Loralee Reach

Well, the person booking , he/she, could call upon a delay or cancellation....I find the issue goes deeper than the screening or the booking ahead of time....I thing it is in fine boundary line with "who cares"...... My doctor charges 50 dollars for "no-show ups"...the dentist I went late today has a sign: "We cater to cowards and if that is not enough...we charge 90 dollars for not showing" I am sorry I did not make the point clear: either they pre pay or if they do not attend, they are billed to a credit card number provided at the time of booking. I do not understand why this happens...I had a call today that was pretty explicit "I need you now...I am to hard to wait"...I answer the call for a half hour because it was all I could offer in my schedule.....I request the same attention and the same deference....my time is not free! Loralee

Sara you are as always AWESOME!!!! My gentleman is a gentleman and I made a mistake today. He is unable to do this to anyone....I know him...my concern is with the previous non shows and the next non shows.....would I be reported if I kill them? Sara...would they put me out of Cerb????? Would you come with me and help? at least we will be two exiled gorgeous girls.....with a heavy wand and a pile of olive pits to through at them with a wind gun.....like that? LoraLee:lol:

Bravisimo Sara!!!! Go for it....it is very rewarding to have your own business...stay committed and firm...you will succeed beautiful!!!! All the best... LoraLee:wink:

As a new user of this forum I need the opinion of the ladies on how to deal with "no show ups". And I would like the point of view of the gentlemen also. This morning I had an appointment at 9 am....I waited and pm the gentleman...I am really concerned for him, may be an accident? may be an unexpected situation? I hope I can hear from him. This thread is more to deal with the no-show-ups from a financial point of view. From where I come and worked, this is a situation that does not happen because the donations are "ahead of time" or they are "billed" after the fact. The time of a booking is respected by both sides and implicitly known that if at 9:00 am -just to use this particular situation-( give or take 10 minutes)the client does not show up, the service provider waits the whole hour (or whatever length of time the appointment was booked for). If the person arrives, the time remaining is used and if he/she does not arrive, the donation is received or was received already. I was browsing previous comments regarding cancellations and I am surprised this happens with impunity on the side of the clients. This is an occupation rewarded in many ways apart form "donations" and I find it hard to believe the clients disrespect the time we wait for or expect not to donate when they don't show up.... What is your opinion on this matter? Thanks, and I hope my client this morning is alright, safe and sound; I know he is a gentleman and he would do the proper thing, I would not expect less from him. But....what about the remaining occurrences?????? Cordially, LoraLee

Alexis you are a gem and if I had a hat I will take it off for you!!!!!!!!! LoraLee (some people confuses things and it is too sad for them!!!)

That is exactly the issue.....how to quit???? I am sure some gentlemen had tried it....I know someone -out of Cerb- who did and went with a terrible withdrawal looking at every female as a desperate wolf..... it is an addiction that gives a "kick" and is hard to break..... LoraLee:sad:

Jabba you are a honey!!!!! I agree with you I do not have other choice in my brain to disagree..... I have a brother going through the same.....wife is cool, cold, freezing..... he is desperate, does not want to cheat....nice super good provider and great man.....he does not know what to do.... I understand yu and I am sure most of the gentlemen here do so!!!! Get your own room and play movies.... Hugs LoraLee:-)

Why men deny sex? By: Sruthi Appu World has a feeling that men are hungry for sex but it's not true. There are times when men too deny sex and the reasons for that could be many. Here are some of those reasons why a man would deny sex. 1.If a man is taking either antidepressants or blood pressure medication then his interest towards sex would be very low. Also these medicines can affect his sound sexual function. 2.People think that men during their twenties or teens are more inclined towards sex but studies prove that it's wrong. A man during this age tend to have inclination towards a sound sleep rather have sex. 3.Identity is another issue to have a lower sexual interest. If man has a confusion or the feeling that he is not been identified for what he is, he will lose interest in sex. Even depression can be one of the reasons. 4.Man wants his partner to have the same sexual interests like his, although they don't talk to their partner about this, deep inside a man long for a woman with similar sexual interest. If he feels that his partner is not of his kind, he usually withdraw from having sex. Also men experience lack of interest due to the things what his partner does during sex or how he experiences her body. 5.Men deny sex when they are undergoing any interpersonal issues. They deny it as a punishment for their partner. 6.Stress can be another reason for their lack of interest. This can come in any form like challenges at work, financial difficulties, personal issues etc. 7.These days masturbation is a serious threat to partnered sex. Men have started finding masturbation more interesting than partnered sex. 8.Men who face sexual dysfunction, like issues in erection, early or late ejaculation avoids sex. 9.Another interesting reason for lack of sexual interest is, some men hunt for a best place to have sex, unless they find the suitable place or circumstance, they stay away from sex.:confused:

[/url] John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman has finally spoken of the reasons that led him to murder the former Beatle in 1981. As reported by Spinner, Chapman was denied parole for the sixth time last week. During his hearing the 55-year old told the parole board what caused him to take Lennon's life, the BBC reports. In a published transcript of the interview Chapman said, "I wasn't thinking clearly. I made a horrible decision to end another human being's life, for reasons of selfishness. I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies." Chapman also explained that he had made a list of possible targets which included US talk show host Johnny Carson and screen star Elizabeth Taylor. Currently incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility in New York, where he works as a porter and a clerk in the law library, Chapman said a judge was willing to help him find employment and would provide a place to stay should his parole hearing be successful. For his part Chapman believes he's a different person, having found Jesus. In summing up he told the parole board, "I know him, he is with me, he is with me now, he is helping me speak to you now. Without him I am nothing, I would have been an even bigger nobody."

Old Dog, ANY NEWS ABOUT A CAR WHO FLIES???????????????? I really need one to get above the multitude, [articularly when the "sales" are on....LOL LoraLee

Okay Pete.....ther eis room for 2 there? that is all I want from a man....a room for 2............. LL:ablow:

Teched.....can we go for a ride at a dealers.....I would love to....let me know... LoraLee xoxoxoxo

I really believe men (and women) are not monogamous. The subject of "Variety" is always well received by practicing males. If a female declares that she wants variety, she will be considered a nymphomaniac, More or less we agree that times from Christopher Columbus have changed....but the reality is different. In our developed societies the stigma of variety is a double sword and love does not have to do anything with it. Love is care, and many more other qualities, but probably hobbying is the escape from routine, boredom and the physiological need of man to "procreate", Women are maternal and most of my clients certify that when they say to me that their wives do not want sex...and if they are convinced to engage in it, they are boring and unappealing...in other words the male sex drive is not interested.... The question of "infidelity" has to be raised in a different way: What is fidelity? is it castrating the male? castrating the female? Is fidelity one of the vows couples swear to each other? Is accepted that males as well as females are both providers in financial needs...it is also well accepted that men have a natural tendency to promiscuity and females should belong only to their men and raise their children at home.... I am very glad I have met many females who are different and many males who stand apart from the crowds, but in general and going back to "infidelity" the question should be What is fidelity?? My little opinion! Loralee:bowdown:

A company truck with a nice cabin? he, he, he LL:cool:

Old Dog...you must realize by now that Spud likes tiny environments with his chicks....., right Spud???? LoraLee:wink:

Let's see which car you choose ...at the moment my sexiest car is the one I drive, but if possible I would love a Mercedes 800....wow....what a car....tell us about you ladies and gentlemen... LoraLee The 7 Sexiest Cars Of 2010 by admin on 15. May, 2010 in Car Shows Every person expects something different from a car ? some want a SUV like the 2010 Ford Explorer, others want a Porsche 918 Spyder. Car manufacturers try their best to meet these expectations. For some a car is a statement, a few get cars that best describe them and for some it?s just transport. Here you can see the best cars picked for the year 2010. The cars showcased at the 80th International Geneva Motor Show make the future of automobiles appear bright and shiny. The power of these mean machines was not dimmed even by the lovely motor show booth babes. Those of you who feel left out missed out on the babes but can definitely catch the top cars for this year. In no particular order: Koenigsegg Agera- Every car must grow from its previous design and the Koenigsegg Agera is a proof of that. This masterpiece is sculpted from a fine mesh of carbon fiber and aluminum. Powered by a 4.7 liter V8 engine it can jumpstart this 1290 Kg animal from 0-100 in well under 3.1 seconds. A car that was designed to stay well ahead of any curve, the Agera is often thought of as an evolution of the CCX. Other features include a set of wheels that are made to generate a vortex as they are more useful in sucking hot air away from the brakes region. Hot air escapes the engine through holes in the taillights thus making the whole scene appear like oval doughnut taillights. With a raw power of 910 hp at over 7000 rpm there is no telling what this beast is capable of. Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid- A Charm to look at, this open two-seater plug in hybrid sports car has a fluid cooled lithium ion battery that gives it the perfect charge. This sly Spyder is often called the predator of the road and it exhibits a modern slipstream carbon fiber design that races from 0-100 Kmph in no more than 3.2 seconds. Although it has a top speed of almost 320 Kmph its fuel efficiency is not compromised and it can give up to 35 Km per liter. This amounts to 70 grams CO2 per Km which is considered an excellent achievement for a beast which runs on a powerful V8 engine that roars once it?s on the street. Alfa Romeo Giulietta- the Italians do more than bake bread and the perfect example of their achievements in the field of automobiles is the Giulietta. This aerodynamic hatchback with five doors has the requisite dynamic features to show both comfort and aggression. Second only to their pizzas and spaghetti, this car?s base model runs on a 1.4 liter multi-air turbocharged gas engine and the higher cloverleaf model performs its best on a 235 horse power 1.75 liter turbocharged gas engine. Mercedes F800 Style- the F800 shows a clearly mature and responsible design as it sees Mercedes in the form of a spacious five-seater sedan which has a more futuristic approach to the car?s external styling and also in its approach to the environment. Its plug in hybrid gives almost over 400 bhp of raw power and this in combination with the fuel cells system and the electric drive offer a very good drive and reach speeds of over 375 Kmph. A 300hp direct injection V6 gas engine and a 109hp hybrid module allow the car to function perfectly with and without fuel and also allowing it to run close to 18 miles on pure electricity. That by any standards is an achievement. Audi A1- How many of you fell in love with the Audi in the movie ?The Transporter?? The brand new Audi A1 will have you crave for one of your own. A single look at it is enough to get your jaws to drop. With an exterior style that can be compared to the likes of Mini Cooper, this car provides both a front wheel and back wheel drive mechanism options. The tax issues imposed on Audi make it almost impossible for it to appear on the US markets till 2015 but its features are well worth the wait. It comes in four doors as well as in two doors. A fully customized interior and LED and xenon lights make this car a pleasure to behold. Ferrari 599 HY KERS- another Italian makes the top as Ferrari gives the world one more beauty. This stallion comes with a green makeover and features Ferrari?s latest regenerative braking technology integrated into seven dual clutch transmission and installed right below the centre of gravity of the car. The car?s already powerful V12 engine is further enhanced by the 100horse power that is added by the KERS system which weighs almost 40 Kilograms. Apart from these features it can even drive on pure electricity which is suitable for city drivers. Lotus Evora- No motor show is complete without Lotus displaying its precision engineering. This year Lotus has a 1382 Kilogram 3.5 liter V6 mid-engine sports car that speeds from 0-100 in only 5.1 seconds. Apart from offering a top speed of 231kmph this lightweight sports car consumes only 8.7 liter of fuel for every 100 km travelled with a carbon emission of less than 205 g per km of CO2. A rear diffuser and a spoiler and installed to use aerodynamics tricks to keep the car stable at high speeds. Since it uses Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs it should flow about smoothly. The sense of having a good interior is not lost on Lotus as they cushion Evora?s interior with air conditioning, tire pressure monitoring system, a remote garage door opener and leather seating. An alpine audio system with provisions for iPod and Bluetooth connectivity are some of the other features used in this car. Bonus Car

The Swedish model is ridiculous.... Is is Buying sex? or, Selling sex? The reality, all over the world as a well traveled person knows, is that either Buying or Selling is around the globe an activity practiced by women and men in whatever sex category they fit. My opinion is that keeping the trade illegal is only calling for more trade. Nevertheless the sex with minors is a criminal, immoral and amoral activity and those who practice it should be jailed or worst. Sex is the ruler of the world and it will never ever be different.....enjoy it!!!! LoraLee

