Christmas Recap

Christmas was interesting this year.  I truly was not looking forward to it in any manner, shape, or form.  I was just looking for ways to get it over.  I did not want to do anything and just wanted to stay home and veg.  Well, I guess it is just such times that surprises occur!

The week before Christmas totally sucked.  I usually don't like to use that term but it is pretty applicable here.  We were working, quite possibly the most busy week of the year, short handed.  And, of course, the customers were idiots.  Some day I will have to post about that, but not now.

The Christmas sermon was a rerun, not that I didn't try to write something.  But after dealing with the wonderful crowds and the early hours at work, I didn't have anything  left to give.

The Christmas Eve service went well.  Nick played the prelude.  We had a member play the flute.  And we had some teens from the congregation playing the guitar.  It was nice.  I felt kind of lost in the whirlwind, but I guess I need to be thankful for people who can pick up the ball and run with it!

Christmas Day involved going to NIck's  sister's house.  Again, I really didn't want to go but had a good time!  How could you not have a good time when you leave with a pooping reindeer and one of the activities involved a reindeer race??  :-)

Unfortunately, I had to open at work the next day, so it was up and at 'em at 4 am on Saturday.  What is getting sad is I forgot to set my alarm and I was still up before it was to go off.  Work was a bit much as I had to open the store from scratch, but I got it done.  Also, the people were nice on Saturday morning.

I was exhausted the rest of Saturday and decided to rerun another sermon.  Not a good sermon, but it was a sermon just the same.  (I really hate not having the time to write a proper sermon.)

Sunday was busy as always with church in the morning at my congregation and church in the afternoon at Nick's congregation.  The drive is getting really old though.  And it was snowing on the way home.  It was pretty, but made driving dicey. 

Now, it is time for work.  Thirty-eight hours in all.  I will try to not get tired and disillusioned. 

If you are the praying type, pray for some breaks on the job front!

Thanks!

In The Beginning

Christmas 1            John 1:1-14            December 27, 2009            The Rev. Benton Quest

“In the beginning was the Word.”

In the beginning was Jesus.  Before anything was, Jesus was with the Father.

When I think about these words in John, I am always bowled over by their magnitude.  “The Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him and without him not one thing come into being.”  The reading starts with this image of Jesus as the creator of the universe.  We start with Jesus as beyond comprehension.

But then we shift our focus from the universal to a little tiny baby.  This baby, this little tiny baby that we find in the manger is the Word John was speaking about.  This vulnerable little person is the one who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things came into being.  A vulnerable baby, weak and newborn.  A vulnerable baby, susceptible to the damp and chill.  A vulnerable baby; but also the creator of the universe.

I find it telling that Jesus came to us in the form of a baby.  We would have expected Jesus to come to us in a form that displays his power and might.  We would have expected Jesus to come to us in a form that would put fear into our hearts and cause us to run in fear.  We would expect Jesus to come in a way that would let us know, once and for all, who was God around here.  But that is not how he arrived in the world.  When Jesus came into the world, he came as a small, vulnerable, baby.

But why come as a baby?  Why not come as a great warrior?  Isn’t that what we would like?  We want our messiah to be one who is strong and mighty, don’t we?  This is also what the Jewish people of Biblical times were looking for.  They were expecting a strong warrior to come and take over.  They were expecting a warrior to crush their foe.  But Jesus didn’t come as a strong warrior; Jesus came as a small, vulnerable baby.

If Jesus had come as a strong warrior, it would have said the wrong thing to the world.  The strong warrior would have told the world that they had better believe – or else.  If the people didn’t believe, they would be crushed by this great warrior.  If they didn’t believe, then they would be forced to at least act like they believed.

But let’s think about it: Is faith by force really faith at all?  If we profess something because we are afraid not to profess it, are we really invested in the profession?  For example, if we tell the school-yard bully that he is the greatest to avoid getting punched in the mouth, do we really believe the bully is the greatest?  Obviously not.  Well, in a similar vein, if we only come to belief to avoid getting attacked by the strong warrior, then that would be a rather shallow belief, indeed.

We see this interplay between the strong warrior and the vulnerable warrior all throughout history.  Throughout history, the dictators and czars would rule by fear and intimidation.  Those who follow these rulers do not do it because they care about them and love them.  No, people who follow dictators and czars do so because they are afraid of being killed or tortured.  Now the followers of kind and gentile rulers are loyal because they love, care and respect the ruler.  The followers remain true to these rulers because these rulers instill love over fear.

