Thursday, May 19, 2016

Tea and Politics

Do you like the title of this post?  Don't worry as I'm not intending to ruffle your feathers going into politics or religion or other taboo subjects.  But, I thought you might enjoy a bit of something different than my current knitting project (which by the way, is going well).

My dear daughter Heidi took me to tea recently in honor of Mother's Day.  We had a fabulous time at a little tea house near our homes.  Here's Heidi above trying on a lovely hat.  She's going to a wedding next summer in England and wants to wear a hat!  We had a wonderful afternoon of Mother/Daughter bonding.

The tea itself was delightful.  I chose the Queen Catherine blend of tea by Harney and Sons.  It was loose tea, my favorite vs teabags. And, the little tea sandwiches were amazing.  After our tea, we had a nice time perusing the surrounding shops and garden shops.  It was a most fun afternoon.

There's lots of beautiful jackaranda trees in the area where I live.  I read somewhere that the falling of these beautiful flowers is called purple snow.  My ballot for the California primary arrived in the mail this past week.  I thoroughly enjoyed filling it out and putting it in the mail.  I don't vote along a particular party line.  Is it just me, or did you feel that both Cruz and Rubio missed a vital chance to embrace the Hispanic vote?  Aren't they both fluent in Spanish?  I enjoyed the snippets Rubio shared of his Grandfather's life in Cuba.  It's too late now for both of them but their campaign strategies still puzzle me a bit.

  
Speaking of Spanish speaking, here's the article I read this morning.  Have you ever heard of anything so crazy; English only policy?  My family and I travel alot overseas and unfortunately, I only speak English.  I'm always amazed at the superb customer service I receive when someone speaks to me in English or offers me an English menu vs the regular menu.  What is wrong with people today?  To me this is just being polite to your fellow man.  When I go to Turkey they don't tell me to speak only Turkish!  America needs to wake up a little bit.  

And, the above can bring up the illegal immigrants etal problems.  I lived for 22 years in an agricultural community.  The irreplaceable Mexican migrant workers were a VITAL part of the community.  Without them, we wouldn't have all the produce/fruit on our tables.*  Fast forward to southern California....I live in south Orange county which does not have agriculture but we have vast areas of manicured landscaping, building industry and other businesses.  Most of these businesses are owned/managed by Mexican immigrants. And, they do a fabulous job.  Many of them have taught themselves English and have risen through the ranks to own their own businesses.  And, I am suppose to tell them to speak English only?  No way...  Which brings up another item; homeless camps.  Being from the Seattle area, Seattle has a huge homeless population.  Do you think these people in the homeless camps are Hispanic, Spanish speaking?  NO; they speak and look like me.  I really feel it's wrong when we attack a community of people different from us.  And by the way, in my own family are two naturalized US citizens whose primary language was not English. 

I guess to sum up my feeling, I don't like it when we judge or profile people who we may perceive are different from us.  It's happened to me in Egypt and here at church and it's not a good feeling.  Sorry for the rant on my part but sometimes I think I watch or read too much news :)

Have a wonderful weekend.  I'll be busy working on the lace border of my knitted shawl and I'll also hopefully have some exciting news to share with you soon....suspense; haha 

My best to you,

Pat

*It warms my heart when I read about Hispanic immigrant families who have attained their dreams here in America.  It warms my heart when I read about them graduating and attaining their goals here in their adopted country.  Because of their families sacrifice to move to a new country, their children are now doctors, lawyers, engineers, and scientists to name a few.  To me, that's what America is all about.   

Linking with:


23 comments:

  1. Looks like a wonderful tea, one of my favourite things to do and lovely to spend time with your daughter. She looked so pretty in that rather grand hat. Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The English only -policy is ridiculous! I cannot at all understand it. I always try to speak in a person's language even if I'm not good at it. I think it is polite and opens doors. Spanish is one of my hobbies and I love it! When travelling I have so much fun being able to communicate with the locals.

    Your daughter is very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now you're just teasing us with that last snippet Pat! Not fair ;)
    Your daughter suits hats. So many women wear them to weddings here in the UK I think it's a lovely thing to do.
    Your tea looked lovely as does the photo of you and politics yuck. What a crazy, ignorant policy the English one is. I am, like you totally against that sort of thing. My blood boils. X

    ReplyDelete
  4. English only seems like a silly rule to me, I agree with your sentiments. My sister and I were trying to remeber our small spattering of Japanese words just a day or so back - we are very proud of the few words that we have, we don't want to forget them :)
    That looked like a lovely mother's day tea you had with your daughter.

