Fruity

Here, my friends, is the latest installment of the dumbing down of America. A professor at the University of Arizona has created a sticker that will tell when fruit is ripe. I know, it takes the guesswork out of picking produce. You don't have to remember if the melon is supposed to have a hollow thump or not.

My problem isn't with ripeness stickers; it is that the guesswork is going out of everything. We're becoming a non-thinking society. The media spins a story, and people don't think to challenge details. We blindly accept statistics thrown at us from every direction. It's no wonder there is so much consumer debt in the U.S.; commercials tell us 20 times an hour that our lives won't be complete unless we drive/wear/eat a specific product. There are websites that will find your perfect compatible mate. (Compatibility in every area is over-rated, by the way, but that's a rant for different day. If I don't get to it soon, drop me a comment; I've probably forgotten. Old age, you know.)

My biggest challenge as a homeschooling mom is teaching my kids to think independently. I tell them to do a 3-page research paper on any topic they want, and they look at me like I've lost my mind. Like their public school peers, they want the information spoon-fed to them. Kids are less educated and more lectured to these days. Curiosity is a thing of the past.

Big Brother is watching, y'all. He's around the corner, waiting for us to wander aimlessly enough that he can take our hands and lead us down the road to hell.

(And now you're wondering how I got all that from a fruit sticker, right? Don't ask!)