Now we should not think of this vulnerable warrior as weak.  Actually, quite the opposite is true.  This warrior can appear vulnerable because this warrior does not doubt his strength.  He does not need to make a show of force to get others to believe.  The vulnerable warrior can be humble because he knows the battle has already been won.

Jesus could give his life in our place because he had a deeper understand than that found in the world.  As Jesus was with God when all that is was created, he knew the deeper truth that was not apparent to the world.   Jesus, as the second person of the trinity, knew that death could not overcome him.  The son knew that although he may appear defeated, that he would in fact emerge victorious.

In coming to us as a vulnerable child, Jesus is in effect telling us to relax.  We can relax because the end is already assured.  We can relax because our warrior, our savior, knows he will succeed.  We can relax because even though it may look like they have destroyed our savior, there is a deeper understanding at work.

It may seem odd to talk about Jesus dying here on Christmas.  We are supposed to be talking about the wonder of the babe in Bethlehem.  But Jesus’ birth at Christmas points us to Easter.  If Jesus did not die for our sins, then why should he come?  We have plenty of teachers who could teach us how to be “good people.”  We have leaders of faith traditions that could teach us how to be moral.  People have created gods that could scare us into submission.  Even Santa is used to scare children into submission.  But it is through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we find our life.  It is through Jesus submitting to the ultimate humiliation that we see and reap the benefits of his ultimate strength.  It is because Jesus came to live among us, or as another translation of the Greek would put it, pitched his tent among us, that we can reap the benefit of his strength.

Jesus came to be among us.  Jesus was born into our world.  Jesus came as a vulnerable baby to help us to realize the ultimate power he has.  Jesus submitted to the ultimate humiliation to bring us to the fullness of life.

This is the life we celebrate as Christians.  This is the life that we honor.  This is the life we look to as our loving protector and friend.  This is the life we lift up, not because we are afraid, but lift up because we are loved. 

In the beginning was the Word.

In the beginning was Jesus.  Before anything was, Jesus was with the Father.  Before anything was, our redemption was secure.  This is what we celebrate during Christmas and what we celebrate everyday!

Let The Shopping Begin!

Hurry! There are only 363 shopping days left before Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blogger buddies! No time to write much because I have to open at BUX tomorrow and need to get to bed.

Best wishes and blessings!

Christmas Sermon

Christmas Eve 2009        Luke 2:1-20           Fr. Benton Quest

Well, I really can’t explain it.  We were out with our sheep, like usual.  I was a little tired but I knew I couldn’t fall asleep.  Those wolves are just waiting for that moment when you aren’t paying attention to come in an take a sheep.  But I wasn’t going to let that happen. 

I know what people say about us shepherds.  They think we are lazy because all we do is lay around our fields.  And they think we are thieves, ready to steal a sheep when no one is looking.  Then after we steal the sheep, we blame it on a wolf.  But nothing could be farther from the truth.  I work hard and I pride myself on closely watching my master’s sheep.  Those people in the village don’t know what they are talking about . . .

Oh, now where was I?  Oh yeah, I was out in the field.  Some of us shepherds brought our flocks together so we could take turns sleeping while others were watching.  Well, while I was watching, suddenly the strangest thing happened.  In the midst of the darkness, I saw a light.  As I watched, this light began to get brighter and brighter.  I looked to see if it was someone coming up the hill with a lamp, but I couldn’t see anyone.

I woke up my buddy to show him the light and see what he thought.  He looked and was scared.  He said it was a demon light and that we needed to wake the others and get the sheep to safety. 

As he started waking the other shepherds, the light continued to get brighter.  What was weird was that when we looked for the source of the light, we couldn’t find any.  We couldn’t see any torches or lamps.  Then the light got to be as bright as the sun.  It was like daylight.  The sheep were “baaing” but they were not running away.  They were just standing, huddled together.  I think those sheep were as scared as we were!  Besides, the light became so bright I had to shield my eyes.

Then I heard a voice.  When I looked to where the sound had come.  I saw the strangest thing.  It looked like a person but this person was dressed in shining clothes.  The light we were seeing was coming from the person!

        I’ll tell you, although I don’t like to admit it, I can’t think of anything scarier than that glowing person.

