Another Example of People being Honest

I was doing a little shopping at Walmart today and at checkout I used the Debit Card option because I needed some cash back to use at the State Fair. But I was so preoccupied with making sure I recorded the transaction on my checkbook app that I forgot I had ordered cash back. I started to walk away. There was no one behind me in line but I heard some gentleman in the next aisle call out, "Sir!" I turned around and he pointed at the cash dispenser. There was my $60 just hanging there. It could have been a nice windfall for the next person up, or for the guy who noticed. But he decided to be honest, as I'm sure most people would. I offered my thanks, took my cash and went on my way, knowing that had it not been for that honest stranger, my day could have gone so much worse after I had gotten to the fair.

What would you do in these hypothetical scenarios?

A. You find a $20 bill lying on the floor of the supermarket, no one around. Would you keep it or take it to the customer service desk?
B. You see a shopper in front of you at the checkout drop a $20 bill on the floor and didn't notice. No one else noticed but you. Would you keep it or give it back?
C. The cashier accidentally gives you $20 too much and doesn't catch it. You catch it after you have left the cashier and head out of the store. Would you just keep it or take it back?

As for me...

A. I would keep it. There is no way to identify the owner of the cash and if you don't keep it where would it go?
B. I would give it back to the person who dropped it. I know where it came from.
C. I've done it both ways, but not with as much as $20. But typically, I would keep it. The cashier will not be docked for it because that is illegal. She might be reprimanded and even fired if it keeps happening, but that's all on the cashier, not you. It was his/her mistake. Just enjoy a little schadenfreude and keep the cash.

Study Shows Outside Smoke is Bad Too

It can be just as annoying to have to breathe someone's nasty cigarette smoke outside as it is inside. Indiana has banned most smoking inside public buildings, but it is still permitted in parks and outside dining areas. The next step should be for the state to ban smoking in these areas, too. The ONLY place that it should be legal to smoke is inside your own home (sans kids) or on your own property or in a smoking-designated area.

http://www.570news.com/2013/08/03/study-finds-second-smoke-a-risk-even-on-patios-advocates-push-for-ban/

America, the Way the Tea Party Wants It

The socially-conservative Texas-style Republicans love America. They are very patriotic. But their view of what America should be is not universal. This is the right wing's perspective of what America should look like:

Everyone would be a fundamentalist Christian. You can have freedom of religion, as the Constitution says, but that just means you can go to any denomination of conservative Christian church you want to. No one is going to force you to be a Baptist. You could be a Pentecostal or belong to the Assembly of God Church. You also don't really have to go to church every Sunday if you don't want, just as long as you keep reminding people that Jesus loves them and that biblical morality is all you need to live by.

Pornography and other filth would be officially banned, but the thriving underground porn business would succeed since politicians turn a blind eye to that sort of stuff out of respect to the concept of small government. However, all forms of abortion at any stage would be outlawed. Women and even girls who are raped or who are a victim of incest would be forced to carry their rape baby full term as a warning to be more modest with their nubile bodies.

Birth control would only be allowed for men. Men should wear condoms to keep from getting the clap but any female birth control that might interfere with a fertilized egg would be considered a type of abortion, punishable by imprisonment. Also, any woman who has a stillborn baby must report it to the police for investigation. Not doing so would mean you could be charged with fetuside.

All public schools would include a curriculum that includes creationism in science class. Evolution and the Big Bang Theory would be mentioned only as worldly views that could lead you to hell. Climate change, if it is occurring at all, is simply God's way of getting our attention. Humans could not possibly be responsible for changing the Earth's climate, since God is who made it in the first place. Also, in history class, schools must teach that our Founding Fathers were all Christians, that this country was founded on the principles of the Ten Commandments, and that the most important of all the amendments is Number Two. In addition, the bible would be required reading in all classes.

Homosexuals would be prohibited from committing any kind of homosexual acts, even in the privacy of their own bedrooms. Sodomy would be against the law again. Teens would be forced to learn abstinence-only sex education and sex before marriage by anyone would be against the law. Gays, of course, could not marry each other.

In this conservative theocracy, the government would be prohibited from giving a poor person a helping hand. Those who have figured out how (or been lucky enough) to make it rich can afford such things as health care, but those who have hit upon hard times must rely on the good nature of their neighbors to lend them a helping hand. Everybody would have to pay taxes, even if you are unemployed and poor. But the rich people can claim deductions as a reward for being job creators.

In this America, everyone would have to carry a handgun to protect themselves and everyone has a right and duty to stand their ground. Every school day begins with a prayer and the Pledge. Every public meeting begins and ends with prayer as does every sporting event.

This is America the way it is supposed to be - at least according to the Tea Party.