This
post marks the 100th edition of Ake’s Pains (if we don’t count the
three “serious” posts). The blog debuted in May 2011 and I can’t believe the
number of readers it has and the number of hits it has received. So I would
like to sincerely thank all my readers who enjoy this blog.
However,
everyone is not a fan of the blog.
Recently I received a long message from a young woman named Frances who
had seen the blog on a social networking site where I repost it. She found the blog very boring and somewhat
(gasp) offensive and couldn’t understand why people would have any interest in
my personal, mundane, story.
The
problem is many women under 30 years of age don’t get my jokes. It’s not that they are stupid. Humor is subjective and they don’t understand
it and that’s okay, not everyone gets or enjoys my stuff. I’m not surprised Frances was bored by my blog;
however there are four very disturbing things about her message:
1.
Even
though she was bored and offended, she read the entire lengthy post. With the thousands of articles available on
the Internet each day, who has time to read the bad ones? Then she writes me a long message to tell me
why she was bored. Either she has too much free time or too little life.
2.
This
particular post was not offensive. You
would have to try to be offended by it, which evidently she was successful in
doing. Because she did not get the jokes, she thought I was stating serious
opinions.
3.
She
thought I should not repost any more blogs.
Apparently she also has time to police the Internet. My brilliant solution was to suggest that she
not read any more of my posts but allow other people to enjoy them.
4.
She
goes by the name “Frances”, nuff said.
However I do care
about Frances and the young women like her who wish to read blog posts by
middle-aged studs like myself without being offended and made sad. So I am dedicating this 100th post
to Frances by offering the least offensive story that I can possible write.
Don’s Swell Day
I awoke in the
morning after getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. Sleeping less would be unhealthy and sleeping
more would be slothful. I then showered
and ate breakfast.
Before starting the
workday, I spent time in my executive bathroom.
It was a productive session because I had been careful to ingest the
recommended daily amount of fiber the day before. I followed Sheryl Crowe’s
suggestion and used only one sheet of toilet paper. I didn’t feel very fresh, but we all have to
do our part to save the planet.
I then started my
workday. I do work at a “for profit”
company, but I made sure that my actions did not produce too much profit
because that would be greedy and might lead to creating more poor people.
At lunchtime I had a
sammich. I made my own sammich and at no
time did any females participate in the making of this sammich. The sammich consisted of tofu and sprouts on
gluten free bread. I know eating tofu
could increase the size of my man-boobs, but we must all sacrifice to save the
planet. Plus, this helps me reach my daily fiber goal.
After lunch, I
decided to take a power walk to fulfill my daily physical fitness goal. It was a very hot day so I expected to burn a
lot of calories. As I started down the street I saw my neighbor, Hot Carla,
washing her car in her string bikini. I thought about engaging her in some
friendly, neighborly, small talk.
Perhaps I should stay and offer to hose her down if she gets overheated. But no, she was busy scrubbing that car vigorously, so a friendly wave
will have to do. I resume the walk, but for some reason have problems taking a
full stride.
When I get to the top
of the hill, I notice Mr. Hairy Spider on the edge of the road. I don’t want him to get squished, so I gently
pick him up and carry over to a safe place.
Ahhh, Mr. Spider really likes me.
He has such a tight grip on my finger it’s difficult for me to set him free.
Have a good day Hairy!
On my way back I
notice Hot Carla has really worked up a sweat! That bikini is soaked! It’s wax
time and she is buffing the heck out of that car, but my attention is diverted
to the other side of the street where Mister Squirrel is
frolicking and storing
food for the winter. Bury those nuts Mr. Squirrel, bury those nuts!
I return home and complete
my work day. I work hard, but not too
hard, lest I become rich and evil. I
feel a little guilty about making too much money, so at the end of the day I
write some checks to some caring charities in order to save the planet.
I have diner
consisting of organic, free range, vegetables and a big heaping helping of
quinoa. I then relax by watching PBS because
it has programs unavailable on the other 3,000 channels. Tonight’s program is “Mating Habits
of the
Squid”. It is interesting, but I do
cover my eyes during the “good” parts. I
distract myself by thinking about how shiny Hot Carla’s car must be after all her
scrubbing and buffing.
Squids making more squids |
At bedtime, my hand
is really swollen, my bum is on fire and my loins are all tingly, but all in
all, it has been a swell day!
I am slightly over 30 and I laughed out loud at this one, at my desk, like a crazy person.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristen! You get it, girl!
ReplyDeleteI'm well beyond kindergarten and I'm thinking I could dumb-down and ask you to send me money (not much, you know, whatever), or simply tell you that I'm glad you write. Enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete