Please continue to visit me at my new domain. Thoughtsofatraditionalist.com I appreciate all your help and support
New home!!! March 4, 2013
Come see me at thoughtsofatraditionalist.com I appreciate all your support and dedication!
Guns can save lives. February 17, 2013
I recently wrote a blog
about how guns don’t kill people. Unfortunately it is people who kill people. People can save themselves and their loved ones too from unimaginable pain and suffering using a gun as a self defense weapon. This is why guns should not be outlawed. More restrictions on the mentally ill are the only new gun laws that I can honorably support! Guns can save people too! Here is a perfect example of this. There is no telling what kind of things those intruders had planned for that homeowner and the two-year-old child. It could have been a simple robbery, or more horrendous things could have been planned. Because of the bravery of the homeowner, the child and himself (or herself) were saved. People shouldn’t go into another persons house without permission and if they do there is something unlawful planned. Whether it is a robbery, a rape, or a murder…. all three of those options are illegal and should be punished! Perhaps death is harsh, but if the death of the intruder means saving the life of the innocent, then so be it! The intruder should have thought twice before breaking the law!
Click here to read the whole story. http://ht.ly/hNm8B
Some Valentine’s Day thoughts! February 15, 2013
Bonnie Tyler said it right when she sang, “Where have all the good men gone? And where are all the Gods?”
I went out with my family and my young nephew to Cici’s last night on Valentine’s Day and noticed that there were quite a lot of couples there. We were there because a young boy loves nothing more than a buffet full of pizza for a treat and we all went to be with him and his mother. It was not a date, but a valentines outing. I was a bit disappointed, thinking to myself how upset I’d be if my man insisted on taking me to Cici’s for my valentines day dinner, as a date and not a family outing. Now there are many men who don’t make enough money to take their lady to a fancy restaurant, but certainly they know that a good and romantic, candle-light, home cooked meal can’t cost anymore than Cici’s and is much more heartfelt! I would respect that more than a man who would take a woman out to a cheap dinner. It is horrendous that subway now has a commercial showing guys taking their prom dates to subway for dinner! I would just as well go alone than submit myself to that. Prom is supposed to be a formal and special occasion, warranting something more than fast food.
This is just the tip of the iceberg however. I miss the times when it was the norm for a man to open a woman’s door. It was considered rude if a man didn’t remove his hat inside a building (unless of course it was a building for home improvement or something, like Lowes.) But nowadays men never remove their hats. Once that thing is on their head for the day, apparently it is there to stay. When I went to a youth basketball game at a church the other day I noticed several men with their hats still on. Now I know its a game, but it is inside a church, and I would have thought that a church building would warrant a hat removal. Apparently not.
Taking your hat off is a symbol of baring yourself to the world. Removing your hat exposes your head and all that you are to the world. You are exposing yourself to God, and to the people of the world. With that hat on, you are insisting that there is something to hide. Perhaps you are embarrassed of your hair or the absence thereof. There is no need to be. Women like all different types. The fact that you are unashamed to bare your head and your face to the world shows that you are proud of yourself and that you are confident in who you are. Hats are normally used (by men) for a function. Either they keep their head warm, protect them from the sun, or so on, but inside a building there is no need for this, thus the hat should be removed.
Personally I was always one to go with tradition because I have always been a firm believer that tradition shouldn’t die, that it was started for a reason, and that it is a sign of respect for the past if nothing else. But here is some history on it, courtesy of eHow.
Men removing their cranial adornments was originally done by knights to show the king or queen that there was no intention of harm from the knight, as well as to show a mutual trust that the king or queen would not slay the knight upon removal of the helmet. It has been around for centuries. It was also viewed as a sign of chivalry and respect to women to take it off when a woman was present.
In the south, there is an old tradition of a man tipping his hat at a lady. I always assumed this was a new form of removing a hat in a ladies presence because of the fact that, unlike ancient times, women are everywhere and everyplace men are (for the most part) and taking it off every time a woman passed would be a hassle. The tradition didn’t die however, it just morphed to accommodate the new and changing times. Tipping your hat at a lady involves grabbing the bill (if there is one) and nudging it down on your face just slightly while lowering your head in the direction of the woman. If there is no bill you do the same thing just grabbing at a pretend bill.
Removal of the hat shows that a man can honor tradition and honor those around him without fear of persecution. If someone pokes fun, simply reply that it is tradition and hold your head high. The trend will catch on, just like it does with everything else. The harlem shake started somewhere, afterall.
