In all fairness, my husband has a huge family. 200 people show up to church, so it’s not like we’re gonna be missed. And I don’t know how it’s done elsewhere, but around here, people find the fanciest cathedral that they can, meet the priest for the first time and then end up having a ceremony at a location that’s not even tied to their regular religious community. Then the priest during the wedding talks about how successful the couple is going to be after knowing them for a handful of meetings. It’s a very strange way of doing things, IMO. But I was Protestant growing up so what do I know?
All three of my schools are still standing and have been majorly rebuilt, with the middle school being renovated over Covid, so that added to the fun.
My middle school now looks like a prison - the grounds used to be a lot more open. And it’s all dark gray. Because there’s not enough gray clouds and fog in the PNW.
We don’t have too many things to be repaired - we just finished a major renovation, and we got a lot of little things done at the same time. The big things are replacing the carpets and painting the walls in four rooms. No hurry though, even though the carpet’s rather sad.
AIUI you’re not supposed to line up for communion unless you’re Catholic and meet whatever other requirements there are to take communion that day, which I presume you’d know if you were Catholic (I think you used to have to be fasting, but I don’t know whether they’ve changed that.)
And of course they’re kneeling with straight faces; it’s a normal part of the service. I’m not entirely certain whether non-Catholics are expected to kneel; I’d probably look that up before going. I’d stand and possibly kneel as respect for the proceedings, but I don’t say any words I don’t agree with (at any service).
I’m not interested enough in any sports to care who wins; other than possibly a vague hope that my school district isn’t doing badly enough to upset the kids. I don’t usually even know who’s playing.
If I expected to be miserable at a wedding, I wouldn’t go. But I don’t generally get invited to weddings that I’d expect to be miserable at.
If there’s a bottle in front of me, I can presumably decide whether I want to drink from it or not, depending on what’s in it and my mood at the time. I know I don’t want a lobotomy.
I didn’t vote in the preparing for war because I think it depends on how you prepare. Some kinds of preparations may be more likely to bring a war on; others, more likely to deter one.
The priest is actually prepared to “bless” non Catholics who want to stand in the line, for whatever reason. There’s even a gesture to tell him that’s what you are there for. I don’t recall the details, but a Catholic friend explained it to me, and I’ve seen it done. I just step out of the way and let the Catholics who want communion file past me.
It does depend on the extraordinary minister of holy communion, since the Church doesn’t actually approve of this practice in its very limited commentary. Here’s a good article by someone trying to figure the whole thing out.
Huh, I’ve only seen the priest bless people, not a nearby lay minister (Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion). The context where i saw it was a service that included singing by a large teenage choir, and i don’t know why they were there, but only about half of them were Catholic, and they were all expected to file along towards the priest when it was time for the Catholics to receive communion. So about half of them got communion, and the rest got a blessing.
Which seems more reasonable in the context of “we asked a lot of non-Catholics to beatify our service with their voices” than in the context of Catholics who aren’t in good standing. The thing about leaving children alone in the pews was also an interesting perspective. I wonder what Catholics usually do with the little ones? I’d have thought they just walked along (or were carried) by a parent but skipped the communion part.
3 out of 4 of the elementary schools I attended (seriously, why weren’t the school polls mutiple choice?) still exist as elementary schools. The school I went to kindergarten through second grade closed immediately after my second grade school year and I have no idea what the address was, so I can’t check to see if the building was repurposed.
The middle school still exists, and the high school got a big addition in 2018 when it turned 30.
My wife, who is not Catholic but is versed in many things religious, says either they do the crossing the arms/get a blessing thing, or the priest might say “remember your baptism“. Or, if they are not unusually boisterous, they can just wait in the pew.
You could try looking for history of X school district, or some such. At any rate, if you want to take it that far.
My elementary school is still around and getting close to celebrating its centenary (in 1926) which is danged old for the Westside of Los Angeles!
I went to a Mormon wedding once. Reception was nauseatingly sweet fruit punch and bad cake. The hall (or whatever they call it) was empty less than 45 minutes after it began.
I was raised Catholic, and we were left in the pew if mom (and later dad, he was a convert) went to communion at the same time. It wasn’t a big deal. Little babies would be with their moms in the “crying room.”
I love pumpkin pie and like it extra spicy. I don’t care for the flavoring in anything else.
I attended multiple elementary schools.
I was reading the choices in Karen Lingel’s “Vegetable Robots Change our Life” poll and I thought they were going to be revealed as the titles of Robt. Williams’ paintings.
Because multiple choice polls in Discourse are broken and lose their votes, so I’ve stopped using them.
My elementary school and middle school are both exactly how they were when I went there. It’s in the town I worked in so I had reason to go in both many times over the years. My high school is the still there but they have done some major renovations and expansion.
My elementary and middle schools are the same. They’ve done a few upgrades to the classrooms, but the buildings haven’t changed.
My old high school, on the other hand, was completely rebuilt. In place of a sprawling one- story hexagonal red brick building, it’s now a hideous concrete two-story building (all new school construction in our town has had a Brutalist design for the past 15 years or so).
I have liked weddings, but it all depends on the circumstances. The less involved I am in the wedding, the more fun I generally have. The guests at my daughter’s wedding looked like they were enjoying themselves, but although I was very happy, I was just too exhausted to really enjoy the party. The wedding of my daughter’s best friend from high school? That was a blast.
I like chili either with beans or without beans.
(I now prepare to get lectured by both sides.)
I’m not sure what chili without beans even is. It might be great, but I’m not sure I would recognize it as “chili”.
I grew up in Southern NM, and while there are variants, I feel this represents the majority option on chili:
Made with pork and green chiles, no beef or beans. Growing up, that sort of stuff was considered Texas style chili and far inferior. To my tastes (and I acknowledge people are different) you’re supposed to put the emphasis on the chiles themselves, so a milder flavored meat like pork is perfect. It’s also a lot lighter IMHO, and easier to deal with in hot months, but that may all be in my head.
This is close to what I use, but living in Colorado it’s harder to get good hatch chiles, and I’m much more likely to sub Corona or another light flavored beer for half the chicken stock.
ETA - while I have my opinions, I’m not diving into the first/most authentic/most correct wars. That way lies madness.
Ooh, there’s nothing I love more than diving into food wars! Chile verde isn’t “chili”; it’s a completely different thing that no one thinks of outside New Mexico. That’s just as well, because they’d just screw it up. I voted “with beans” because I prefer it without meat (talk about screwing a dish up, eh?), so mine is all beans.
I would not eat the century-old Hydrox cookies, but I’d be willing to try the bog butter (based solely on the reputation of peat as a preserver), the olive oil, and the aged cheese. If it weren’t so late, I might be tempted to go back downstairs and “try” some of the aged cheese in my refrigerator right now!
Okay, which one of you bums did this?
Jeezis crackers, what’s wrong with you people? I give you this chance to connect with part of the Great American Past, and - whatever became of commitment, anyway? Man, I’m done.