        Then the person, well person is the closest thing I can think of to call it, told us to look for a baby, wrapped in cloth, and lying in a manger.  That sounded strange.  Who would place a baby in a manger?  You know, a manger is where they put the animals’ food!  Then the next thing I knew, there were glowing people everywhere!  They were praising God, and saying “Glory to God in the Highest heaven, and on earth peace among those who he favors!”

        Then the glowing people left and we were again standing in the dark.  For a while we didn’t know what to do.  Then I said, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place which the Lord made known to us.”

        When we got to Bethlehem, we found the mother and father, just as the plowing person had told us.  We felt kind of weird, asking to see the baby.  We explained about the glowing people and about their message.  I though for sure we would have been accused of drinking too much wine.  But instead, the man asked us to come in.  We saw the little baby, wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger, just as we had been told.  And when I looked at the baby, he was looking back at me.  And when his eyes met mine, I felt, well, strange.  This was just a baby, but this was more than a baby.  The glowing people said this was the messiah, the Lord.  For ages we had been told of his coming.  Now he was here!

        Why wasn’t he born in a great castle?  Why wasn’t he born somewhere nice and warm?  Where were the kings and noblemen to worship him?  All that were here were the baby’s family and us shepherds.  I don’t understand.

        Yet, when I looked again on that little baby, I began to understand.  The glowing person said that the good news was for all people!  It wasn’t just for the rich and the powerful!  It just wasn’t for those respected by society!  It was for us!  For all of us!  It is for the ones left out of society!  It is for the ones kept out of polite society.  It is good news for all people! 

        The messiah is here!  You just have to look.  However, he is not where you would think he would be.  He is not up on high.  He is here, with us!  He is Emmanuel!  God with us!

        If I were you, I would run, as fast as I could, to find him.  And when you find him, look into his eyes.  You will not be disappointed.

I love Christians....

Yes, today I got yelled at by a customer because I wished her "Happy Holidays."   She sneered, "It's 'Merry Christmas'!"

I said that I was, first off, an Episcopalian Priest, and that I have friends who are Jewish, Muslim, and Wiccan.  Since I want to wish all my friends the best of the season, I tend to go with "Happy Holidays." 

She started to say something about Holidays and "Holy Days" and some other thing that made no sense.

So I just wished everyone a "good day" from then on. 

The love of Christ in action! 

Oh What Fun

Aaarrrggg!!!

Well, over the weekend, our crew at work went from six to four.  That is right!  Four people to work 13 hours per day/ seven days per week.  And we are never supposed to leave the place empty.  So that means that we need people to cover for breaks.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that NONE of our supervisors know what we do? 

I have been trying to REDUCE my hours, especially with Christmas coming.  But do you think that is going to happen?  And we also have the Lead Barista who talks more than he works, even thought he would have you believe that the place would close down without him.  My response when someone asks if the Lead is working is:  "He is on the clock and in the store."

I have been trying to get out of the place, but I am usually beat by the time I get off work.  But I have been checking out the deployment page and there is something that looks good upstate!  It would be nice in that it would be close to Nick's congregation too!  I am guardedly optimistic.  And no, I am not interested in the congregation just because it is logistically optimum.  They also seem like a good place for ministry.  Our lease here is up in April, my contact with my current congregation is up in July.  Sometimes time just flies!  Seems like we just moved and that I just signed a contact.  But hopefully god has some things in store for us.  We really need some things to finally go right!

Peace to all..

12-21 Not just a Pallindrome

Let's Put Saturn Back In Saturnalia!

The Holy Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come

Welcome Home!

Well, two weeks ago, we talked about Christmases of the Past.  Last week, we talked about Christmas Present.  Now, today, we are going to talk about The Holy Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come!  (I wish I had echo on this microphone!)

I don’t know why in the story, A Christmas Carol, this ghost, the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come, is the ghost that Scrooge fears the most.  I guess it has something to do with all of Scrooge’s “chickens coming home to roost.”  All the things that he had done in the past, all the people he had used and abused, all of the consequences of these behaviors were suddenly made very clear to Scrooge.  And the sad thing was that Scrooge only really changed when he was able to see that all the wealth he had amassed was for nothing.  He only really changed when he was able to see and hear what the people really thought of him.  And then he only changed because he was scared of dying alone.

I would love to rewrite the story.  I would love to have the ghosts tell Scrooge about the real reason for Christmas.  Yes, we hear from the mouth of Tiny Tim, “God bless us, everyone,” but Scrooge does not really get the whole story of Christmas.  Scrooge only changes to save himself.  I guess that is not bad, but there definitely seems to be more.

