What’s wrong with the world? Have we all gone completely mental coo-coo? Who started this political correctness stuff and why do we need it? Can’t anyone take a joke anymore?
Stuffed animals in straight jackets causing a national uproar: What’s up with that? The Vermont Teddy Bear Company has been charged with insensitivity over a Teddy bear in a straight jacket? The bear called Crazy Over You has started petitions and has politicians speaking out against it. Can’t we laugh anymore? It appears that the mother of a person with mental illness has started the campaign to get the bear off the shelf — all because her son is ... er, mentally challenged.
After going on its Web site, I saw the Vermont Teddy Bear Company had another Valentine bear. It was a Cupid bear — a Cupid bear shooting arrows of love. Shouldn’t they take that off the market, since my Great Uncle Lucas Carrier was killed by an Injun (I mean a Native American) in 1878?
You can’t say anything without offending people. We don’t go blind anymore; we are “vision impaired.†We can’t go crazy anymore; we “lose our mental capabilities.†Are you fat? No more. You are “horizontally challenged.†Are you a bum on the street who found this paper on a park bench? No way. Now you are an “unemployed, hygienically impaired personâ€
Do you wear false teeth? No more. You have improved your chewing capabilities. Have no teeth? Well, depending upon you age you are either pre-or post-dental. Heartbroken? Some cardiologist may take that the wrong way. Let’s change that to “romantically in need of repair.†Change the name of a smoker to a tobaccoist. Eyeballs? Now they will be known as focal orbs.
Not only did George Orwell write a novel named after a cool Van Halen album, “1984†included something we are living out today, and that, sport fans, is called NEWSPEAK. The totalitarian government in Orwell’s novel thought by changing the way we spoke we would change the way we thought. Bad became ungood. Great became doublegood. We need to be really careful here, kids, or chocolate will soon become unvanilla.
I really don’t think it’s a blue state, red state thing. Both shades of those two primary colors are guilty. Political demigods from both sides of the aisle want to change the name of antipasto because it might offend those who are propasto. If we don’t get a hold of this soon, heavy petting will mean a fat dog playing in your yard. Or jumbo shrimps will blow their tops at the suggested reference to obesity.
What’s wrong with saying what’s on your mind? Where did those easily offended people hang out when they were kids? Didn’t you tease each other? In other words, didn’t you learn to take a joke? Soon the world will be filled with mommies giving their sons and daughters Inuit kisses instead of Eskimos kisses. Look how stupid it is. Would you drop the word pervert for uninhibited? Of course not (even though people have called me both of those words). But the word pervert may offend you. Well, the term snowflake offends me, so from here on we will call them “crystallized frozen water in one-of-a-kind shapes.â€
People are so afraid to offend. The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams changes its name from the Mohawks to the Trailblazers. What they should have done was change the name to the Mohicans because James Fenimore Cooper killed off the last one of those in his “Leather-Stocking Tales,†published in 1826. How come pro sport teams don’t have to change their names? The Atlanta Braves could be called the Flames, after the match that General Sherman lit during the Civil War. The New York and San Francisco Giants need to be renamed. I’m surprised that people suffering from giantism haven’t raised a really big stink over that one. The Washington Redskins will be changed to the Monuments, and they won’t be able to take ticket reservations any more. The queen will expect the Kansas City Royals to change their name. I would recommend that we change the name of the New England Patriots, but we don't have any of those left in this country so why bother. The San Diego Padres? I went to a parochial school, and trust me, you don’t want to tick off those dudes or their sisters.
Don’t be afraid to say what’s really on your mind, as long as it comes from your heart — and then who can complain? Only the truly crazy among us.
Johnnie Carrier is a freelance writer who is slightly horizontally challenged and post dental with improved chewing capabilities. He is built for comfort, not for speed.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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