Mystery Beauty?

     Ahh, the Dundalk Eagle.  In my opinion, the most entertaining read out there.  I no longer have a subscription myself but I have been known to take my parents copy from time to time, after they read it cover to cover.  Ok, every week.  I can't help it.  To open up a piece of my beloved hometown and find out not only which of my high school classmates have gotten married but also which have been arrested. It's the who's who of the Dirty D.  You open the pages and see the 4th Grade class of Grange Elementary raised $12 for needy families and your heart melts.  Or maybe there is a feature about some rare baseball card that was purchased from the North Point Flea Market aka The Dirt Mall.  Those are the feel good stories that make me think of my childhood.  Seriously, the 4th of July edition with the pictures of the parade and Heritage Fair are truly entertaining.  It's a small town feel in the shadow of the big city.  Some people show pride in Dundalk, some secretly do and others don't even have pride in themselves.  I fall in that second category.  I grew up in West Inverness and graduated from Patapsco High School.  I couldn't wait to get out of Dundalk and the way people from other areas made me feel about my Dundalkness, accelerated that urge to leave.  I didn't get far.  As I currently live neither in Dundalk nor Canton/Highlandtown, what is my neighborhood?  You see, I live near that awful restaurant, Jimmy's Seafood (LOL) so I technically live in the city, but my Dundalk is my hometown.

      That sums up the average native Dundalkian and their relationship to the Eagle.  It's complicated!  We read it because we love it.  The articles are written to the audience's level, not intelligence, but experience.  There isn't a bunch of stock market news or the latest iPhone review.  What you will find is a feel good story about a local barber celebrating 40 years in business or recent graduate earning military honors overseas.  Will this paper survive?  Absolutely!!  It's written by Dundalk, for Dundalk and it provides its readers with a weekly friend to catch up with.  It's an intimate relationship that many wouldn't give up for the world.  Also, for only $0.50 per issue, the price is still right.  All kidding aside, this paper provides a service that no other media can, a local view of a town that most of Maryland could care less about.  Let me tell you, the many subscribers that look forward to Thursdays care.
      PS.  Guess who has two thumbs and who's Mom was a Mystery Beauty back in the day...this guy!

We Are Bombarded By This Daily...

  It's early on a Saturday morning and I arrive at my local supermarket with one of my daughters (Daddy's Helper).  We walk in with our shopping list and grab a cart.  I always try to go early so the old people don't clog up the isles with scooters.  Grocery shopping for me is an organized, well planned attack with many moving parts.  I send my daughter down an isle to pick up one thing while I am getting another.  We have a game plan and go over it several times during the drive there.  The list is even written in order of the store layout and it's beautifully efficient when it all goes to plan.  My shopping motto is "if it ain't on the list, it doesn't exist." 
  Then we get to the checkout line and unload our cart.  Side note, why during busy shopping times are there only 3 cashiers at Safeway Canton?  As I am loading the conveyer belt I see my daughter staring at a tabloid with a half dressed woman and inappropriate phrases all over it.  Or there is the latest police photo of a celebrity she used to watch on Disney Channel.  I am like, Whoa, eyes front young lady.  I would say look on the other side but that is where they keep all the candy.  It's a lose, lose situation.  One or two magazines is one thing, but to have shelves and shelves of magazines that have the same junk inside is another.  Does anyone watch out for what our young children are exposed to on a daily basis?  The grocery store isn't even safe.  Our young people influenced by the people on the covers of these magazines and therefore, are exposed to over-sexualized behavior, drugs and alcohol abuse and violence.  The sad thing is, most people don't even notice.  I wasn't exposed to that stuff as a kid.  I remember my mom ripping out the underwear pages from the Sears catalog when I was compiling my Christmas list or turning off the news when a story that wasn't age appropriate was on.  Our Parents generation were more careful and conscious of what their children were exposed to.  We wonder why our society has come to this.  Also, the covergirls and guys are not accurate representations of human beings and make people feel less than great about themselves.  The images are not only offensive, but they give Americans a false sense of what's acceptable in society.
  The media obviously influences how we act, what we do and what we look like, but the way they make social problems acceptable is sickening.  I do my best to not look at any of them and actually engage my children in conversation so that they don't either.  Most parents prefer the hands-off approach to raising children but thats another blog for another time.  Look to the poop—that’s the guiding principle of the supermarket tabloid. (Vanity Fair, 2002)  
  Ultimately, they make us care about Prince Harry partying naked.  Why do I care?  I haven't or will ever buy one of these pieces of trash that line the checkout of any supermarket.  Personally, I believe it's a waste of paper.  The news conglomerates pander to the uneducated and simple minds of America.  What a sad state of affairs we are in.