Entitlements....

Expectations (or entitlements):  Our kids honestly are spoiled.  I don't know anyone that doesn't try very diligently to give more of everything to their kids than you had.  Because of that, they expect more.  They are entitled to it, of course.  We can only blame ourselves for the indulgence.  We could have all learned more from the Tiger Moms.
Now with all the ta-do in Wisconsin as of late, I began to think about the situation a bit more.  We all know that nothing is a 100% given in this world.  We all hope that when the time comes to retire, that the pension that you worked so hard for, is still there (and the company is still in business).  If I were a teacher and I was not expected to pay into Social Security (or the like), I would naturally expect that the alternative retirement options would be available when I retire.  What if they are not? What would I do?
Suppose I was already retired (category 1) and I was dependent on the retirement benefits I am already getting.  There would be no alternative.
Suppose I was still working (category 2) and have put in my "dues" towards retirement expecting the bennies to be there when I'm ready.
And lastly, suppose I am becoming a teacher or whatever (category 3), and am expecting to begin earning the capability to draw on those bennies someday.

I realize, that if the state is broke, all bets are off, but the implied contract here is that those bennies are a promise that needs to continue. Not negotiating on a partial settlement is a bad choice, which will mean that you get nothing. So much for expectations or entitlements!


Wisconsin is not so far removed from many other state, including California.  What will we do?

A young reporter went to a retirement home to interview an aged but legendary explorer. The reporter asked the old man to tell him the most frightening experience he had ever had.

The old explorer said, "Once I was hunting Bengal tigers in the jungles of India. I was on a narrow path and my faithful native gun bearer was behind me. Suddenly the largest tiger I have ever seen leaped onto the path in front of us. I turned to get my weapon only to find the native had fled. The tiger leaped toward me with a mighty ROARRRR! I just shit my pants"

The reporter said, "Under those circumstances anyone would have done the same."

The old explorer said, "No, not then -- just now when I went ROARRRR!" 

The local newspaper recently asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding a stupid person that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
10 Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of the literature: is both stupid and an asshole.

If any of these describe you, you're a redneck!

