Politics on social media: Just scroll down

With still more than a year to go before the next Presidential election, already I'm beginning to see posts, memes, and comments on social media regarding the possible candidates. My memories are stirred of the last election (2012) and how weary I became of the constant political dribble streaming down my Facebook wall. Roughly 85% of my “friends” on social media embrace an opposite political perspective from mine, so yes, as the election grew nearer, it became increasingly annoying to see all the negative posts and comments about the candidate I respected, supported, and admired.

For the most part, I simply scrolled down and rode out the storm, though I will admit to “blocking” (not deleting) a handful of folks whose daily posts were too scathingly vicious to tolerate. So the question is, what crosses the line of acceptability? Is there a line? How much politics on social media is too much? On the other hand, I saw a post yesterday that said, “You say you're tired of my political posts. Okay, I'll go back to sharing important stuff like what I had for dinner and when I went to the grocery store.”

I can see that side too. If we want to engage in meaningful dialog, we have to be willing to listen to opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. The key, I think, is respect. It's absolutely possible to support a political position or candidate respectfully, even on social media. It's just that not everyone does that. Social media seems to be the perfect forum to spread hatred. Time will tell how I'll respond to the hoopla as the 2016 Presidential election season gains momentum.

What about you? How do you feel about political posts/memes on social media. Do you participate? Do you block those friends who disagree with you or just scroll down?

First day jitters, and waiting not so patiently at home

At 2:30 a.m. I awoke to noise coming from the bathroom. Was it water running? In a state of confused semi-consciousness, I got up to investigate and found that, indeed, someone was in the bathroom showering. By process of elimination, it would have to be Seth. I knocked and shouted, “Are you okay?” Affirmative. “What are you doing in there?” Taking a shower. “Do you realize it's 2:30 a.m.?” Somehow, he thought it was 6:30 already, and he was supposed to be up getting ready for school.

First day jitters. On the surface, he was all meh about it yesterday when I asked him if he was nervous for the first day of his sophomore year. “What would I be nervous about?” Obviously, though, there were some subconscious jitters going on, enough that he woke up and hopped in the shower at 2:30 a.m. I remember my older kids doing this same thing a couple of times the night before important events. Whether we are headed to kindergarten or our senior year of college, there is just something about that first day of school that elicits an emotional response in all of us.

That includes us moms waiting not so patiently at home. It's now 2:15 p.m., and I've been thinking about him all day. Will he like his classes? Will he find his friends in that giant school? Will his teachers be nice? I'm just about to go pick him up, and the excitement is waxing strong. I'll take him for an after-the-first-day snack and listen to a play-by-play report of his day.

Hopefully tonight the jitters will be gone, and he'll sleep peacefully, with no 2:30 a.m. showers.

The tradition continues: All roads lead to Macaroni Grill

About 10 years ago, Shulamith came to Salt Lake City to attend Westminster College. I suggested she apply for a job on campus, but no, she decided to apply to be a host at an Italian restaurant called Romano's Macaroni Grill. It was far away from campus and required long, late hours, and I didn't think it was such a good idea. As my children will tell you, I am very rarely wrong (ha ha), but in this case, well, let's just say the whole Mac Grill thing turned out better than I expected.

Shulamith worked as a host until she was 21 and old enough to serve. Serving, she made tons of money, enough to pay for her entire senior year at Westminster without our help. About the time she graduated, Isaiah also headed to SLC to attend Shulamith's alma mater. And where did he decide to work? You guessed it. Mac Grill hired him before even meeting him, on Shulamith's recommendation, and he worked there all through college.

When we moved here in 2011, Eli was with us for a few months before his mission, and yep, Mac Grill was happy to hire him as well. After his mission, he returned to work there to save money for college at BYU-Idaho, and now he works there during his semester breaks. And they all return for the giant days each year, Valentine's Day and Mother's day.

We used to joke about Seth working there one day, but "one day" seemed far in the future. When my friend Lindsey saw this picture on Instagram, she commented, "How's that even possible?" My thoughts exactly. That "one day" so far in the future came more quickly than I could have imagined. He is my baby, barely 15, and this whole working deal is pretty much ridiculous.

He has grown up in a world where everyone, it seemed to him, had money to spend. You should hear him dream of all the things he will be able to buy:

"Mom, I'll get you hundreds of Diet Cokes, any time you want one."

"And I'll be able to buy everyone Christmas presents!"

"And video games on their release dates!"

"And I'll save my money so next year, I can go to the DotA tournament with Isaiah."

That last one, though. Uh, not likely I'll let him do that.

An $18,000,000 prize pool? For real?

Isaiah is in Seattle this week but not at an event for work. He's there on vacation watching 16 teams, each with five players, play a computer game. It's called DotA (Defense of the Ancients), and in the gaming world, it must be pretty popular. I say that only because over 17,000 people are there watching along with Isaiah, each having paid $100 for a ticket, more if they had to scalp one (Isaiah was online the second tickets went on sale but was still unsuccessful and wound up scalping one for $150). The prize pool for this competition is $18,000,000. Yes, you read that right. Count those zeros. It's true.

Poor Seth, who could not afford a ticket (or airfare to Seattle, or a hotel) is stuck here at home, glued to his computer, watching a live stream of the competition, texting back and forth with Isaiah. He believes that because he started playing the game at a young age, with years still to improve, one day he will be good enough to play in this international competition and win all that money. I'm skeptical, but hey, a boy can dream.

At the start, I sort of teased Isaiah for spending a week of his vacation time, not to mention a truckload of cash, to fly to Seattle and watch other people play a computer game. But then someone reminded me: “You and Shulamith spent that much to fly to Vegas for a weekend to watch Celine Dion sing for an hour and a half.” Indeed we did. It was worth every penny, and we'll likely do it again one day.

Entertainment is that subjective. What some find appealing, others don't. Seth just told me that at this very moment, 250,000 people are watching the live stream of the DotA competition. That's just crazy! But I'm glad he can watch since he can't be there. Reports from Isaiah are that it's the "best week ever!"