When Someone Makes You Blue

When is enough enough?  When is too much more than any person can handle?

I have been going over those questions recently after an incident with a friend.  It was someone I once counted as one of my closest friends.  Over the past several years our friendship has changed a lot.  The distance between us has grown and our lives have gone down very different paths.

It has been hard for me to gage if this friend has similar feelings towards me as they seem to go on as if nothing has happened, nothing has changed.  This attitude has only added my questioning whether or not this is a friendship I want or should continue.  It has been hard for me to call it quits, to say goodbye.  I consider myself to be fiercely loyal to my friends, almost to a fault by becoming a door mat for some.  So when someone hurts me or wrongs me, I do not always defend myself or tell that person how they have made me feel.  Which is exactly what I am doing this time around.

I said something recently, that was my own opinion of a news article.  A few friends commented on what I had said and we had a very normal conversation about the event that surrounded the article.  One friend in particular, took great offense and lost sight of my original opinion of a very specific point.  They blasted me and made me out to be a heartless monster.  The attack had absolutely nothing to do with my opinion or issue I took with the content of the article.  I have been left shell shocked and sick to my stomach.  Of course all of this was done on facebook for every one of my friends to see and read.  I ended up taking down the post of the article and my opinion, not because I felt like I was in the wrong but because I didn't want people seeing the exchange.  I felt like the reason I had posted the article had been lost and it wasn't worth keeping up.

This wouldn't be the first time this friend has had that kind of reaction towards me (again this is someone I've always considered one of my closest and dearest friends).  Although this would be the first time it happened on facebook.  I am now left licking my wounds wondering if it's really worth trying to hold onto this friendship.  Is this person really my friend?  Would they defend me until they were blue in the face, beating their head against a wall like I've done for them?

I really don't know anymore.  This time I feel like too much has built up to put aside for the sake of our friendship.  At the same time, I just don't know if I can stomach ending our friendship as I love this person as if they were my own blood.

Something That's Been Bothering Me

Since becoming a parent, I've become more sensitive to products being marketed for children.  There's a new trend that has been bothering me for some time and I just have to get it off my chest.

No I'm not talking about thong underwear or pushup bikini tops being made for girls as young as eight years old (although I find it disgusting).

I'm talking about food manufacturers putting "whole grains" into sugary kids cereals and then labeling it healthy.  As if adding "whole grains" to these cereals now cancels out all the sugar and food coloring in them.  In a country where childhood obesity is becoming the norm and not the exception, this is not a step in the right direction.

I find it unethical on food manufacturers part to put these claims on "boxes of death."  In all reality that's what these cereals are.  They in no way teach healthy eating habits to kids.  Given the fact that this is the first generation of children in danger of being out lived by their parents, I don't see how these companies can get away with it. 

I feel like the only way to get the point across to food manufacturers that we as parents are not going to buy into their lies, is to not buy any of these so-called "whole grain" kid cereals. 

It's time to take back control of our kids health and teach better eating habits.