I attended my nephew's graduation this afternoon (not by choice but by obligation) at Kemper Arena. His school, a suburban high school of approximately 1200 students thought it best to rent a large venue such as this instead of holding their commencement ceremony at the school's stadium or in its gym. I'm not sure of the rationale, but I'm assuming those in charge are following tradition and prefer to obtain the keys to an arena most famous for its rodeos and hockey games instead.

My sister, my dad, and I brought my nephew to the ceremony. Not knowing how long it would take us to get to the arena, we left about 30 minutes earlier than we needed to and arrived as early. While it was annoying to sit for so long (over an hour and a half) before the ceremony, we were able to procure terrific seats. That's where my gripe comes in.

We sat about 5 rows from the floor, in a section very close to the stage. There were only three of us, and we chose three seats next to the end of the row so my dad could have room to stretch his legs (into the aisle). After a few minutes, the rows began to fill in, but not with people's butts, but with programs folded over the backs of seats and pieces of paper taped to seats - an effort to "save" seats for others. The couple in front of us, in fact, "saved" 18 seats in addition to their own - two entire rows! - for their family and friends. Now, this was an elderly couple from southern Kansas who were excited to see their granddaughter graduate, and I don't disparage them for that; however, I do not condone saving seats as if you are an elementary school girl waiting for her friends on the bus!

Others, who were in small and large groups, who arrived long before the ceremony was to start, but obviously not early enough to beat the rush on saved seating, would walk down to our area, hopeful looks on their faces and sigh when they saw the number of seats with paper and purses procuring the space for a future butt.

I came to the conclusion that this was blatant entitlement disorder, something far too many people in this county suffer from. It's quite epidemic - it's the petite woman in a JUICY jogging suit parking her car in front of the grocery store where it's clearly marked "No Parking - Fire Zone" just so she can run in and get "a few things" or the man who swerves in front of another in the middle of an intersection even though every driver's ed course and driving booklet claims it is illegal to do so. It's the teenager who thinks he should pass his classes even though he did none of the work just because he throws a big enough hissy fit and mommy and daddy come running in yelling "lawsuit" b/c their kid has attention deficit disorder and should be getting "extra help."

Entitlement. It's a disease, and it must be stopped.

My husband's in a baaaa-aaaad mood today. He's doing our taxes, which, theoretically we were ready to do over a month and a half ago, but for some reason we procrastinated. TurboTax is being a bitty, too. He's had to download it twice now b/c the darn thing won't do what it's supposed to do - which is WORK!

I've also left one of my tax documents at school, I think. So stupid. It's a form for capital gains from an account I don't even contribute to anymore and probably has lost more than it's gained this year, but since I have no numbers and the website requires a pin # that I don't have, I can't access it unless I go up to school tomorrow - a SUNDAY??? UGH! And of course the financial institution is closed, despite their "extended hours" for tax season. So I can't call them to get a pin #.

If it weren't for April 15th, I wouldn't mind paying taxes. What I HATE is having to file each year. Why is it that this kind of stuff can't be automated - everything we do is recorded, all transactions, etc, so why is it that we cannot bypass the whole filing process and let the bureaucrats earn their money? Seems like it would be easier for everyone - although probably it would be fraught with corruption. Ho Hum.

I suppose I've been gone too long, spending my hours online with the FB crowd. Seems that only the lonely are on Xanga today...well, maybe not, but we certainly aren't the "cool" kids at the online high school anymore. We're wearing spandex with oversized t-shirts with side pony tails and big bangs while everyone else is wearing flannel and Dr. Martens.

Oh well. It's not the first time I've been less than hip. I'm reminded everyday when my students ask me to do the Souljaboy. Not gonna happen.

I like my new background...but does it mean I'll stay and play? Probably not so much. I'll be over at the other sand box with the cool kids - watching from the edge, a foot away from the shovel.