Living a Lie

At the last Predators home playoff game, every attendee received a bunch of plastic strips to wave around in the air during the game. Half way through the first period, the announcer said (and it was written on the jumbotron, too), “Everyone, wave your pompons!” “Did he just say ‘pomPON’?” I asked Les, incredulously. Les, who was watching players skate around on the ice, gave me a grunted response, signifying that this was neither the place nor the time to ask such a ridiculous, non-hockey-related question.

So, during the first intermission, I asked the couple in front of me, “Did you hear the announcer say ‘pomPON’?” “Yes,” the woman replied, “and it’s printed in the program, too!” We both agreed that we had always thought it was “pompom” and now felt like we had possibly been living a lie for the last 30 years. As if to make us feel worse, the man added that he was familiar with the “pompon” term. His high school had a Pompon Squad, and he remembered very clearly that it was an “n” and not an “m” at the end of the word.

When I got home, I had to Google it to find out which term was really right. After all, can you really believe a hockey announcer and a hockey fan who says he remembers cheerleading squad information 15 years after the fact? Apparently you can. After looking this up online, I found this following information on a Common Errors in English website:

“To most people that fuzzy ball on the top of a knit hat and the implement wielded by a cheerleader are both “pompoms,” but to traditionalists they are “pompons,” spelled the way the French—who gave us the word—spell it. A pompom, say these purists, is only a sort of large gun. Though you’re unlikely to bother many people by falling into the common confusion, you can show off your education by observing the distinction.”

I couldn’t believe that I had been so grammatically incorrect for so many years! Next thing you know, I’ll be saying “Valentime’s Day,” “ying and yang,” “libary,” and “expresso”! Ugh!

Signs of Summer

As the weather has been getting gradually warmer here in TN, I’ve been seeing the signs of summer appearing in my everyday activities. Two weekends ago, I painted my toenails for a CD cover photo I was making about picnicking. Painting my toenails is one of the earliest signs of summer-to-be. It means that I am committing to wearing toe-less shoes at least three or four days each week so that everyone can see my awesome polish-job (“Hide it under a shoe-toe? No! I’m gonna let it shine!”). For my fake picnic set up, it was about 75 degrees out and certainly felt warm enough for a picnic outside on the as-yet-unmowed lawn. You could feel in the air that summer was coming. Yes, it was exciting!

Here are a few other signs of summer I’ve observed so far this season:

1. Last weekend we ate a watermelon. It was actually pretty good (8 out of 10 on the Larry-Lyle rating scale – my family’s standard measurement for watermelon), but we unfortunately sliced it up on a cutting board that had last had onions on it, and the onion taste managed to permeate the watermelon in parts! Oh, well!


2. I have put away my ice scraper (being from Michigan originally, I am one of the few TN residents who own a deluxe ice scraper with brush, two blades, and an extendable reach option) and gotten out my sunshade (folks, I still attest that this really does keep you car cooler).


3. Les and I are looking at lawn furniture. Sure, we only have a small balcony at our apartment, but it would be nice to sit out on it on these cool spring evenings.


4. I’m starting to wonder when the pool in our apartment complex is going to open. There have already been a few days when swimming seemed appealing.


5. We’re starting to make our list of summer festivals we want to attend in Tennessee (any ideas, please comment in my blog).


6. Les is wearing shorts and Birks everywhere except to work.


7. The outside patio at restaurants is fuller than the inside rooms.


8. It’s too hot to wear my hockey jersey to the Predators games. I have to carry it there, then put it on over my short sleeves once we get inside the arena.


9. My feet are getting too hot in regular shoes and I’m only too happy to show off my sparkly toenails in flip-flops.


10. People in my office have started wearing short pants and tank tops to work.

If summer hasn’t quite made it to you yet, be patient. It’s coming in all its glory soon!

Weight on the High Seas

I heard on the radio that the Coast Guard is taking a look at adjusting the per person weight average on smaller boats from the current 140 pounds to possibly as high as180 pounds in reaction to the American obesity epidemic. This has been brought about by a couple of ferries that capsized because (they think) there was too much weight on board and the boat became unstable. The last time the weight average was adjusted was in 1960. It’s hard to believe that the average American has gained 40 pounds in 40 years, but I suppose that a pound a year isn’t that dramatic of a weight gain . . . on a single person. It seems pretty dramatic as a national average.

Ferry operators are upset because this will change the maximum number of people allowed on the boats – one man said his load will go from 260 people to 225, for instance – and that will reduce their profits. He also complained that the weight adjustment doesn’t make sense for captains who more often take out a group of children rather than larger and heavier adults. Maybe it’s time to say good-bye to the idea of weight averages and accept the fact that things are too diverse and atypical to stay with our old system.

I may be too pragmatic, but I feel that the obvious answer here is to make a law that all charter boat operators weigh in their customers to make sure they do not go over their maximum weight, regardless of the number of people on board. Although some customers may feel uncomfortable with this, it really is for the good of all on board and has to happen. If you are afraid of getting on a scale, then charter boating is not for you.

Right now our luggage gets weighed on flights (and on small planes the flight attendants actually move larger people around to balance the weight on the plane) and there are certain sports like sky-diving and bungee jumping which have weight requirements because of the limitations of the equipment. It doesn’t seem radical that boating requires similar safety measures.