The Norman Transcript

Opinion

Discussion

October 5, 2012

A grumpy old man’s stance

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Editor, The Transcript:

Isn’t is strange how little things you failed to see years ago suddenly catch your eye? Like going to the grocery store and parking your new car away from others so it won’t get a ding in the door. Then the wind catches a runaway grocery cart as if it were on a mission to strike your vehicle like a predator drone air craft flown by the military.

While inside, the cart I chose had a very dysfunctional left wheel and you could only shop around the world while only making left turns. I thought I would pick up a newspaper while there but noticed they seem to be much thinner, almost like toilet tissue. Better for rebuttals, I suppose. It seems you don’t get your money’s worth on anything anymore.

Then everyone is wanting a donation. This is becoming a problem because my check is getting smaller, also. I saw an honest man sitting at an intersection last week holding a piece of cardboard. On the sign he was holding, it stated, “I just need a beer and a smoke.” Now that’s honest. He received a lot of money. It pays to be honest.

The only other thing that bugs me is that sound wall in west Norman. I’m sure intentions were good and it does a fantastic job of keeping the noise out. The problem is it looks like a correctional facility wall. All it needs is razor wire on the top. Hopefully they will paint it so the paneling at least matches in color. Edmond and North Oklahoma City have very attractive walls. Maybe there are other plans for it in the future. I hope so.

Well, now I feel much better. Thank you for reading this article. A grumpy old man may see you in the coffee shop and hope to hear your complaints, also.

JIM BARGER

Norman

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion
  • Tax plan gets projects going

    A deal to divert state use taxes to fund completion of the American Indian Cultural Center Museum in Oklahoma City and build the Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa looks like a good way to get some momentum on both projects....

    May 18, 2013

  • Tax cuts help wealthy and harm schools

    Perhaps it’s old news by now, but I hope the controversy will live on....

    May 18, 2013

  • American Legion post updating

    Editor, The Transcript: Attention all American Legion Post 88 members. We are updating our membership information. Please send us a card, letter, or e-mail as to your correct address, contact phone, and e-mail address, if any. This will ...

    May 18, 2013

  • Keeping the state’s promise

    A college education or professional certification will not guarantee a successful career, but the odds are much better when such accomplishment is achieved. Access to post-high school education is often problematic. Oklahoma’s Promise, ...

    May 18, 2013

  • National Bike to Work Day

    Norman visitors and new residents often comment on how flat it is around here. Indeed, Norman is at the crossroads of the flat western half of the state and the more hilly eastern half....

    May 17, 2013

  • Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press

    Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure that the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a ...

    May 17, 2013

  • Mothers today aren’t like early mothers

    Early mothers were known for their ability and willingness to sew for family as well as friends and neighbors. When clothes needed mending or someone needed a dress or a jacket, many mothers could always come through. “You have to stand ...

    May 16, 2013

  • The math doesn’t add up

    The $7.1 billion budget bill passed through both chambers of the state Legislature this week will have its critics. No one ever gets all they want. State Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, raised the issue of $13 million in additional allocation ...

    May 16, 2013

  • Medicaid standoff a disservice

    Does anyone else see the massive irony in Gov. Mary Fallin’s latest attack on the Obama administration? She accused the president of not keeping his word and of “actively” seeking to toss 30,000 Oklahomans off a state-subsidized health ...

    May 16, 2013

  • County’s rapid growth requires more judges

    Cleveland County judges have been asking for some bench relief for about four decades. A former district judge, writing in a Transcript guest column this month, said he began asking for at least one, and maybe two more, district judges as ...

    May 16, 2013