by Georgie Bright Kunkel

Sitting down at my computer is no assurance that I can engage in this intellectual pursuit of writing without interruption. Computerland comes with a downside of messages which emanate from some center in India. These messages are blurred from the background noise of dozens of other callers sitting in a huge room of callers who somehow got my number for purposes of duping me in some way.

I have determined that I will not be scammed and so far I only bit once. That was the time that someone from New York called that they heard that I am a writer and they were willing to put me on a local radio station. They actually sent me a copy of what I had spoken into the telephone for them to put on the air. But then came the moment of truth. They wanted me to pay for the next airing of my writing and that is when I realized that I was being taken in.

Yes, I was prey for a moment in time. Since that time I have been very skeptical of callers that I don’t know personally. Just the other day someone had the audacity to walk up onto my back deck and look into the glass doors and knock. I motioned to them to go to the front door and after opening the door with the screen door locked I found that I was about to be scammed again. But this time I didn’t fall for the bait. I found a way to discourage the fellow from continuing with his plan. My daughter called the police and I made a report with a description of the fellow in question. Hopefully this intruder will not be seen in our area again. Later that day the news was full of the same scam happening in other parts of the city.

Places where tourists congregate are Meccas for those who want to relieve you of some of your money. Fortunately I have learned to recognize a scam and haven’t fallen heir to one for a long time. There is a continuum from the point of honesty and the point of a real scam. Years ago after WWII was finally over and the men came home from battle families increased in size big time. Young mothers got their kicks from holding Tupperware parties. I still own a wonderful card table so well constructed that there has never been a mark on it. It was a gift for holding one of the parties and was my first and only attempt at conning my friends into buying things so I could get a special gift. When one is tied down with several growing children it is home party time for sure.

Contrast this form of excitement with a destination wedding which only your effluent friends can afford to attend. It is my belief that one should not give wedding gifts until the marriage has survived at least five years. Ever read an old manual of etiquette in preparing to marry? Younger couples are living by a new set of rules. Since sex is not always reserved until after marriage, the excitement of the marriage bed has really diminished. No matter how we change the rules, couples still need to respect each other and learn to live in harmony.

City living has put great pressure on young people who do not always have close family as a support group. The old expectation that a farm will provide the living is no longer a reality. Older family members are not always nearby to give moral support and provide experienced wisdom. Couples living in today’s world are better educated than their ancestors. However formal education does not mean that a couple has adequate education in how to meld into marriage with success. Only loving and experienced people can offer this help to a young married couple. That help can come not only from family but friends. Hope you have managed to sustain friendships throughout your life.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at 206-935-8663 or gnkunkel@comcast.net