Another thing that bothers me is how some of the traditions of etiquette in the presence of a lady were so honored but have been lost in time. Not that long ago, men were expected to pay for dates, stand when a lady was about to sit down at a table, open the ladies doors, tip the hat, give the lady his jacket if she was cold, etc. Most of these traditions seem to have faded with time and I personally view it as a tragedy. Again I always find that a man who is masculine enough to honor the more fragile sex is worthy of honor himself.
Prom time came and went last year, but there was one thing I did notice that stood out to me above all else. I witnessed two couples walking into a restaurant and the two men were walking in front of the two women, and when they opened the door, the men let it close in the women’s faces. If I was one of those ladies, I would have turned around and walked back to the car until my date could learn some manners! I would never have let that happen. My friends were astounded when I told them that I didn’t pay for dates. I dated men who respected me enough as a woman and had enough honor as a man to pay for the dates, including buying the prom tickets.
I always thought that the older generations would respect these honored traditions more than the newer generations but I have recently found that to be all wrong when I noticed an older man knock me in Walmart trying to get by in a hurry, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to say “excuse me, miss.” But that same day, when I was walking into a convenience store a young man held the door for me and when hearing my “thank you” replied with a wonderful “yes ma’am!” Chivalry is not dead!
The old tradition of standing when a woman entered the room is a bit much nowadays when restaurants and libraries are constantly getting new customers and patrons, etc. However, I still find it very honorable when a woman starts to sit at a table and a man stands up to welcome her. I love it even more when a man pulls out the chair for his date to sit in. This is another old sign of respect that has faded over time and is sorely missed, at least by me.
These, again, are just the humble thoughts of a traditionalist, but perhaps there are more women out there who think that men should still honor women in these simple yet effective ways. Women, we are the fairer sex, who will bare the children, we deserved to be honored! Stand up for yourselves. Men… to those of you out there who still have these manners, I respect you. You are the “street wise Hercules” who will fight “the rising odds.” Bonnie Tyler and the world salute you.
God Bless.
P.S. In case any of you were wondering here is the song by Bonnie Tyler, “I need a hero.” I usually have a different vision when I hear the song than the music video portrays, but to each woman her own!
And here’s a commercial from the 80s that uses that song!
Yes Ma’am February 5, 2013
I have written before that I think people should use terms of respect more often. I now have proof that nobody is too good to use or receive the use of the word “ma’am” (same goes for “sir”).
If Daryl Dixon can say ma’am, so can you!
http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/time-warner-cable-super-bowl-ad-the-walking-dead
There is something wonderful about southern manners, and this man knows it!
Please sign here. February 3, 2013
I heard tell a few years ago that many public school systems were no longer teaching children how to write in cursive. I didn’t believe it at the time, but now I have heard from multiple teachers that this is, in fact, true. I would love to have someone, anyone in fact, answer me this one simple question: How are the children supposed to sign their name when they grow up? And I mean, really sign their name, not a digital signature.
In the future when someone says to put down your John Hancock (assuming the children in the future know who that is), they will print their name as if typing it. I agree with the new technology and using it, but does that mean that we should get rid of all the old ways? Should we allow our children’s signature (that is used on very important documents) to be forged so easily? What happened to the art of penmanship. I am studying calligraphy in my spare time, but the children in the school systems today will not even be able to sign their name? I find it sad that people no longer take pride in the way their handwriting looks (like in Elizabethan days), but to no longer use script at all?!
I have been saddened for years knowing that the art of writing is going away, since everything is going digital nowadays, but to lose everything from the past and simply replace it with the new is wrong in my opinion. I agree that technology is easy and sometimes incredibly useful, but that doesn’t mean that we should abandon the time-honored ways of yesteryear. Signing your name is a right of passage into adulthood. Signing your name means you control your own bank account, you can sign for yourself the legal documents (like a hunting license) and so on that you wouldn’t have been able to as a child. Now that the children of today are no longer learning to sign instead of simply print, the child will be printing his name the same in ten years and his license will look pathetic and oddly impersonal. A printed marriage license? Well, technically someone can even forge a printed signature on a check much easier than a personalized cursive signature.
Cursive was taught the correct way when I was in school, but as I grew and matured it was considered socially acceptable to adapt how you write to fit your own personal style, and this would reflect not only in your signature but just in the way that you write, so that if someone was good enough they could tell who wrote them the letter they are reading without even having to look at the bottom line. Your personal script was used to tell things about you. This is called handwriting analysis. Handwriting analysis can be used to say a lot about a person and can psychologically be used to study people, including criminals to try and predict what can happen next, as a form of behavioral analysis.
