Many moons ago, Mother placed the cosmetologist hat on my head and I attended the training in a near by city. I don't know why she thought I would make a good cosmetologist. It was not one of those deals where a parent lives out their un-achieved dreams through their child. There are lots of school pictures of sisters Lela and Blanche and of myself to prove that point. I imagine she was thinking that if I became a hairdresser, at least I wouldn't starve to death. Poor Mother, she worried about me a lot. I spent most of my time coloring outside of the lines.
While in cosmetology school, I came to know a wonderful teacher. She had never married, stood ram-rod straight and never had a hair out of place. She was all about fashion and being a lady. I knew her crayons had always been sharp and that she had probably never strayed off the straight and narrow. I do not think a day went by that she did not share one of her favorite isms, "paper will hold still for anything."
During my lifetime, since those memorable big hair days, I have found this to be true. It is always a good idea, if in doubt, to double check a story for its truth. Recently I discovered this also holds true for the internet.
The story I read was about the death of Hugh Hefner. Ole Hugh had passed away at the age of 88. As I read it, I thought there would probably be just as many people happy with that news as there would be ones who were sad. After that, I didn't give it much thought, until I read the celebrity birthdays in the paper the other day. There it was, Hugh was 89. How could this be? Hugh had kicked the bucket a couple of months ago, I had seen the article with my own eyes. I wondered if the person in charge of the celeb birthdays had messed up, after all, birthdays cease with the deceased.
Pulling out my trusty phone, I entered a Google search for the death of Hef. To my surprise, I learned that this information was indeed false. Hugh was alive and well and his pretty wife (pretty young wife) confirmed this to be true. It turned out that there are websites that do not have a whole lot of other things to do except make up stories. Further investigation led me to realize this was not the first celebrity death that had been faked. It left me wondering why anyone would enjoy doing that, but I chalked it up to another lesson learned.
Don't believe everything you see on the world wide web. Especially if it upsets you. There is no good reason to get all fired up about something, let it ruin your mood and then find out the whole thing was a hoax. Do some research, it can really save your day.
When it comes to our children, we should try not to worry so much. We can simply do our best and try to understand that they are their own person, just like we were. The path some take may have many potholes and pitfalls, but most of those tribulations are a great learning device and will help them to better discern truth from fabrications.
No comments:
Post a Comment