Home And Family USA

People use language for communication, but few of us are aware of how deep our obsession with the written word goes. Some people are obsessed with fonts, spending hours and hours trying to find the perfect layout and appearance for a text. Other people stress out over their handwriting, trying to get their script just perfect to create the most beautiful letters they can. Other people get elaborate messages tattooed in different languages on their skin, sometimes in languages they can’t even read, just because they like the way they look.

When I opened up a bead store a few years ago, I tried to stock a wide variety of different products. I had a lot of earthy clay beads, sterling silver beads and more contemporary acrylic beads. One thing I didn’t realize would sell so well was my selection of alphabet beads. Yet the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Practically every variety of alphabet bead that I have sells out within a month of me getting the shipment. The sterling silver alphabet beads, the plastic ones and even the large ones for children are all quick sellers.

I was curious about why people bought so many alphabet beads and I started asking my customers about it. What was interesting was the great variety of answers I got. Some people just liked making friendship bracelets for friends, while others had more elaborate plans. I even knew one guy who proposed to his wife through an alphabet bracelet. He put it on her wrist while she was sleeping one night and, when she woke up, she had an alphabet bracelet that said “will you marry me?”

I’ve even met people who use the alphabet beads for some sort of personal message for themselves. A lot of folks have a motto that they like to keep around their necks at all times. It is sort of like a talisman. Sometimes it is a family motto, sometimes it is just a personal phrase that they view as inspiring. By creating an alphabet bead necklace, they hope to make it more part of them somehow.

When I started the bead store, I never realized how much I would learn about humanity. By watching how people like to decorate themselves, I can learn a lot about what they are into and how they see the world. Alphabet beads are yet one more aspect of human culture that deserves notice.

I have given up on movie rentals. I don’t think in my case they really qualify as movie rentals. I think that instead of movie rentals, I should call them movie purchases, because every time that I pick up a few movie rentals, I end up keeping them out so long that I pay more in rental fees than I would have paid to buy the movie. I don’t know what the problem is when it comes to returning movie rentals. I have no problem returning movies I have borrowed from friends. I manage to pay my bills on time. I have never forgotten a birthday or an anniversary. Yet, somehow, movie rentals manage to gather dust on top of my entertainment center.

I guess it is because when I bring home movie rentals I have the best intentions of watching them. I want to honor those intentions, so I keep putting off returning those late movie rentals. With a house full of kids, it is next to impossible to find a minute to myself, let alone the hour and a half it takes to watch a movie. My friend told me that I needed to take some time to myself. She said that if I didn’t find a moment or two each day to refresh, I would go insane. I thought that a few movie rentals might do the trick. I could escape my crumbs on the floor, sticky fingered kids, crying babies and live life for a little while by enjoying a movie. Unfortunately, it is hard to enjoy a movie when you are being interrupted every ten seconds. So alas, the movie rentals sat on a shelf accruing late fees along with my every intention to eventually watch them.

She told me I should watch a movie after the kids went to bed at night. I tried this last night. After numerous bathroom trips, glasses of water and monster in the closet checks, I managed to plop down on the couch with my husband at around 10:30. We shuffled through the three movie rentals on the coffee table and finally agreed on which one to watch. We popped it in and the music started. The next thing I knew, credits were rolling across the screen and I had a stiff neck from sleeping on the couch. I have decided to give up on movie rentals, in exchange for a library card. If I turn the books in late there, it only costs me ten cents a day. At least this way I may still be able to afford college for my kids.