JANUARY WTF AWARD UPDATE

And now there are three - a record in one month!

It started with the traffic cop who doesn't know a red light from a green light.

Now I have TWO more to add!  This makes a record THREE WTF awards in one month!

First, one - dateline: Cranston High School West, Cranston, Rhode Island.  Picture this:

The school, for over fifty years, has had a nice little prayer banner in the school's auditorium, not hurting anyone.  In fact, the prayer was written by a guy, David Bradley, who was in the seventh grade at the time he was asked to write it.  He will be 65 this Thursday.

Fast forward to 2012 - this Jessica Ahlquist, CHSW student and resident atheist, with the help of her daddy and the infamous American Civil Liberty (Deprivation) Union, er, ACL(D)U, get a federal judge to order the banner taken down.  So apparently any Christian religion is not ok, but atheism, which is a religion in itself (albeit without a God), is.

Incidentally, Governor Lincoln Chafee, to whom I gave a WTF award last month for insisting the Christmas tree he less-than-ceremoniously lit is nothing more than a "holiday tree", supports the judge's decision.  Why should I not be surprised?

To add insult to injury, now that Miz Ahlquist got her wish, she now fears for her life (apparently there have been threats against her, not surprising; I wish no harm on anyone, but I have to say, it's not surprising) and she no longer wants to attend Cranston West, the very school she just (by some fluke) successfully sued.  In fact, it's been noted in a Facebook thread that she is looking to attend LaSalle Academy in Providence - a Catholic high school.  I suppose she'll be looking to do similar damage to that school as well?!  One can only hope whoever is in charge of admissions at LaSalle will note Miz Ahlquist's behavior when deciding whether or not to let her in, if what I read is true, that is.

So, this makes Jessica Ahlquist the second WTF Award recipient of January 2012.

Now for the latest one - dateline: a Citizens Bank branch inside a Stop and Shop supermarket.

Normally you would think that a bank is the easiest place to ask for something as simple as a couple of rolls of quarters.  For months, I have been able to do that with no problem.  The supermarket branch is open for a brief time on Sundays and some holidays (they'll be open tomorrow, MiLK Day from 11-3), something normal bank branches do not do.

This afternoon, after I finished my last Mass of the day, I went to the Stop and Shop near home to pick up a gallon of milk and grab a couple of rolls of quarters so we can do our laundry (we have a laundry room downstairs in our apartment building).  This time, I get "Do you have an account here?"  I said to the teller, "No, but I get them here all the time.  Why?"  "Because we're not allowed to take money from non-customers," she said.  "Since when?  That's new to me."  "It's not new.  I'll do it this one time as a courtesy."  So from now on you need an account just to make change?  What the sam hell is this dame (or her employer) thinking?  It's not like my $20 bill is going to bounce like a basketball check.  It's that kind of service that just gives me more reason NOT to start account with Citizens.  What kind of tie-ups would I encounter if my money did land up there?  No thanks, I don't want to know.  Oh, and further, as of a little over a year ago, they now charge seven bucks to cash a check that's drawn on their bank if you don't have an account.  As my mother would say about banks and utilities, "The bigger they get, the worse they get!"

So, WTF Award number three for January 2012 goes to Citizens Bank.

Peace,

BMP