Monday, 5 March 2012

I remember this ....

Another quote from here:



'Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.'  

This depressingly accurate quote was by Ellen Goodman, not a woman I had ever heard of.  You can find out about her here

I am so grateful to have left those days behind.
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51 comments:

  1. Cat Drawings5 March 2012 at 20:39

    Still laughing snortingly. Thanks.

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  2. Martin Willoughby5 March 2012 at 22:46

    Too true, too true.

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  3. DeniseinVA5 March 2012 at 22:56

    Great quote and that just about says it all :) Thanks for the link. I shall be interested in reading more about this lady.

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  4. MedicatedMoo5 March 2012 at 23:01

    Me too, EC!

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  5. DJan6 March 2012 at 00:21

    I used to read Ellen Goodman when my local paper carried her column. She's got quite a wit, and that quote is, as you said, depressingly accurate. I too am glad to have those days behind me. :-)

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  6. Anonymous6 March 2012 at 00:54

    Too hideously true...the author forgot you also have to pay for parking while you are at work and, when you finally retire, you'll be too crippled up from being chained to a desk for a good number of years that you won't be able to enjy retirement anyway.

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  7. BECKY6 March 2012 at 01:04

    I think about that a lot when I'm driving around town, doing errands....Just LOOK at all these BIG houses, that nobody even has the time or energy to enjoy!! Sad! I tried the link, but it didn't take me to Ellen, just to a Yahoo kind of info thing. I'll try again.

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  8. Susan Kane6 March 2012 at 05:27

    Wise beyond her years. So true.

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  9. Karen6 March 2012 at 05:44

    Too true! So glad I am not "normal".

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  10. Unknown6 March 2012 at 06:05

    LOVE THIS!

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  11. bugerlugs636 March 2012 at 07:30

    Utter Madness, I too am glad that's behind me. I will have to wortk when my youngest goes to school . . . But I'll think hard of an alternative way.
    I'll check the link out when I've caught up on blogs. Thanks.

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  12. Windsmoke.6 March 2012 at 08:23

    So true. I'm glad all that is behind me to since i retired and paid everything off :-).

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  13. River6 March 2012 at 10:12

    Ha Ha, that's funny and too true.
    Who is the author of this book please? I can't quite make out the name and I would love to buy it.

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  14. klahanie6 March 2012 at 11:12

    Ah yes, Ellen Goodman, I had not heard of her until recently. Now I note her twice in one week.
    I remember those days. Then there are these days when a lot of our youngsters trying to get started towards making their own lives, would love such a scenario.
    In peace and kind wishes, Gary

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  15. Elephant's Child6 March 2012 at 11:13

    Blessed blogger is again having a hissy fit so I cannot reply under each comment. Bah.

    Cat Drawings: It was great wasn't it?

    Martin Willoughby: Yup.

    Denise: As Becky pointed out something had gone wrong with the link (or my installation of it). It has be replaced and should be there for you now.

    Kath: A sorry memory isn't it? And she didn't even get into how much worse it is if you don't like your job.

    DJan: Thank you. It seemed to me to be a true bon mot.

    mybabyjohn/Delores: You are right, but if she had put all of that in people would have become SERIOUSLY depressed.

    BECKY: Thank you. You are right and I have repaired/replaced the link.

    Susan Kane: I wish I had the way with words she has.

    Karen: Sometimes it is very nice not to be normal. Thanks.

    Teresa: It is a gem isn't it?

    bugerlugs63: Hopefully you will find a much better way. It is an absurd way to live our lives and so many of us do it.

    Windsmoke: You and me both.

    River: It is true isn't it? The book was full of gems like that. The author/compiler is Karen Weekes. If ever you are in any doubt the books I have read for the year are on my sidebar. Let me know if you can't find it and I will lend you mine.

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  16. Elephant's Child6 March 2012 at 11:16

    klahanie: Sorry, your comment came in as I responded to others. You are right on both counts though here at least many of the young are so deep in debt that it seems impossible that they will ever surface, good jobs or no jobs. Very, very sad. Isn't it interesting the way that a person or a word that is new to you seems to pop up continually in the following days?

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  17. Austan6 March 2012 at 12:42

    Oh I am so happy to not be in the rat race anymore!

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  18. daisyfae6 March 2012 at 13:15

    Ellen Goodman = Depressingly Accurate -- but she was a wonderful syndicated columnist. Haven't seen her in years. i shall go have a wander and see if i can find what she's up to these days. Hopefully still writing...

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    1. Elephant's Child6 March 2012 at 13:28

      As I said, I hadn't come across her before but this quote made me love her immediately.

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  19. BECKY6 March 2012 at 14:15

    Hey Elephant's Child, I guess I keep forgetting to ask you to e-mail me. I reply to my blog comments by e-mail now, and I don't have yours. Mine is Writergal53@gmail.com
    Hope to hear from you!