I would have hoped that Scrooge would have learned that he was a wonderful person simply because he was a wonderful creation in Christ.  I would have hoped that Scrooge would have learned that even before he was conceived he was loved and cherished by God.  That the amassing of worldly possessions and the awe and fear he felt from those who were around him were only a distant second to the knowledge that God loved him.  But, unfortunately, Dickens does not elaborate on this point.

However, for us, Christmases Yet to Come are not something that we need to fear.  We are children of the promise, not children of the threat.  I would hope we know that we are God’s wonderful creations.  And we are the ones who have received the baptism of Spirit and Fire that John speaks of in the gospel.  We do not need to look to the future and see death and abandonment like Scrooge saw; we can look to the future and see the promise of love and forgiveness!  We may have chickens in our past that may be looking on coming home to roost, but, unlike Scrooge, we have the promise of love in Christ, not just aloneness and dispair.

But right here, right now, what is the Holy Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come saying to us?  How is the Spirit prodding us?  What has the Spirit placed upon our hearts?

I guess maybe I should first say something about the Spirit and how the Spirit the Spirit speaks to us.  If this is all old hat to you, then I apologize.  But when I speak of the Spirit, I am sometimes afraid that I may be misunderstood.  When I talk about the moving of the Holy Spirit, I am talking about the thoughts, the desires, and the urgings that we feel in our lives.  You may feel the urge to go over and help someone who seems to be in trouble.  It might just seem like your own idea, but it may also be the working of the Holy Spirit.  You may feel like this is just your own idea, but I also believe that it could be the Spirit at work.

With small things like helping people, going with what you are feeling is one thing, but what about the bigger things?  How do we tell if the bigger things in life are our own ideas or have been put on our heart by the Spirit?  That is a much more difficult task.  Unfortunately, it is often difficult to know what is of God and what are our own wishes.

It is when we are trying to discern the leading of the Spirit that we really need to be part of a community of faith.  When we come together as a community of faith, we are able to help each other discern the way the Spirit might be moving.  We are able to discern how the Spirit is moving us as individuals and for us as a community.  When we come together as a community of faith, we are able to help, guide, and support each other.

So, as God’s wonderful creations, as people baptized into the promises and wonders of God, we can look toward this Christmas and Christmases yet to come with anticipation and excitement!  We can look forward to a world where God not only is there for us, but is there to help lead and guide us.  When we look toward this Christmas and Christmases Yet to Come, we need feel no fear, we can rest assured that when we reach out in faith, we can accomplish what God has set before us.

Scrooge changed out of fear, but God asks us to reach out to those around us out of the assurance that we are loved more than we can ever imagine.  God asks us to reach out, knowing that the one who baptizes with the Spirit and fire blesses us so that we may be a blessing to others.

Hopefully we see how God has been at work right here at St. Swithins’s and hopefully we can also have faith that God will continue to see us through.  No matter what we may feel, no matter what we may fear, we need to go out into the world in faith.  We need to remember that in this and all things, God is with us.  No matter what, we must rejoice in the Lord, always!

We are starting to near the day of Christmas.  We are approaching birth of the one foretold.  We are nearing the fulfillment of the promises of the ages.  Our God has been with us, our stronghold and our sure defense.  Our God has been with us through our past Christmases, and our God will continue to be with us through our Christmases Yet to Come.  As we approach Christmas, as we approach the manger, I pray that God removes our fear and fills our lives with peace and courage.

Passive-Aggressive VS Sabotage

This may be one Dr. Ur-Spo could comment on...

I have been thinking of the difference between Passive-Aggressiveness and Sabotage. I was wondering if it is possible to be consciously passive-aggressive. My gut feeling was that it was not, that passive-aggressiveness was a more subconscious act. It seemed that passive-aggressive was the realm of those who do not feel they have any power or cannot handle the concept of placing themselves in harms way by standing up to the bully/aggressor/slave driver. So, to appease the ego and not alert the superego, the person acts out, but not in a readily identifiable way.

Now, for the person to KNOW what he or she is doing, I would say that the person (victim?) has moved into the realm of sabotage. The person is actively working to go against the wishes of the person (who believes himself/herself to be)in charge. The victim decides to actively do something to thwart the other.

I don't know which is worse. I think passive-aggressiveness can be worse for the company/whatever. A passive-aggressive person can slowly undermine some very well laid plans. Sabotage can very quickly cause problems, but these problems are usually easier to spot.

