Fast Food, Fruit Loops and Cell Phones

Seeing as how I have taken over our family blog, I thought it may not be a bad idea to start my own. Hopefully my beautiful bride will be able to keep up with the other one (http://therickardsfamily.blogspot.com) and keep everyone in the loop of what’s going on with the Rickards family – and I’m sure I’ll have some things regarding our growing family and the joys of parenthood posted here and there as well.

So, on to the first blog…..

Fast Food, Fruit Loops and Cell Phones – wipe the strange look off your face….it will come together soon, trust me.

In the day and age of workaholics, fast food and high speed EVERYthing, it’s very easy to lose sight of family time. Think about it, the average working parent works over 40 hours a week at their occupational job and has anywhere from a 30 minute to one-hour one-way commute.

After a long day at the office with co-workers, customers or bosses yelling at you non-stop and bumper-to-bumper traffic the entire way home, it’s so easy to swing by a fast food joint, pick up some “chikin n bikits”, come home and scarf it down all the while feeding the little ones Fruit Loops. Factor in two working parents and you’re lucky to get anything more than whatever may be in the pantry or leftovers from last week…..

Or at least that’s us.

Granted, while our little one is enjoying his Fruit Loops, we do our best to ensure he’s at the table with us. He’s not too fond of it, but we want him to know that whatever time we have together, it needs to be spent as a family. I firmly believe in the “family that eats together, stays together” philosophy. That may not be a formal philosophy, but it is one I abide by.

A few days ago I was out doing some grocery shopping and when I went to check-out, the lady in front of me was having a very nice conversation with someone on her cell phone. The conversation carried on for a good two-three minutes prior to needing to sign her receipt. When she finally was handed her receipt to sign, and as she continued talking on her phone, she waved her hand at the cashier as if she wanted the cashier to come over the counter and hug her or something….

After a few rather dramatic waves, the lady on the phone covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand and said to the cashier, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone? I need my receipt.” (Referring to the actual receipt and not the one she was signing….)

Wow…”Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” And who is helping whom here?

I could see from the cashier’s expression she was not amused by the actions of the lady in front of me so as I approached the cashier, I pulled out my cell phone and said to the non-existent person on the other end, “Can’t you see I’m at the grocery store? I’ll call you later.” The cashier laughed…