Travis

There is a special needs man who works at little Caesers. He's the one out front shaking the board. Travis is one of the funniest smartest people I've meet. Every time I talk to him he just cracks me up. Well, when I first started working at LC Travis started calling me Danielle. He has nicknames for everyone, mine just happened to be my middle name unbeknownst to him. I later found out he calls me Danielle because it's the prettiest name for the prettiest girl. This morning he came into work so extremely excited and just laughing so hard and said, "you HAVE to see what I bought!" So I went to the back of the store with him to see what the big deal was. Well he pulls out one of those summer 20 oz Cokes, the ones that say share a coke with insert name here. Travis looks and me and says, "what's your name?" I was just like to you it's Danielle. And he said will you look what I got! And low and behold it was a Coke with my "name" on it. He thought it was the funniest most exciting thing ever, then decided to maybe give it to me as a Pioneer Day present in a few days.  Travis has some pretty funny stories and moments and I was glad that I got to participate in his humor today.

Travis was slightly upset that the "Danielle" didn't turn out well. Haha :) 

Proud to be American?

I love the Fourth of July. Growing up near one of the most early American history rich areas of the United States, I am enthralled in the romanticized Independence Day.  Founding Fathers meeting in secret, creating and signing a paper that would not only change the course of history but the world. A day where men and women rushed the streets to finally know they are free from Great Britain's reign. The battle was won.  But in this day and age, I have a harder time accepting our "freedom."  There is a new fight to be fought.  As Americans, we are one of the few countries where people are free.  But is this truly the case? Our gun rights have been depleted to an almost nonexistent affair.  Health care is being forced upon all. High school students cant even choose to get a caffeinated drink from the school vending machines because almost all the drinks have been traded out for something "healthier." My senior year this was a huge issue. And as soon as those drinks kids wanted were gone, more and more left school to get drinks off campus. I know this is a trivial example of our rights, but small things can add up to large ones.  As more small scale vending machines, so to speak, are being altered and changed, we will look back and realize how much of our "freedom" is gone.  I've come to realize that if things change on a tiny scale, like taking caffeinated soda for example, people will be less willing to fight against these taken freedoms, because soda isn't a huge deal. But down the road, it shifts from soda to mandatory health care. Its a huge gap and it might be considered reaching but, small freedoms add up to large ones.  We live in a day and age where kids don't even know the Pledge of Allegiance. Growing up I spoke those words everyday in school, and focused on our republic for which it stands, a nation under God as the founding fathers have planned it. Every assembly I went to while waiting for the assembly to start we listened to Lee Greenwood's hit song, God Bless the USA.  All of us, teachers, students, faculty, would be singing out guts out as "Proudly stand up/And defend her still today/There ain't no doubt I love this land/God Bless the USA."  Now people get offended and law suits are caused when others don't like religion, or if a teacher says something about religion or even the word god in school. You could get in trouble for saying you don't like a certain sports team. Where is the freedom in that?? That sure isn't freedom of speech when you constantly have to watch what you say and watch your opinion.  Are we getting to the point where no opinions will be able to be formed? Growing up with a mother from Long Island, I've learned to speak my mind. I don't want someone to randomly get offended by something I say about religion, gay rights, pro choice issues, to name a few, when I'm just stating my opinion! I could be thrown in a huge law suite if my opinion and "freedom of speech" doesn't match those of society?  For example, a few months ago there was this huge hullabaloo about a cast member of Duck Dynasty. A TV show about a family in Louisiana, who end their show in a prayer around the dinner table! If that isn't "offensive" enough to some, one of the members came out and said something to do with gays and not supporting them. This caused so much uproar in the media and in the United States, this man got suspended from the show for a period of time. Really America?? He stated his opinion. HIS OPINION!!!!!! I'm not stating my opinion in this matter, but come on people. We can all be on different sides of this matter, and still get along. This is completely ridiculous. I want to be able to celebrate a romantic 1776 idea, with TRUE freedoms.  I want to proudly sing God Bless America without being yelled at. I want my future children to know and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at school.  I want to live in a society where people actually put their hand over their heart and stand up in remembrance and respect for our freedoms while hearing the National Anthem.  How can I show my respect for those who fought and continue to fight for my freedom when the idea of troops overseas starts a whole other argument? These things have changed so drastically over just the past 14 years I've been in school. In the grand scheme of things that isn't much time. But it was enough for even kids that are 16, a meager 4 years younger than me, to not know the preamble of the constitution. How can you fight against rights being taken away when you don't even know your own rights. God bless America because God only knows how much we need it. Oh wait was that offensive?