Developing your own personal style of writing is in essence like developing a part of your personality, a part of who you are. I find it sad that the children of the new generation (or at least a good majority of them), will not have this opportunity unless the parents take it into their own hands. What good is a public education if the parent has to supplement and teach the child things that are as important as that? Upon further “googling”, I have even found that some are arguing that the long-division algorithm shouldn’t be taught anymore because current technology can take care of that for you with the push of a few buttons. Another thing I should ask in this situation is: What is the world going to do if technology fails us? Lord, lets hope it doesn’t, because no one even knows how to use a card catalog anymore! Our children would never find a good book in a library again without the almighty internet. Perhaps the internet crashed and a mother lived in California and the son lived in Florida How on earth would they communicate without email or cellphones? Many people don’t even value the idea of the written letter anymore, much less know how to properly write one (and yes, there is a proper way to write a letter!). An email is typed, and contains no personal touches, whereas a letter is written in (you guessed it!) cursive, showing that the person you are communicating with actually took the time to sit down at a desk and write that note. A personal touch was put into that letter because you can even see that it was written by the person it was from, instead of dictated to a secretary.
In this new age of technological advances, I feel that people have lost touch with reality. Individualism is lost and should be re-attained if the world is to continue to be one worth living in. Then again, perhaps the world is okay with the idea of going to a completely non-personal way of life and losing the art of human interaction on the most basic level. Texting has taken away the idea of talking on the phone, talking on the phone took away the idea of writing, emails have overtaken letters, and the internet and calculators have overtaken the idea of traditional math and traditional writing. Honestly it would not surprise me if, in the near future, writing was abandoned altogether and typing was the only thing that was taught. Really, in that case, why teach math at all when a simple computer program can do it all for you?
I have already decided to home school my children when the day comes that I have them, because of my lack of faith in the educational system, but I would hate to lose faith in the entire idea of education altogether, and think that the world is willing to make itself vulnerable to the possibility of future technological failings in order to provide ease and comfort. Lets start a revolution in the world and make sure that real education is not forgotten and overlooked. As time goes on, and new things come to be, don’t forget history and the way things used to be in order to only learn the new. If we forget history we all will lose touch with who we are and where we came from, which means that none of us will have a true sense of self. How am I supposed to know where I am going without knowing where I came from? In order to have a good future we must not ever forget the past, and the foundation that it gave us to grow on! Let’s teach the youth of America, and the youth of the world to write in cursive. Let’s make sure our children and nieces and nephews and grandchildren will one day be able to sign their own name! Lets make sure that if a calculator isn’t available that our children will still be able to divide! I want to read letters from my grandchildren one day, not just impersonal emails.
Everyone here has encountered a fast-food cashier who could not count change properly if the cash register was not working… Do you want that to be your child one day?
Let’s prepare for a better future, people. Stand up for what you believe in, and don’t be afraid to sign a petition every now and then to defend the old ways, or even write a new one!
Ditch Dating & Commence Courting January 30, 2013
I have always felt that dating was a new found notion. A man comes up to a woman or vice versa and they go out to dinner, then if they like each other they do it again. Usually the expenses of the date are split and they act as complete equals. Now trust me, for a woman I am pretty up-and-coming as far as what a man can do and what I can do. I hunt, snowboard, write, read, shoot guns, drive a motorcycle, etc. However, when it comes to “dating” I am still very old fashioned, as I believe all women should be.
Dictionary.reference.com defines Courtship as
noun
1.
the wooing of one person by another.
2.
the period during which such wooing takes place.
3.
solicitation of favors, applause, etc.
4.
Ethology. behavior in animals that occurs before and during mating, often including elaborate displays.
5.
Obsolete . courtly behavior; courtesy; gallantry.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/courtship?s=t
This is how it should be done. Men are the ones taking women on dates or asking her father (if applicable) for the honor of courting his daughter. The men are looking for a lifelong mate. They are looking for a wife, and someone to carry and give birth to their children. Perhaps I have this all wrong, but serious men who are in search of a serious relationship are looking for a woman to spend their life with.
