Madonna Review

I must confess: the Madonna concert was good. It was weird, but good.

The rumors of her late arrival were all true. Knowing that she had been showing up late, we didn't arrive in our seats until 9:45pm, and we still waiting for 45 minutes to go on. It was a let down between the opening act of Paul Oakenfold who we saw for 15 minutes and waiting another 30 minutes for her to finally take the stage. The crowd lost its mo-jo. I read that in Miami two days later she didn't show up until 11:23pm. People were pissed, left and asked for refunds. Can't say that I blame them.

The concert itself was different. I felt like at times she was trying too hard and other times she was trying to shock and awe a group of people who probably don't shock and awe very easily. But that's Madonna and she is still the queen, as we were reminded by Nicki Minaj during the concert, who made a pre-recorded video appearance. A little dig at Lady Gaga? Jealous much Madonna?

She played for a solid two hours and no encore. She even chastised a guy in the pit for having his arms crossed while she performed. 'I'm working my ass off up here' she said to the guy. I was thinking: for the amount of money he paid to see you work your ass off, he should be able to do what ever the hell he wants!

All in all, I can say 'been there done that' but I won't be attending another Madonna concert any time soon. 

Below from left to right, my cousin, Kristine, myself and my sister-in-law, Amy.  The company was AMAZING!!!!

 

Wendy

The Chick-Fil-A Way

I must confess: I'm a sucker for good manners. To me 'please' and 'thank you' go a looonnnngggg way. But it seems like no one knows that anymore. I was recently at a store and after checking out, I was not thanked for shopping at XYZ. So I said to her, 'thanks for letting me shop here'. She looked perplexed as if to say 'um ok'. I was floored. Really, I can't even get a 'thanks' even if it is forced? It got me thinking about how manners really have gone to the wayside.

A few years ago, my husband and I went to an out of state wedding. Because we were traveling, I ordered a gift from the happy couples registry on line and had it sent directly to their home. Approximately one month after the wedding we received a picture card in the mail. You know the kind that people send out at Christmas, the whole family dressed alike and it says 'Happy Holidays from the Johnson's!' This picture card had a picture of the happy couple at the alter and on the side it said, 'thank you from the happy couple'. I was FLOORED. Thank you for what? Our travel to get the wedding and all the other expenses that go with it? For our gift, which was delivered to your doorstep and to this day I still have know idea if you received?

I was appalled.  And Miss Manners would be too.

What happened to hand writing out a personalized thank you to EVERYONE who came to your wedding? I did, I had wrote hundreds of thank you cards after my wedding. And since I have been married previously. I've done it twice! My mother would have been HORRIFIED and EMBARRASED if I did any thing less. I was raised better than that! Apparently the happy couple, was not.

So are we raising a generation of people who cannot say things like please and thank you? Geez, I hope not. Over the last year or so I've been working on my own manners which I'm sure, at times, are just as atrocious. We tend to take for granted the people we see every day and say thank you. But I'm working on that. And I learned it from a fast food restaurant. Every time I go to Chick-Fil-A, I am so impressed by the manners of their employees, whether they are teenagers or adults. They always say 'my pleasure'. It pleases me that it's their pleasure to serve me a chicken biscuit. Crazy, right?! So I adopted the Chick-Fil-A way of manners. In the last year or so, I've started saying 'my pleasure' as well. If someone thanks me for holding a door open for them, I respond with 'my pleasure'. And you know what, it really is my pleasure. It is really so hard to show my fellow humans a little common courtesy? No it really isn't. I just hope that my kindness and expression of manners will start a chain reaction of others showing a little kindness and manners to others and that somehow it will make it's way back to me. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

Thank you for reading! I really do appreciate it!

Wendy