From The Sunday Times The women who are redefining 50 Jerry, Madonna and the wild new fiftysomethings prove this is the decade for work, sex, fun and freedom BY: :jackoff:Emma Soames div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color: rgb(0, 102, 204); } When I was in my mid-forties, I left my house one morning all dolled up for a big day at the office ? the highest heels, my sharpest suit and the cleanest hair imaginable. I really cut the mustard, or so I thought. Tragically, I found my car had a flat tyre, so I stood in the road holding the jack, looking helpless. A young man stopped and changed the tyre while I burbled effusive thanks, and offered him a tenner. But he wouldn?t take it, saying, ?Oh, I?ve got a mother.? I had never felt so deflated in my entire life. But the dirty Damascene deed was done ? despite considerable investment in the skills of a dermatologist, I realised that I did not look the age I felt. That I could indeed be somebody?s mother. Indeed, self-deluding fool that I was, I was somebody?s mother (and for a brief time I used to lie about her age, too). Hitting your fifties does involve some painful moments of insight and a pervasive feeling of dread that the party is over. I was lucky that I got through these severe misgivings before my actual fiftieth birthday, which in itself demanded some thought: was I going to pretend that this was just another birthday party or should I declare my age? In the end, the invitations to the smartest party I?ve ever given went out with my age on them ? much to the annoyance of friends the same age who had decided to keep quiet about theirs. And now, some years into my fifties, I can say that this has been a great decade and I should never have worried. It was unheard of even a few years ago, but now women in their fifties are in demand as fashion models and brand ?faces?. Many of the big names are still working and some ? see Twiggy ? have enjoyed a blazing rebirth. This season, we have Madonna (whose attitude to hitting 50 has been typical, if somewhat extreme: divorce, another makeover and a world tour) displaying her tush for Louis Vuitton; Marie Helvin, 56, playing poster girl for M&S?s new Portfolio range; and Jerry Hall, newly hired at 52 as the ?new old face? of Chanel, as she puts it. Dear Jerry may have been jilted in her forties, but here she is, out the other side, thriving as a fiftysomething singleton with a book in progress, languid and lovely ? and, with a Chanel toyboy at her side, looking fabulously fiftysomething. She said recently: ?A career is for life, a man isn?t.? And she seems to be right on both counts. If these women are role models, they are pushing at an open door, as so many fiftysomethings are redefining the possibilites of the sixth decade. In the past three years, I have retooled my career, allowing me to work from home. I have more freedom, I have time for my friends and I have acquired a bolthole in France big enough to house small groups of friends and family. (It?s amazing how popular a pool in the sun makes you with people under 25.) And all the people I know who are reaching the same age seem to be having a seriously good time. I have friends who are newly single, some in blissful new relationships and just a few still happily hanging on in there with their first model. Compare and contrast with the lives of our own dear parents. In their fifties, they were counting the days to retirement, making their wills and practising near-Buddhist levels of acceptance. Divorce was a rare event and not regarded as an option. Back then, a dark cloak of invisibility descended on women over 45. Perhaps after traversing the menopause without HRT, they were simply exhausted and happy to embrace grey hair and comfortable shoes. My mother never shopped at Biba in the way that I work Topshop. The fashion industry has woken up to the spending power of fashion-savvy women in their fifties. (If you have that gene, you don?t lose it.) The recession is concentrating the minds of designers wonderfully, for they now have to follow the money rather than the red carpet: the over-fifties currently own 80% of the wealth of this country. If we are in a profession, we are probably at the height of our earning powers, our kids have left home and we are experiencing a giddy sense of freedom that quite often leads to the dumping of long-term partners. As Fay Weldon said recently: ?Women in their fifties instigate divorce because they?re bored. But there?s work, money and friends out there the other side of marriage. They?re after what comes next.? And what comes next does include sex. A recent poll shattered the myth that sex stops at 50, revealing that 65% of the over-50s have regular sex ? also shown by the rising rates of STIs among the many in this age group who practise unprotected sex. (The thinking goes that we?re not going to get pregnant now, are we?) With an arsenal of beauty products and procedures available, some cosmetic surgeons are finding that their fiftysomething clients expect the works ? face, breast reductions, liposuction. Fifty no longer looks old. It looks well-groomed, sophisticated and sort of ageless. As Tina ?I?m not 69 in my head? Turner told Saga Magazine last month, ?If you take care of yourself, 60 is nothing for women. These days, you can be the kind of woman you want to be.? Deepak Chopra, the wellbeing guru and author, agrees. According to him: ?We have been given a new old age.? Thus, 50 may be the end of the beginning of your life, but it is merely the dawn of what comes next. It promises to be something very different to how our parents got old. Indeed, unless you have ambitions to be a television presenter, the 21st century is a great time to be a woman in your fifties. It?s much like swimming in the North Sea in August ? a terrible shock when you hit the water, but lovely once you?re in.