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  20. Cloudia6 March 2012 at 16:01

    "Normal" is a trap!


    Aloha from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral

    >< } } ( ° >

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  21. Elephant's Child6 March 2012 at 19:41

    BECKY: Done.

    Cloudia: I hear you about normal. Fortunately I don't think I am.

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  22. LadyFi6 March 2012 at 20:02

    LOL! But then normality is overrated...

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  23. Anonymous6 March 2012 at 20:25

    I remember having this same thought. How insane it was that I was working 60 hours a week to have a home that I hardly spent anytime in. It made me wonder if I could get into a Senior Center: no yardwork or cleaning, meals fixed, and they'd drive me around.

    One of the bonuses, I've gotten from blogging is figuring out there are more abnormal people like me who have the same weird thoughts. I'm afraid if there's a lot of us, we'll become the new normal.

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    1. Elephant's Child6 March 2012 at 21:24

      barbfroman: I hope that we become the new normal. It would make life more interesting by far.

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  24. J Cosmo Newbery6 March 2012 at 20:26

    You're not cheering me up, you know!

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  25. River6 March 2012 at 21:33

    Thanks, but I try not to borrow books from friends. I'm not sure how it happens, but when I've finished with a book it usually looks like something fished out of a recycle bin.

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  26. penny6 March 2012 at 23:23

    That puts it all into perspective. In the end we are left to ponder.
    cheers.

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    1. Elephant's Child7 March 2012 at 09:58

      Pam: And isn't life full of things to ponder about.

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  27. Kim@stuffcould....7 March 2012 at 01:43

    I like this perspective...I agree with you, I have left those days behind

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    1. Elephant's Child7 March 2012 at 09:59

      Kin @ Stuff: I think it is a very true perspective for many, and I am glad it is no longer my truth.

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  28. Christine7 March 2012 at 07:01

    I am lucky enough to work from home... after spending numerous years trucking back and forth to a workplace. It's wonderful... one see the housework not done, the little odd jobs that need doing but little time,, but that said,those commuting days and office politics are over...I have never heard of Ellen Goodman...interesting.

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    1. Elephant's Child7 March 2012 at 10:00

      Christine: Ellen Goodman seems (from my very limited reading) to be someone I should investigate further. I had not heard of her before I found the quote, but several of the North American bloggers know her well. And love her too.

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  29. Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen)7 March 2012 at 10:58

    Yes, Ellen Goodman is well known in the US. She's one of those names and faces that looks familiar and pops up in the media now and then. So sadly true. I also often think of the parents who have to spend a huge part of their paychecks to pay for someone to take care of their children so they can work....to afford the childcare...

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  30. Elephant's Child7 March 2012 at 11:58

    Paper Chipmunk: It was the sort of quote that resonates with so many of us. Wry recognition of what seems to be an almost universal truth.

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  31. Pearl7 March 2012 at 12:58

    Still caught up in it over here.

    sigh.

    Pearl

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    1. Elephant's Child7 March 2012 at 15:28

      Pearl: I am so sorry. Though that said, I do thoroughly enjoy your bus trips to work. Always a big pleasure to read about.

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  32. penny7 March 2012 at 22:49

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a kind comment. I hope you are having a wonderful week.
    cheers :)

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    1. John Wiswell8 March 2012 at 01:46

      The grind is atrocious. Even worse when you're too sick to participate in the grind while being stuck in its culture.

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    2. Elephant's Child8 March 2012 at 06:31

      Pam: Thank you. I hope your week is going well.

      John Wiswell: Ouch. Yes I remember going to work and coming home and going straight to bed and spending much of the weekend in bed. No life, no quality, just to stay employed.

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  33. penny9 March 2012 at 10:26

    So glad you enjoyed the birds. Thanks for stopping by.
    cheers :)

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  34. Melissa Ann Goodwin9 March 2012 at 11:21

    Ellen Goodman is famous here for saying simply brilliant things. I'm glad to have left that behind too. When I had lots of money, I had no time or energy. Now I have less money, but I find I can do with less, and have time to enjoy myself more!!

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    1. Elephant's Child9 March 2012 at 14:50

      Melissa Ann Goodwin: It sounds like this quote resonated with lots of other people too. I have more time (though not more energy) and life is just fine thanks.

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  35. Di Eats the Elephant9 March 2012 at 14:17

    I've always wondered what was "normal" and now I realize that I have hated it all my life. Why did I think I should be "normal"? OHhhhhhh...to pay the bills.

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    1. Elephant's Child9 March 2012 at 14:53

      Di Eats the Elephant: Welcome. Normal is for other people. Shame that the bills aren't theirs as well.

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  36. Gabriella17 March 2012 at 04:15

    This book is awesome - thanks so much for pulling out the best quotes as I barely have time to read your selections much less a whole book!

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    1. Elephant's Child17 March 2012 at 07:45

      Two Tigers: Thank you. I am hoping that your time is filled with productive creativity.

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