Cape Disappointment

This weekend, my sister and I, along with a friend, and friends of the friend, were going to hike Cape Disappointment and see the lighthouse. But, alas, northwest weather being what it is, it didn't happen. The website warned that the trails get "mucky" when it rains. I always find that when the actual website warns about unpleasant hiking conditions, you should probably listen.

So that was disappointing.

Know what else is disappointing? When people lie to you. Case in point: raisinets.

My love affair with these chocolatey-covered pieces of fruit began as a fifth-grader, selling easter candy. Mint meltaways were good. Chocolate covered raisins were better. Then I grew up and realized that there was a company that made them year round. Oh the joy! Each bite in my mouth was, as they say, "chocolate covered sunshine."

Except it wasn't. Somewhere along the way, it began to rain. They're not sunshine, they're actually chocolate covered shadows. A deep, dark secret that someone doesn't want to get out. And now I'll tell you why. Let's grab a package and read the label. Let's take a dark chocolate raisinet package (though this is also true for milk chocolate, trust me). On the back it says "Dark Chocolate Raisinets contain raisins made from lush green grapes."

Stop right there. No need to look further into antioxidant claims or how these sugary bites help maintain good health. The lie has already been told in those first few words. Green grapes.

Have you ever seen what a green grape looks like when dried out? Golden raisin. That's why they say chocolate covered sunshine. B/c the raisins are golden. Here's where it gets really sad and the rain starts pouring down on us. They aren't. They're regular red or purple grapes. Which make the typical browny-black raisin we know as Sunmaid (sidenote: my roommate had a Sunmaid halloween costume once, pretty darn clever if you ask me). How do I know this? Well, chocolate comes off. Go buy a bag. Lick, cut, and/or bite off the chocolate on these babies. You'll see what I mean. Not a golden raisin to be found anywhere. I once went through half a bag that way just to see if I was right.

I was, of course. Three years later I buy them again and have my sister independently test my theory. Still true. Still no golden raisins.

Do you realize the depth of depravity to which this country has sunk when you can't even trust a label to tell you the truth about a raisin? A RAISIN????

Maybe they don't have a catchy slogan or commercial for the truth. Maybe it's time we, the forces of good, help them out. So here's my challenge to all of you: come up with a catchy slogan and/or commercial for raisinets. Make sure to point out the fact that they are, in fact, not made from green grapes. Send it to me and I will post the slogans and/or videos on my blog. Then, the best one, will be credited and sent to Raisinet, along with a letter and evidence of their deception. (Yes, I will actually take a bag of raisinets, lick off the chocolate, and send every single one of those licked on raisins to corporate. That's what you get for lying to the public. Chocolate licked off raisins. That'll teach you.) Hopefully, we'll help turn this country's dishonesty around. One raisinet at a time.

Look for the Best

Yesterday I had a training at the state Capital. The one thing I really took out of that entire 8 day training (and 3 hours in the car) was the 'bonus' video they played the last 20 minutes of the class. It was about a photographer for National Geographic named DeWitt.

The entire film was about remembering and finding what is good and right in the world. Be the best, not IN the world, but FOR the world. He pointed out that no matter where he went in the world, if he was prepared to find a beautiful landscape to photograph, he did. And if he was prepared to photograph interesting and wonderful people, he did. So often we look for and focus upon what is wrong with the world, the scam, the liar, the environmental disaster. As he pointed out, first look at what is right. That will give you the inspiration and energy to then fix what is wrong.

In my line of work people come to me in the low moments. No one comes because they are doing well and happy to see me. This is a tough thing they are going through and I am not someone they ever wanted to deal with. Yet here we are, sitting across from one another. And sometimes dealing with that day after day you forget to look up, breathe deeply, and remember that there are still so many beautiful right things happening out there. So many wonderful stories of people and families pulling together and dreams coming true.

It was nice to be reminded. And yes, it really did fill me with a sense of happiness and energy to come back and keep going. I hope you find what is right in the world today.

Word of the Day

And the word of the day is not...shredder. Have you ever said something only to have it blow up in disaster? And you didn't even realize at the time it would be offensive? Me neither. But for the rest of the world, let's take a, purely, hypothetical situation.

Let's take someone, let's call her Baleea, just for kicks. And let's say that she's talking with someone elderly and asking for certain documentation. What the hey, let's say a will. And let's pretend, since this is all just pretend, that she tells Baleea that she gave a copy of the will to the office already. And let's say that she gave that copy to the office in 1982.

Here's where it gets interesting. Baleea points out that it is unlikely the office has a copy of a document given almost 30 years ago. Most likely it has been shredded.

This is where Peewee's Playhouse Word of the Day works in reverse. Instead of people screaming, jumping up and down, and laughing, imagine someone inhaling in shock, tearing up. You have unwittingly reminded them that they are human, fragile, mortal. That they have survived lung cancer but their will (or at least the office copy) has not.

Imagine the tricky dance steps Baleea now has to do, sans music, to soothe a very hurt individual while still pointing out the slim chance (but yes!!! there IS a chance) that this document somehow has survived 30 years and over 10,000 other client files. There may, in fact, be some large warehouse that the government has been paying rent on, calmly maintaining every document ever received throughout the life of an individual. Think Area 51 for paperwork. It's possible.

The good news is, this hypothetical story ends well. With Baleea apologizing and smoothing things over and a happy client leaving Baleea with a hug and a promise that she will, in fact, send another copy (since she's had the original will since the 1980's), and not to have Baleea try and hunt down a document that went into government vaults 30 years ago since that would be a misuse of time and resources.

The moral of this made-up tale? Think before you speak. And then, think again. Sometimes an off-the-cuff comment can remind someone of personal tragedy. Though you may not have meant to, you still hurt someone. Apologize and show a bit more humanity in the future.