I Want That Purse. There are Stars and There are STARS.

Five years ago Wanda and I were off a cruise ship wandering around Seattle. She was looking for a certain cosmetic carried at Nordstrom's. On the way through the store we stopped in the shoe department. "Are they kidding? I said a little too loud. Fifteen hundred bucks for a pair of shoes. Do people really spend this much for shoes?" Not only did I think the price outrageous the shoes were ugly.

Have you heard about Oprah and her "You Can't Afford This" story?

Oprah was in a store in Switzerland and asked to see a $38,000.00 purse (handbag, pocketbook). According to Oprah the clerk told her she "couldn't afford it" and offered to show her another one. The assumption is the clerk was Racist, racist, racist. The clerk denies saying it. She was more than cordial. All people are customers regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation.

Screw this and screw Oprah. 

My first real job was working in the shoe department at Saks Fifth Avenue. It was a pretty swanky store at the time. I'm sorry to say, at times, salespeople generalize about their customers.

Screw this and screw Oprah.

Oprah, take your $38,000.00 purse (handbag, pocketbook) and put it where the sun don't shine. So, you earned $77 million last year. Is spending that much on a purse (bag, pocketbook) necessary? It doesn't matter how much you donate to charity. Thirty eight thousand could feed a lot of people.

“I say to the woman, ‘I would like to see that bag on the shelf.’ And she says, ‘No, that one’s too expensive. I’ll show you this one.’ She did,” Winfrey said in the interview. However, Winfrey never revealed the name of the store, although papers have since claimed it was Trois Pomme in Zurich.

Does it say, "sorry you're black and can't afford it" ANYWHERE? Just maybe the clerk thought the bag was too frickin' expensive? Then again, maybe I'm naive.

I’m in a store and the person doesn’t obviously know that I carry the black card and so they make an assessment based upon the way I look and who I am,” said Winfrey, who earned $77 million in the year ending in June, according to Forbes magazine.

“I didn’t have anything that said ‘I have money.’ I wasn’t wearing a diamond stud. I didn’t have a pocketbook. I didn’t wear Louboutin shoes. I didn’t have anything,” said Winfrey on the red carpet. “You should be able to go in a store looking like whatever you look like and say, ‘I’d like to see this.’ That didn’t happen.”

Obvious to me, Oprah carries and plays The Black Card.

Sparky survived his trip to the vets yesterday. He did not pee in the carrier on the way home. Cats are so resilient. He had several teeth removed and an hour after getting home he wanted dinner. 

Also in the news today is a coffee shop owner in Washington state.

A couple of kids made a mess in her coffee shop. The owner asked the mothers to leave (and take their kids). The owner took a picture and posted it on the shops Facebook page with this caption, "like to take a moment to thank our customers with small children whose kids don't make a mess. A couple of ladies came in today and this is the mess their children made."

“Too often parents allow their children to trash businesses and shirk their responsibilities as parents off, dumping their mess on cafes and businesses, just because they can get away with it,” a user wrote.

After reportedly receiving threats, she issued an apology saying she meant it to be “snarky,” not humiliating. But, despite her apology, she has no problem kicking out messy, screaming children again, though she will make it less public.

By our continued and ever increasing use of social web sites we've approved them as a means of communication. If she didn't post picture of the mess makers, and every indication is she didn't, what's the problem? 

Today is International Left-Handers' Day. As I am right handed, I don't give a damn.

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaked last night and this morning. On a Saturday night some years ago Wanda and I were in the backyard watching. An incredibly bright meteor streaked across the sky, "WOW" we both said. Just then the phone rang (it was 3 a.m.) I answered, "Did you see that?" said older daughter Jennifer. She knew we would be up.

Before dawn is the best time to watch but I went out at 10:30 p.m. 

I wore a hoodie and shoes with socks. I had my tilt back lawn chair and a blanket. I was ready for the light show. Every year I swear that next year I'm going to get out of the city. But our little town isn't terrible. We can still see most of the stars out there. I was settled in maybe five minutes when a bright, bright meteor blazed across the sky. Cool, I wonder if I should wake Wanda? I didn't. Because The first one was so spectacular I couldn't go in. I was sure I'd miss something spectacular.

Over the next 90 minutes I saw about a dozen "shooting stars." None close to the brilliance of the first.

Is someone or something screwing with me?