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also meant to say that if it had been left to 'Japanese only to be spoken' we would still be waiting for service on our holiday in Japan 8 years ago.

      Delete
  5. It looks as if you had a lovely tea - always a treat! Weddings are such happy occasions and it's the chance to wear a pretty new hat! Have a good weekend Pat.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your daughter Heidi is beautiful, she looks just like you! The English only policy in the article you link to sounds a bit like Apartheid on a local scale. What a shame. In a time when we should all work together towards keeping our planet healthy, the trend of looking only out for owns one tribe is deplorable. Thanks for not shying away from difficult topics. Have a lovely weekend. x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Politics scares me. Or should that be politicians? We got our ballot papers for the In or Out of Europe vote yesterday. I know how I feel about it - but it frightens me that a majority of people will disagree and vote the other way. I'm all for democracy - but people in big groups tend not to think clearly. Oh well. We just have to live with the politics AND the politicians!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my! That's quite a hat, and what a nice tea. I've always wanted to go to a tea house. Very nice!

    As an American I will say we need to wake up - a lot. It's unfortunate that these stories get a lot of press while the warm and welcoming people get little. I don't see it changing any time soon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've traveled a lot and English is spoken everywhere, sometimes I wish it were not so I'd get a chance to practice another language.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love Heidi's hat and what a gorgeous girl she is, I hope she enjoys her English wedding. Your tea looks delicious served in a china cup. You have such a refreshing attitude towards immigrants, I am a first generation English person and so relieved that my family were able to come here. Have a wonderful weekend Pat xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your daughter looks fantastic in that hat. I hope she enjoys the wedding here in the UK and the weather is kind. It is interesting reading about the English only policy and agree that we are enriched by people from other countries and cultures.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a lovely way to celebrate Mothers Day! I hope your daughter gets to wear a really great hat to the wedding because she really suits them!! Thank you for taking part in Five On Friday, I hope you have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your daughter looks stunning in the fabulous hat. I love mother/daughter bonding. You have given me an idea to go out with mine tomorrow for an afternoon tea. Have a lovely weekend x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love having high tea. Always feels so special. I'm with you on the judging of people based on society's stereotypes and the language thing. I wish I had a knack for language. My husband is Palestinian and a naturalized American citizen. He is fluent in Arabic, English and Urdu (he lived in India/Pakistan in the 70s). We recently visited family in Jerusalem and on the return through Jordan, I was slightly hassled at the airport because I didn't speak Arabic. Really made me mad (and slightly embarrassed since I've had 24 years of living with an Arabic speaker), so I can understand how others would feel when they are told they can only speak English. Wish languages came easier to me.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That's a great hat! And I enjoyed seeing pictures of your tea. A thoughtful daughter you have! It has been an unusual political season.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Enjoyed seeing your visit with your daughter and hearing your views touching a little on politics. It's a touchy subject for sure, but I like to hear ones that are different from mine so I get a better perspective. I think Rubio and Cruz were maybe just a little too young (or green) to understand how campaigns work. But they appear to be two great candidates and I'm sure we will see them again and again in the future. And, by the way, they aren't the only ones who campaigned that speak perfect Spanish. Looks can be deceiving.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great tea time my friend. I am not so sure you would enjoy Marco Rubio as much if you lived in Florida, he is not well liked here as he has accomplished very little and relies so much on his family history to win votes. I don't understand why we don't embrace others into our country, we all had families who immigrated from somewhere and just because we are here and settled does not mean we should restrict others looking for the same chance.
    Hugs,
    MEeedith

    ReplyDelete
  18. How glamourous your daughter looks in the hat! So glad you enjoyed your tea. x

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sounds like you had a wonderful day out with your daughter. She looks just fabulous in her hat!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for the fun glimpses of the wonderful teatime you had with your beautiful daughter, Pat!

    Even though I earned a degree in speech-communications years ago, I am often aghast at the difficulty we humans have in communicating lovingly in any language with one another, be it about politics, religion, or anything else! I am so grateful to live in a place where I have the freedom of speech and the privilege of voting to try to find consensus so that we can learn to live more peacefully!

    You have piqued my curiosity, dear Pat, and I look forward to learning your exciting news :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. A lovely post, Pat. Your daughter is beautiful in her hat!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Loved the setting for the tea. You seemed to be on the second floor deck. May I know the name of the tearoom? My son and daughter-in-law live in Orange County and I'd love to go there the next time I visit. Thank you. Loved the hat, by the way.

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment!