THE PLAN

It is a major issue. One that we have all heard about. One that comes up in politics, religion, and everyday life. Abortion is a around us, maybe not the physical act of it, but the subject. I guess, since I am not a man, the world would call me a "family woman." Much of that attitude comes from my culture and the way I was brought up, but a lot of it just comes from me. As your average "family woman," I am against the act of abortion. I really just don't understand how a person could feel comfortable and fine with that decision. I'm all for women being equal to men, but I don't think anyone should be able to get away with such a decision. It's just not right. Normal people don't just go out and hurt or kill people on the street, why would someone do that to a person that lives inside them and depends solely on them? I don't get it. It just seems so selfish. No matter how hard we try, we all have a selfish side to us, it's natural. But selfishness doesn't usually lead to killing. Why would that be okay in this situation? And doctors that support this? Doesn't that defeat the point of being a doctor? Doctors are supposed to heal and help people live. I say that they should stick to that. In my opinion, abortion is against the Lord’s plan for the world. We are supposed to come to earth to gain a body and experience life. Why take away someone’s opportunity to do that, if the Lord has already okay-ed that person for this life? And the people that say that abortion is a “responsible” thing to do? I want to punch them in the face. A person considering abortion already missed their primest opportunity to be responsible. Now the actual responsible thing to do would be to endure the pregnancy and then choose to take care of this individual for the next 18+ years or to give that opportunity to someone that wants it more than you do. And believe me, there are thousands out there that want that opportunity and cannot have it. So, don’t you tell me that abortion is a responsible thing to do. It is the very opposite. We’re told that some situations are worthy of abortion, such as rape or incest. I understand that. I understand that if the mother and child are in danger, abortion can be an option. But not the only option. It comes down to decision. Not too long ago a woman was going through a really tough pregnancy and the doctors knew that the child would have multiple defects if it even lived. The option of abortion was offered by doctors to this woman. She and her husband both knew then and there that it was not an option for them. Thank goodness they did not choose to take that option, because you would not be reading my writing now if they had. I am happy to be here. Abortion is wrong, I have known this for as long as I can remember. Babies and lives are precious, they are not meant to be cut short.

THE WEEKEND

I actually had a great weekend. I got some sleep. I did not one, but TWO loads of laundry. I attended an informative emergency preparedness fair. I went to the Food Lion, that's always a good time. I saw a very funny play. I watched one of my favorite movies. I tried Ben and Jerry's Half-baked ice cream for the first time as I watched that movie. "Downton Abbey" series 4 began. ("What is a week end?") The dining hall's chocolate milk came back from its four day hiatus (it was a long four days, I tell you). But best of all, I got a part in the university's musical. As a freshman, I'm pretty sure this is kind of a big deal. Especially after the absolutely, positively terrible original audition I gave. I forgot all of the words, yeah, it was great. But I must have made a good come back in the call back process, because I am now Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly! I love musicals, I love watching them, I love being in them. They make my life pure bliss. So, this was a great weekend for me to find out that one of my biggest dreams, performing, is slowly coming true. I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity.

THE FROZEN TREAT

When I was little, some of my siblings worked at a frozen yogurt shop, so I loved that. Then one of my sisters worked at a frozen custard shop for a few years. I continued the tradition and worked at the same frozen custard shop. So, you could say that frozen treats are a bit of a staple in my family history. I enjoy a delicious scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with a warm slice of apple pie. I wouldn't leave work without having a scoop of chocolate frozen custard absolutely covered with cookie dough. But my all time favorite cold snack is Dreyer's Berry Rainbow Sherbet. It is so delicious! According to Dreyer's website, it is "a delicious blend of tangy raspberry, sweet blackberry, and creamy orange sherbet yumminess!" Not only does it actually taste delicious, but it looks delicious! There are those things that look nasty and taste delicious, and there are those things that look delicious and taste nasty. Berry Rainbow is a both!!! It looks beautiful and it tastes just as beautiful. Sometimes I like to stir it up really well and have a nice melty, soupy version. My friends, try some Berry Rainbow Sherbet, you will love it. I, along with Dreyer's, I guarantee it.

THE RANT

There are few things in this world that get me really riled up. I tend to be fairly calm and composed about most things. I get excited when I hear a beautiful note sung perfectly, and when I do so. I get excited when I find the perfect modest dress or a gorgeous pair of shoes. I go crazy when there is nothing in my ears but the sound of a ticking clock. Yes, ticking clocks bother me. I can't really stand them at all. I love the look of them, but the sound drives me mad. But readers, I didn't come here today to talk about music or clothing or ticking clocks! I am here today to talk to you about one thing that does get me quite riled up. That drives crazy. More than a ticking clock. Something that, when encountered, can nearly ruin my day. That thing, or rather " those things," ladies and gentlemen, are... Pockets. You heard me. Pockets. You gentlemen, can stop reading now if you'd like, because you will not understand my plight.

There comes a time in a girl's life when she realizes that her pockets aren't deep enough. That they are not even close to the deepness of a boy's pocket. She realizes that she doesn't want to carry around a purse all the time. She wants her wallet to be accessible most of the time, but with her pocket situation, she is forced to carry a purse. Males just stick their wallets in one of their pockets (yes, there are multiple pockets to choose from), females have to carry a purse or bag of some sort if they want their possessions nearby. You men are thinking, "She's just exaggerating. She's being overly dramatic about a stupid subject." No. You ask any girl with an interest in clothing, which is a great number of us, and chances are she will have some feelings about the matter.

I think the first time I encountered or realized this problem was in junior high. I had a pair of jeans from Smith's Marketplace and my hand didn't fit all the way in the pocket. My fingers made it all the way in, but not the body of my hand. What was this?! Pockets are for hands a lot of the time and all of a sudden my hands don't fit in my pockets. And this was not the fault of my hands. But the pockets themselves. I thought, "It must be because they're cheap pants from Smith's Marketplace." Not the case. These pants with insufficient pockets are everywhere. But, my friends, there are worse things than small pockets. These things are much, much worse. It is unbelievable. I want to hurt someone every time I come across them. Those things are... Fake pockets.

FAKE POCKETS?!!!!!! WHAT?! Whose idea was this?! WHO? Why? Where? For what use? I'd like to give that person a piece of my mind. Maybe, wherever he is (I'm assuming it is a male...), he is reading this, thinking, "Why did I do that? Why did I do this terrible thing to women?" And women all over the world (because THAT many people are reading this...) are thinking, "Why, man? Why did you do this to us?" And that man, whoever he is, is feeling guilty. Very guilty. And he will call all the major designers of the world and apologize for his awful mistake, and ask them all to fix it. "Give the women pockets!" He will yell into the receiver. "Do it now!" My imagination is running away with me. There's no way that man will read this... I think...

But really, it's not a matter of brand quality or anything like that. As I originally thought, "It's just because they're cheap pants." No. I, true to form, was thrifting one day and found this great pair of J. Crew trousers. I'm into "prep" fashion, so I was naturally excited. They fit great, they looked great. I bought them. I wore them a few days later and stuck my hand in the pockets. NOPE. Not pockets. Fake pockets! Again, I ask, "WHY?!" But this was worse than the cheap pants, these were J. Crew. A quality company that I assumed would be reasonable and put pockets in their expensive pants (not that I paid full price for them...) Really, J. Crew? Fake pockets? I thought you were better than that. And that's not even the worst part. Most pants with fake pockets will have real back pockets, it's not the most desirable, we don't like sitting on our belonging, but it's better than nothing. But no, J. Crew got really lazy and made the back pockets fake too! And they had the nice little button and everything. Why put a button on a fake pocket? What's the point of making the effort to make it look like there are pockets and then being like, "Psych! You don't get real pockets. Oh, no, no you don't!" They easily could have just made it a real pocket. All that effort and it's not even real. I just don't understand. I was disappointed, J. Crew. And I never want to be disappointed with J. Crew. I want to love them forever and ever.

You know what else is terrible? The other day I tried on two pairs of jeans at Target. One of my favorite places to buy clothes. Both pairs fit about the same, but I was forced to pick based on the pockets. And you know what is sad? My choices were: fake pockets or two inch deep pockets. Sad. So sad. I got the ones with two inch pockets obviously, but I'd rather have seven inch pockets. Another sad fact about this experience, I was buying new jeans to replace my old ones that DID have deep pockets! Sad. So sad. Disappointed, Target. But! Now I have to thank Target! You women know that moment when you put on your new pair of pants and put your hands in the pockets and they appear to be fake, but you examine the falseness and discover that the pockets are just stitched. Then you happily unstitch them and it's like you and the designer have worked together to give you pockets for your birthday. It really does feel like your birthday once you've unstitched that loose stitch. And then every time you wear those pants, you get excited, because what once appeared to be a disaster, became the best moment of that day.

Another thanks goes out to all those skirt and dress makers out there that put pockets in their dresses. Women are forever in your debt! We love you! If you put fake pockets in our dresses, we hate you. But if you make those real, we'll love you for always! And guess what, we'll keep buying your products! Because we love you. When we don't have pockets in our dresses, we get sick of handing our phones and keys to our dads to put in their suit pant pockets. So, by all means, continue to put pockets in our dresses. And if you're one of those guys that doesn't put pockets in our dresses, start. Please. I know this great company that has some customizing options for their dresses and one of them is "remove pockets." Why the heck would I WANT to remove pockets from something that comes with pockets?! Are you stupid? That's a stupid option. And FYI, I totally and completely plan on having pockets added to my wedding dress someday. So take that! Side note to men: if you want to get on a woman's good side, buy her a dress or skirt with pockets in it. She will probably love you forever. She’s probably love you just as much if you get her some sweats with pockets too.

I've always said that if I ever have a clothing store or design clothes, I will put nice big pockets in every piece of women's clothing and no pockets in all the men's stuff, and see what happens. Just for fun. I'll give the men fake pockets! See how they feel about that. They'll go from their cargo shorts (not the best choice, men) with twelve pockets and then they will get none! I'm sorry men, I don't hate you, I promise, I'm just going on a rant right now.

To sum it all up, women like having pockets. I love having pockets! Pockets are great. Take our pockets away and we will be angry and go on 1440 word rants for our College Composition course.