Recycle, disposer, garbage..which one?

So Grace is getting a little confused by all this new age crap.  She watches me go through the day throwing various items into the recycle bin, driving electronics to the electronic recycle facility, grind up food in the garbage disposer, toss trash into the garbage and yell at dad Steve because he can't seem to get it right. It's not rocket science!  Oh and old medicines get bagged up and taken the medicine incinerator drop off facility. 

They teach about recycling in school now, although it is rumored that the school does not practice what it teaches and sends everything to the dump.  The older kids can tell you plastics, aluminum, glass and paper go in the recycle but then we change the rules when we have parties and it all goes into the trash.  My rule of thumb is most foods can go into the disposer unless I think it will just gunk up the inside.  The rest is left for the trash.

Today Grace picked a block of cheese out of the fridge and I told it was old and needed to be thrown away. "you mean recycled" she says.  Nope it's food and yucky so we are going to throw it into the garbage.  A bit later she finished her apple and holding the core said "garbage?"  when I told her no she said "but it's food and yucky" so I told her it can go into the sink to be ground up in the disposer.  She gave me such a strange look, shrugged and tossed it into the sink.

I want to add a compost bin to the mix eventually but I can only imagine what might be placed in it by my family members.  I know many cities don't offer a recycling option so I am happy that our family is learning together how make our planet last a while longer even if it does make me look like a crazy woman in my own home.

I am not an Expert

Occasionally I catch a preview of Inside Edition, while watching Geberal Hospital, that grabs my attention so I record that too after GH. Tonight I watched I think it was Wednesdays episode (can't remember why now) and saw a story about Jenny McCarthy moving bank to Chicago. My first reaction is oh great, now she's going to be here full time spewing her "knowledge" of autism and letting everyone know how they too can cure their children. I don't blame Jenny for wanting to share her happy ending story, I would too if I had one, but I just don't want to see her all over the local news now because she's come back to town.

Anyhow it got me thinking about how she thinks she's an expert in Autism and how ibthink I know about the same amount if information she does and I don't claim to be an expert on Autism but I am an expert on Mitchell and his Autism. I know Mitchell inside and out and what makes him meltdown and what makes him cooperate. I know what strategies work for him and which ones don't. This is exactly what I would tell someone if they asked my opinion, not that they need to do everything we do or else their child will be a failure.

Right on cue, I get a FB message tonight from a gal I don't ever see anymore whose son has just been diagnosed. I am humbled the think people actually respect my opinion in the matter of Autism. I am happy to know I am an open book and have allowed people into our lives enough to see who we are and that we have stories to share and help to offer.

Messages like the one I receive confirm why I talk about Mitchell do much and how we as a family operate (disfunctional as it may be). I love that I can help someone else feel not so alone as others have done for me in the past and continue to do. I am not an Autism expert but I am an expert on who we are today, right now, being reeducated all the time.

Great Clips Responses

I am pretty impressed that I received response from Great Clips the same day I sent my email.  Looks like I got my point across :)

*1st*
Dear  Jen,

Thank you for sharing your comments about the service you recently received at the Great Clips salon.  Our promise is to serve our customers with the highest level of quality, and we appreciate your feedback, which is critical to helping us keep this promise.

The GREAT CLIPS salon you visited is a franchise, and is independently owned.  However, as the franchisor, our primary goal is to ensure good, consistent service at every location.  We will contact the owner of the salon about your experience, and you can be assured they will appreciate your feedback and will have a representative be in touch with you very soon.

Please accept our apology for your inconvenience.  We value your business and hope you will give us another try.

Very truly yours,
Customer Service








*2nd*

Hi Jen;

 

My name is Dave Kerlagon and I own the Great Clips in Lockport as well as five other salons.

 

Let me first start out by apologizing for your recent visit. You our correct when you say that the conversation you overheard was inappropriate for our salon. We do not gossip or talk about inappropriate or controversial topics in our salons. For this I do sincerely apologize. I will certainly have a conversation with Jenn regarding this topic. I do not know what else I can say or what I can do for you. You are right, and I have no explanation or excuse that would be acceptable because this type of conversation is not tolerated. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention and feel that maybe it is time for me to reiterate our policies, procedures and basic etiquette to my whole organization.

 

Thanks again! However, on a similar topic, all of our salons certainly do service autistic children. Our stylists (for the most part, and obviously not in this situation) are patient, gentle, sensitive and know how to deal with these children. Personally, my step daughter has an autistic son. I have seen the struggles, understand and am sensitive to this situation first hand.

 

All the best to you and your family! If there is anything personally that I can do, please do not hesitate to call. Although Great Clips does not accept appointments, I have in our salons taken appointments for autistic children, as I understand the difficulty not only for the child but for the parents as well.

 

Again, my sincere apologies.

 

Dave Kerlagon

630-648-9798