IDK. Just thinking about work and my feelings. I feel like I have moved to the point of actively wanting to sabotage work. I think I have the ego strength to NOT do it, but the daydreams help to make the job tolerable.

Addendum --  I also wonder if sabotage has to be a larger thing.  Making decaf instead of regular coffee, that is small.  Does that just make it a passive-aggressive action?  Or is it sabotage?  

What to get the girls on your list!

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/testy/AdventCalendar/day6.html

The Holy Spirit of Christmas Present.

Welcome Home! 

You may remember that the theme for this Advent is “Welcome Home for Christmas.”  To welcome us home, we have been looking to see what the Holy Spirits of Christmas have been doing in our lives.  Last week, we looked at the Holy Spirit of Christmas Past.  We looked at the wonderful things of past Christmases of our own lives and in the life of the congregation.  We also contemplated some of the not so wonderful things of past Christmases and looked to see what gifts may have been hiding in these not so wonderful events and what we could learn from them.

This week, we move on.  We move beyond the Holy Spirit of Christmas Past and move to the Holy Spirit of Christmas Present.  We look to see what the Holy Spirit has been about in our personal lives and in the life of this congregation.  We look to see what gifts the Holy Spirit may have waiting for us, just waiting for us to unwrap and to use.

We started the year with a congregational meeting and a full vestry.  We were one of the few churches in the area to do that!  We may be small, but we have the David Syndrome; just because we are smaller than some doesn’t mean we need to be counted out.  No way!

We’ve seen the Holy Spirit at work through other events that have occurred over the year.  We have gathered together to reach out to help the needy of our community through our rummage sale.  We worked to increase our presence in Mason through our craft Bazaar.  We have reached out in Christian love to a family in need with food for Thanksgiving and with food and gifts for Christmas.  We have gathered to thank God for the life and Ministry of Fr. Jake; for the path that he had prepared and the path that we continue to walk today.

We have been blessed with the gift of music for our worship and the gathered voices to put words to that music.  We have been blessed with loving, caring congregation that is quick to volunteer when volunteers are needed, and quick to reach out when someone needs support.  The Holy Spirit of Christmas Present has been quite busy here at St. Swithin’s this past year!

And today we continue to see and celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit.  Today we say “Thank you!” to The Ven. Lisa McMahn for all that she has done for us and all she has been for us.  Lisa has been a gift to our congregation.  She has acted as a lens to show us Christ’s love at work and she has been a catalyst to put that love into action.  She has believed in us when we found it hard to believe in ourselves.  God sent Lisa to us as a sign that we are more than just a congregation of Christmas Past; God sent Lisa to us to lead us into Christmas Present and give us hope for Christmases yet to come.

I also want to reiterate that we are not saying “Good-bye” to Lisa!  Lisa is fading into the background, but she is not going away.  God has other things in store for her!  She will be focusing her time and her gifts to other congregations that need her help.

But even saying “Good-bye” to Lisa is a sign to us that the Holy Spirit is at work in our midst.  We, as a congregation, need to hear the Spirit saying, “You are ready to fly!” or maybe, “I’m taking the training wheels off!”  We need to see this as a God telling us that we are ready to go out into the world!

The Holy Spirit of Christmas Present is here, now!

And still, we are in the time of Advent, in the time of waiting.  This time of waiting is a feeling we as Christians should be quite familiar with.  We constantly find ourselves in this place.  We know Jesus has been born, but yet we wait.  We know the Reign of God is among us, but yet we wait for its coming.  We know that we have received Christ’s forgiveness, but yet we still live in a world of sin and pain.  We as Christians are familiar with this feeling.

If we look at the world at the time of Christ’s birth, things were pretty chaotic.  The people were oppressed by both the Roman government and by their own religious leaders.  There were huge taxes, and the practice of their religion had become filled with requirements and actions that had little, if any, basis in God’s plan.  It was into this mix that God came, as a baby in an obscure, little, manger; a baby who would grow up to restore hope to a world in need.  He was the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy – the fulfillment of the past in their present.  Even at the time of Christ’s birth, their past was preparing them for that very point in time.

I hope we can see how our past has prepared us, bringing us to this point in time.  I hope we can see how Christ’s love has helped us through the difficult times and will continue to help, support, and guide us into the future.  I hope we can see how the Christ in each of us is here to give birth to the plans and dreams of our lives and of this congregation.  It is my belief that God has plans for us and that God ain’t done with us yet!

Last week we looked at how the Holy Spirit was at work in our Christmases of the Past, and today we have seen how the Holy Spirit of Christmas Present has been preparing us for the changes that are occurring within our midst.  Next week, we will encounter the Holy Spirit of Christmas Future, the one that everyone seems to fear.  But I don’t think we need to fear.  I KNOW we don’t need to fear.  The Holy Spirit that has called us home in the past, and calls us home today in the present, will be there to welcome us home in the future.  The future may be something that many dread, but because we have Christ, we can look to our future with anticipation!

"Why do you have to talk about it?"

I had a friend ask why gay people always need to talk about their lives. Now, this was not asked in anger, just out of curiosity. He said that with all of the changes that are occurring in the world, being gay should not be something that is problematic.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if that were true?

I would love to tell Larry that the world is changing and that we now have the same freedoms that the heterosexual population take for granted. But then I hear about something like stuff going on in Uganda and realize that the world has not come nearly as far as we would hope.

What really saddens me is that I have not heard much, if anything, about this on the news here in the US. We don't want to talk about it or don't want to be reminded of the ugliness that surrounds the whole Gay-hate movement.

I rejoice that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, has the courage to speak out against this atrocity and is willing to name our culpability in the whole mess.

Finally, we note that much of the current climate of fear, rejection, and antagonism toward gay and lesbian persons in African nations has been stirred by members and former members of our own Church. We note further that attempts to export the culture wars of North America to another context represent the very worst of colonial behavior. We deeply lament this reality, and repent of any way in which we have participated in this sin.

We call on all Episcopalians to seek their own conversion toward an ability to see the image of God in the face of every neighbor, of whatever race, gender, sexual orientation, theological position, or creed. God has created us in myriad diversity, and no one sort or condition of human being can fully reflect the divine. Only the whole human race begins to be an adequate mirror of the divine.

Why is this so quiet in America?  How can the fundimentalists suppost this?

Growing Old VS Growing Up

*Some members of family (not Family) may want to skip this as they may be offended.*

In life, becoming old happens, becoming mature takes work. I have seen this adage at work over the past week. I have seen that chronological age has nothing to do with mental age. I know this should be obvious, but some times I need to have the obvious pointed out to me.

The first case has to due with "The Ex." This would be Nick's ex-wife. A LOVELY woman. (please hear dripping sarcasm.) In the short time that I was privileged to be in her presence, I realized she a)is a vile woman; b) has not gotten over Nick; or c) both. She took any opportunity to berate Nick. Of course this was done as "just a joke" but we all know that humor is the last refuge of the passive-aggressive.

I can not fathom how one person could use the situation of another person's parent's death to reopen old wounds and try to prove just how much better that one person is. After 30 years, you would think that proving "I am better than you" would be a hollow victory. And to do this during a funeral is one of the most childish things I have encountered.

I would like to think that people are more noble than this, especially people who work in the health care field.

The other incident involves the Flaming Twink from work.

I get info that there is something afoot with the Twink when the boss asks me if I have taken all of my breaks before the Twink is supposed to get to work. I normally would have one more break to take after he would arrive, so by making sure I had all my breaks in clued me that I would be working alone. (Now what is totally ironic about this whole thing is that The Twink called saying he would be late for work and wanted me to punch him in so he would not be late and not lose his job. Of course, I said, "No.")

Well, The Twink came zooming through and then went home. Later when closer came in, I told her that she would be closing alone. I also said that The Twink should not be surprised by the suspension. (He said himself that his job was in jeopardy.)

Later, I find this on Facebook: " I guess 'had it coming to him' well ] not to name names but your a two faced jerk with no way out. So guess who's life sucks more...I'll wager it's not mine." I know this is coming from a childish 19 year-old, but it still stung. And I didn't say he "had it coming to him." (Which actually he did, but that is another story.)

Has Facebook become the refuge of the passive-aggressive? By posting on FB, he does not have to take responsibility? He didn't defriend me so he must have figured I would see the post. Do we not teach personal accountability and respect.

Oh well, with people like The Ex around raising children, I am not surprised we get people like The Twink. (No, they are not related.)

**Added Later***

Perhaps I am as childish as The Twink by posting this. Perhaps by not contacting The Ex directly, I am being just as immature. I don't know. What I would say as rational, I do not want to have a relationship with this woman and hope to never encounter her again. IDK.