money always such a big thing and why can't business practices be more honest?

I just don't understand the world we live in.  I really don't.

And I'm starting to feel myself becoming bitter.  I don't want that.  I want to believe there's good out there.  But I can't be trampled any more either.

So there are your thoughts for today, dear readers.  Go restore some faith in humanity.

~Meaghan

More Tax Money!

It always thrills me when I get money back from taxes. 

I currently don't work.  I am a full time student and frankly, that is more than enough for the moment.  But you see, I held a job over the summer.  A job that started off fun and ended with me feeling like I was in hell every time I went to work.

And those summer hours plus those hours that bled into the fall semester (I barely remember the start of last semester because I was so tired from work, if you'll believe that) add up.  And when it came time to file taxes, I filed taxes.

Now I get money back in the form of two separate checks: the state and the federal.

I already got one back a few weeks ago.  I planned out what I was going to do with it, and every dime went to some sort of good thing - taking my sister out for lunch, buying a Mother's Day gift in advance (it was Kate's idea, btw, so let's take a moment to applaud her for thinking in ahead), getting yarn to make a sweater with, and then feeding myself during school.  That's a big one right there.

Then I was just waiting for my second check to come.

Yesterday it did. 

And now I have to plan what I want to do with it.  The bulk of it will go back into my fairly depleated savings account, I think.  Then there's more yarn to buy (my sister's b-day is on the way and I need to get hopping on her gift), books to think about investing in, friends to go out with, and more school expenses.  I think the bulk of this one is gone too.

But that's the beauty of it.  I work, I pay taxes, and the government decides to give me some of that moolah back.  I think Uncle Sam can afford to buy me some extra yarn and a Coke.  It's kind of like guilt free spending.  Granted, I am still my father's daughter - if it's not a good deal, I won't do it.  Just because I have the money doesn't mean I should spend every penny of it on frivolous things. 

Like yesterday.  I went to McDonald's for lunch and decided I wanted a cherry pie.  It was two for a dollar or one for 99 cents.  The obvious thing was to buy two.  I ended up pawning one off on one of my friends because I couldn't eat it.  But that was good, cause she got a pie out of it too.  Even if it was kind of...burned..and...greasy...

Ok, enough rambling.  I'm off to the bank.

~Meaghan