I Am Not *Your* Mother

I am a firm believer in that adage, ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’  Perhaps more accurately, if I don’t have anything constructive to say, I don’t say anything.  Usually.  

Sometimes I get aggravated though, just like anyone else.  I frequently get aggravated at myself, but more often, I get nerved at other people.  Especially at other people who should be behaving better but aren’t.  

When my kids leave the door open to the outside, letting the same-price-as-a-new-car air conditioning flow unimpeded out into the humid, South Texas swelter, I have been known to holler (because that’s what we do here in Texas, holler), “Did your mother raise you in a barn?”  But there is perhaps a more constructive approach wherein I tell them how much the open door costs, both in terms of our actual dollars and in terms of the negative effect on our human habitat to waste electricity. 

I can do that with my children though, because I’m the mama and that’s my job.  It is my responsibility to teach them what I think is the right way to navigate their way through childhood in order that maybe, perhaps, hopefully when they are the grown-ups, they will make thoughtful, responsible decisions.  

I can’t really do that with everyone I encounter, no matter strong my urge to correct and instruct.  People look at me funny (at best), or tell me to mind my own !@#$% business (at worst).  Ok, no one has ever actually told me to mind my own !@#$% business, but I credit that to me not actually dispensing unwanted advice to people who are not my children.  

Still, the urge is there.  When I see people doing things I think they ought not do, well, I want to offer constructive suggestions.  And since this is my blog and I can say just about whatever I want, I have a few things to say to people who should behave better.  Let’s see if I can make it an ongoing series.  I’ll call it “I’m not your mama, but…”  

My first admonishment goes out to Amazon.  

[GoogleNews results for #amazonfail]

You should treat your customers like human beings.  All of them.  Not just the heteronormative ones.  And if you’re going to make it your business to sell books and be successful at it, labelling LBGT-related books as “adult” by default, glitch or no, might diminish your customer base.  Something to think about.  

And shut the door when you go in or out.