• You think that potted meat on a saltine is an hors d'ouerve.
• There is a stuffed possum anywhere in your house.
• You consider a six-pack and a bug-zapper high-quality entertainment.
• Fewer than half of your cars run.
• Your mother doesn't remove the Marlboro from her lips before telling the State Trooper to kiss her ass.
• The primary color of your car is "bondo".
• You honestly think that women are turned on by animal noises and seductive tongue gestures.
• You stand under the mistletoe at Christmas and wait for Granny and cousin Sue-Ellen to walk by.
• Your family tree doesn't fork.
• Your wife's hairdo has ever been ruined by a ceiling fan.
• Your mother has been involved in a fistfight at a high school sports event.
• You've ever barbecued Spam on the grill.
• More than one living relative is named after a southern civil war general.
• Your front porch collapses and more than six dogs are killed.
• You've ever used lard in bed.
• Your home has more miles on it than your car.
• The best way to keep things cold is to leave'em in the shade.
• The neighbors started a petition over your Christmas lights.
• Your brother-in-law is your uncle.
• Your only condiment on the dining room table is the economy size bottle of ketchup.
• The rear tires on your car are at least twice as wide as the front ones.
• You consider "Outdoor Life" deep reading.
• You prominently display a gifts bought at Graceland.
• You use the term `over yonder' more than once a month.
• The diploma hanging in your den contains the words "Trucking Institute".
• Your mother keeps a spit cup on the ironing board.
• You've ever worn a tube top to a wedding.
• Your favorite Christmas present was a painting on black velvet.
• You think that Don Perignon is a Mafia leader.
• The most commonly heard phrase at your family reunion is "What the hell are you looking at, Shithead?"
• You think that beef jerky and Moon Pies are two of the major food groups.
• You think that Campho-Phenique is a miracle drug.
• You've ever used a weed eater indoors.
• You have a rag for a gas cap (on a car that does run).
• You look upon a family reunion as a chance to meet `Ms. Right'.
• You have to go outside to get something out of the 'fridge.
• Your richest relative invites you over to his new home to help him remove the wheels.
• You've ever financed a tattoo.
• You go to your family reunion to meet women.
• Your idea of a 7 course meal is a bucket of KFC and a six-pack.
• You go to a Tupperware party for a haircut.
• You have spray painted your girlfriend's name on an overpass.
• You have more than two brothers named Bubba or Junior.
• Your father encourages you to quit school because Larry has an opening on the lube rack.
• You think a Volvo is part of a woman's anatomy.
• You think that the Styrofoam cooler is the greatest invention of all time.
• You've been too drunk to fish.
• You had to remove a toothpick for wedding pictures.
• Your lifetime goal is to own a fireworks stand.
• Someone asks to see your ID and you show them your belt buckle.
• Your Junior/Senior Prom had a Daycare.
• The directions to your house include "turn off the paved road".
• Your dog and your wallet are both on chains.
• You owe the taxidermist more than your annual income.
• You have lost at least one tooth opening a beer bottle.
• Jack Daniel's makes your list of "most admired people".
• Your home has wheels and your car doesn't.
• Your house doesn't have curtains, but your truck does.
• You have started a petition to change the National Anthem to "Georgia on My Mind".
• You call your boss "Buddy", on a regular basis.
• You consider your license plate personalized because your dad made it in prison.
• You have been fired from a construction job because of your appearance.
• You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tattoos.
• You need an estimate from your barber before you get a haircut.
• After making love you ask your date to roll down the window.
• The biggest fashion risk you take is which plaid you'll wear to the 4-H Fair.
• You have flowers planted in a bathroom appliance in your front yard.
• Someone in your family says "Cum'n here an' lookit this afore I flush it."
• Your wife weighs more then your refrigerator.
• You mow your lawn and find a car.
• If going to the bathroom in the middle of the night involves putting on shoes a jacket and grabbing a flashlight.
• Your dog can't watch you eat without gagging.
• You have a Hefty bag on the passenger side window of your car.
• You have a very special baseball cap, just for formal occasions.
• You bought a VCR so you could tape wrestling while you are at work.
• Your dad walks you to school because you are both in the same grade.
• Your wife has a beer belly and you find it attractive.
• You go Christmas shopping for your mom, sister, and girlfriend, and you only need to buy one gift.
• You are still holding on to Confederate money because you think the South will rise again.
• You consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.
• You have to go down to the creek to take a bath.
• You participate in the "who can spit tobacco the farthest contest".
• You roll you hair with soup cans and wash it once a year.
• You consider a three piece suit to be: a pair of overalls, a plaid flannel shirt and thermal underwear.
• There is a sheet hanging in your closet and a gun rack hanging in your truck.
• You think the Mountain Men in deliverance were just "Misunderstood".
• You've ever made change in the offering plate.
• If the fifth grade is referred to as "your senior year".
• You consider a good tan to be the back of your neck and the left arm below the shirt sleeve...
• You own at least 20 baseball hats.
• You know of at least six different ways to bend the bill of a baseball hat.
• You can change the oil in your truck without ducking your head.
• When you run out of gas, you put gin in the gas tank!
• Three quarters of the clothes you own have LOGOS on them.
• You have 5 cars that are immobile and a house that isn't!
• Your gene pool doesn't have a "deep end".
• Your `huntin dawg' cost more than the truck you drive him around in.
• You'd rather catch bass than get some (if you can't guess...)
• You have a Hefty bag for a Car/Truck convertible top.
• You think that safe sex is a padded headboard on the waterbed.
• You own more cowboy boots than sneakers.
• You've been to a funeral and there were more pick-ups than cars.
• You have a picture of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, or Elvis over your fireplace.
• You just bought an 8-track player to put in your car.
• There are four or more cars up on blocks in the front yard.
• The theme song at your high school prom was `Friends in Low Places'.
• It's easier to spray weed killer on your lawn than mow it.
• You've ever climbed a water tower with a bucket of paint to defend your sister's honor.
• Your idea of talking during sex is "Ain't no cars coming, baby!"
• Your vehicle has a two-tone paint job, primer red and primer gray.
• The tobacco chewers in your family aren't just men.
• Ya have to check in the bottom yer shoe for change so you can get grandma a new plug of tobacco.
• Foreplay consists of slipping off her saddle.
• Ya can't get married to your sweetheart cause there is a law against it.
• You celebrate groundhog day (cause ya believe in it!!)
• You've been on TV more than 5 times describing the sound of a tornado.
• You fish in your above-ground pool, especially if you catch something!
• When a sign that says "Say No To Crack!" reminds you to pull up your jeans.
• Helping your cousin, Billy-Bob, move into his new place consists of taking the wheels off his doublewide.
• Your beer can collection is considered a tourist attraction in your home town.
• You wake up with both a black eye and a hickey.
• Getting a package from your post office requires a full tank of gas in the truck.
• "Buck Naked Line Dancing" isn't a videotape, it's "Ladies Night" at the local bar.
• Your wife wants to stop at the gas station to see if they've got the new Darrell Waltrip Budweiser wall clock.
• You dated your daddy's current wife in high school.
• You're moved to tears every time you hear Dolly Parton singing "I Will Always Love You".
• Dolly Parton reminds you of the `Grand Tetons'.
• Your Momma would rather go to the racetrack than the Kennedy Center.
• The most serious loss from the earthquake was your Conway Twitty record collection.
• You actually made a pyramid of cans in the pale moonlight with Alan Jackson.
• You have spent more on your pickup truck than on your education.
• You've ever hit a deer with your car... on purpose!
• You can tell your age by the number of rings in the bathtub.
• Your mom gives you tips on how to sneak booze into sporting events.
• You've ever parked a Camaro in a tree.
• Exxon and CONOCO have offered you royalties for your hair.
• Your dad is also your favorite uncle.
• You own more than three shirts with the sleeves cut off.
• You've ever yelled "Rock the house Bubba!" during a piano recital.
• You were taught to put your underwear on yellow in front, brown behind.
• You buy two CB radios so you can talk to yourself.