Our Own Mortality

I went to a funeral yesterday. It was to celebrate the life and acknowledge the passing of a lady I never met. She was the mom of a coworker, fellow blogger, and very good friend. The funeral was in Spanish, and by Spanish, I mean the real deal. Attendees that speak Spanish, a group that sadly I do not represent, commented afterwards that they too weren't sure what the priest had said because of his strong Galician accent.

I had gone with a few other coworkers straight from the office, we stayed only for the service, and then we headed back to the office. Anyone wanna guess what we talked about on the car ride both ways? Pssst. Hint: Look at the title for this post. We talked about how each of us wanted to be interred/disposed of. We also spoke of folks who work overtime (eh-hem) and save for retirement like crazy (eh-hem), with the general consensus being that it really sucks for people like that who meet an early demise. So, there is something for me to think about.

There is another positive side effect of attending a funeral like the one that we went to. I checked in with one of my coworkers today, and wouldn't you know that both of us called our moms last night?

I am sorry for my friend's loss. I am grateful for the needed awareness that the loss brought to others, me included.

Reflection - It's not just for pools anymore!

With my brief hiatus from bloggerland coming to an end (I hope), I submit for your perusal the following water cooler discussion points. Please weigh in on one or both.

You Break it, You Pay for it
Are we always accountable for our own actions? Yesterday I was the lucky recipient of a piece of mail from the State of Arizona...a photo radar traffic summons! Sound the trumpets! I did some research and found that since I was not "served" (physically given the summons by an officer or a process server), I can ignore the ticket. In discussing this at the office, a friend, coworker, and fellow blogger (all the same person) was very direct about it. She asked if I was speeding. I said yes. She said to pay the ticket. So, do I pay it, or do I ignore it?

Freedom of Speech
You are in a public area with your young child or children. Or, you're by yourself for that matter. Someone is using a plethora of explicatives. You ask them not to (for whatever reason, or possibly, do you don't give them a reason). They refuse saying that 1) it's a free country and 2) they have a right to freedom of speech. Are they right, or can you haul off and sock them in the mouth; woops I meant do you have the right to be upset about it, but short of making a citizen's arrest, that's about it?