Now for the men who are just looking for a good time and do not plan on anything serious you should make this known in some way, and make sure not to take advantage of the woman’s body and emotions along the way. There is nothing wrong with dating for fun, as many of us do in high school, when we are first getting into the dating rhythm. Many of us want to have a companion, and while it might lead to more later, for now we just want to have fun. Make sure that your intentions are known at some point or another, otherwise you could be giving off the wrong impression and taking advantage (unknowingly) of someone else’s feelings.
Men and women alike are looking for someone to grow old with. Men are looking for a woman to mother their children, etc., in my humble opinion the men should treat the women with a very high level of respect, assuming the woman is a woman who deserves respect. A woman should not be expected to give into sexual advances on the first night in order to not think that she is stuck-up and a “tease,” as most call it now-a-days. The man should be expected to pay for the date, including dinner or a movie if that is to be done. A man should respect the woman enough to bring her a rose, or a flower of some sort. The man should open the doors for the woman and pull out her chair. He should walk on the outside of the sidewalk. Men these days (or a lot of them) don’t seem to know some of the basic rules of etiquette at all, much less the long lost art of proper courting etiquette. The same goes for women really, so Guys please don’t think I’m discriminating, because there are some of you out there that are wonderful men who do all of these things anyway! To those, I praise you, and please stay the way you are.
To the rest of you… let me make a chart of rules to follow.
1) Open her doors (car included)
2) If the weather is undesirable, hold the umbrella for her.
3) Pay for the date, and don’t be so stingy that if you take her to a movie you neglect to ask her if she wants popcorn or anything.
4) Treat her with respect even if you have already decided that she is not the girl for you, although if you decide that based on weight, height, or other appearance flaws (in your eyes), then again you are lacking.
5) Pull out her chair at dinner.
6) Be romantic. Bring her a rose or a flower, or a bouquet if you want to! Show her that she is worthy.
There may be others (I would enjoy reading suggestions in my comments!), but for the most part I got it covered.
Girls.
1) Act respectful to him in turn, and don’t be afraid to say thank you.
2) Don’t dress like you are trying to get into his pants on the first date (because you shouldn’t be!).
3) Act like a lady in how you walk and sit, and eat for that matter.
4) Show him gratitude and the same respect that he is showing you.
Men who are dating, or courting as I like to call it, are looking for a woman to have his children. Women are looking for a man to father their children. She would have to carry the child for approximately nine months and then care for them for countless years after that. That is a big favor to ask of someone and one that many woman would be overjoyed to grant, but if that is being asked then perhaps the woman deserves respect for it. Women are the ones that end up with all the responsibility of carrying and giving birth to the worlds youth.
Now for those of you that think this is not a fair set-up, consider this. Throughout the centuries past, this is the way things worked. Centuries of faith in an institution must mean something good. Also, men are asking women to carry a child, perhaps if they do not want to pay for the date, they should have to carry the child. If they don’t want children, this is still a matter of respect for the more delicate sex. Women don’t argue with me here, because no matter how tough you might think you are, women are (in general) still more fragile and soft and delicate than men, which is the way it is supposed to be. Not to say that we can’t hunt just as well, but generally we are not as physically strong as men are.
Now men, don’t take this as an indication that you can push the woman around and boss her around because that is not respectful either. The whole point of this talk is RESPECT. Have respect for yourself, others, your date, etc.
I may be a traditionalist, but I cannot let myself think that the institution of respect is completely gone. Perhaps a lesson in it was all that was needed, or perhaps chivalry is dead. But I hope not.
An example.
In high school, many of the girls that went to prom paid for their own tickets (the guy paid for his) and she paid for her own dinner. That is horrible. I cannot believe that a man would expect a woman to pay for her own ticket to prom. Yes, it was high school, and many of the people there were just dating for fun, as I have mentioned before. Chivalry is really the only argument I have here. A man standing up for the respect that women deserve. A man taking responsibility for his date. A man being old-fashioned and desirable by letting the woman know that he wants to go to the prom with her, and that he wants to pay for the tickets and the dinner because he is being done such a wonderful honor by being allowed to have her as his date.
Chivalry also means that guys should not be afraid to stand up for their girls. Don’t be a pushover! It is time to grow-up and face the real world, and that confrontations are not always avoidable and shouldn’t always be avoided. Be a man and stand up for what you love, respect, and believe in. You will be a happier person. Again- Women, you should do the same. Don’t be afraid to say what you think, because you are probably not the only one thinking it.
Let’s prove it to the world! CHIVALRY IS NOT DEAD! (its just in hiding!)