Lester Henry Mug Shot 2009 Boone County Sheriff's Department Police in Burlington, Kentucky say they arrested a man who was doing just that at the Main Branch of the Boone County Library. But guess what? He wasn't even using the computer to look at porn. Police say Lester Henry, 58, was watching wrestling videos while he engaged in self-stimulation, according to WCPO.com. :-?LoraLee....:?

Antler, you got it!!!! LoraLee xxoxoxxooo

Thanks ED..... LL

Scotttttttt? if there was babies....either the condoms were broken by too much heat...or.....they did not use them...right????LOL ED, who is Sheik????? LL

ha, ha, What school are you attending????? lol LoraLee:rolleyes:

The Antonio Villas Boas Account by Nigel Watson Source: Fortean Times March 23, 1999 The adventure of 23-year-old Antonio Villas Boas on 16 October 1957 in Brazil is probably the most famous case of interstellar intercourse. Antonio was ploughing a field on the family farm when the engine of his tractor cut out; at the same time, an object with purple lights descended from the sky. Humanoids in spacesuits emerged from the object and took him into their craft, subjecting him to what seemed like a medical examination. They stripped him, spread a strange liquid over him and took a sample of his blood. He was left alone in a room for what seemed a long time, until a beautiful, fair-haired woman arrived. Without speaking or kissing, they had sex, during which she growled like a dog. Despite his strange circumstances or perhaps because the alien liquid had Viagra-like properties Antonio was soon ready for a second helping. Interviewed later, he said: "Before leaving she turned to me, pointed to her belly, and smilingly pointed to the sky." Antonio went on to become a successful lawyer and still stood by his story over 30 years later. Howard Menger, for one, had regular meetings with Marla, a beautiful blonde from space who claimed to be 500 years old. She projected "warmth, love and physical attraction," which he found irresistible. Menger divorced his wife to marry Marla (aka Connie Weber). From July 1952, Truman Bethurum had many meetings with Aura Rhanes, the captain of a flying saucer, whom he found to be "tops in shapeliness and beauty". Bethurum's wife wasn't so impressed with this "queen of women" and cited Rhanes in her divorce petition. This is more than made up for by the astonishing story of Elizabeth Klarer, who in 1956 fell in love with Akon, a scientist who took her to his home planet, Meton. There, he seduced her, saying: "Only a few are chosen for breeding purposes from beyond this solar system to infuse new blood into our ancient race." "I surrendered in ecstacy to the magic of his lovemaking," she wrote later. Klarer said their "magnetic union" produced a perfect and highly intelligent son named Ayling. She was sent back to South Africa alone and died in 1994; as far as we know her starman and son live on somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri. Antonio Villas Boas claimed to have done what any healthy young man would have done in the same situation; he and Elizabeth Klarer delivered the goods, helping to save an alien race from extinction. Scientific ufologists, more interested in 'hard' evidence (like radar traces, photographs and forensic samples) condemn this 'wet' material as too subjective, relegating claims of sexual assault and abduction to the fields of psychology and folklore (which they likewise distrust). When ufologist John Keel visited college communities in Northeast America during the mid-1960s, several young women told him they had been raped by aliens, and young men confessed that aliens had extracted their semen. By the 1970s, the idea of hybrid 'space babies' was more widely known but taken seriously only by UFO cultists who, said Keel, feared, that "the flying saucer fiends are engaged in a massive biological experiment creating a hybrid race which will eventually take over the Earth." John E. Mack and David Jacobs openly declared their belief that the 'Greys' were taking sperm and ova from human abductees. It was common to hear female abductees tell of being impregnated, of the ftus taken from their wombs, and of later being shown their hybrid babies in a nursery on a flying saucer. In the 1970s, a 19-year-old Californian girl attributed the birth of a blue-skinned, web-footed baby to being gang raped by six blue-skinned web-footed humanoids who attacked her after she watched their spaceship land on a beach. Similar stories of lusty mermen (the ocean has some affinity with space) can be found in folklore and are usually given as explanation for the birth of deformed babies with reptilian or fish-like characteristics. In the past, hundreds of men and women confessed (not always under torture) to sexual intercourse with demons. Some shapeshifting demons were said to lie with a man (as a succubus) to obtain sperm and then (as an incubus) impregnate a woman with it. Ufologists, in particular, have been aware of the structural similarities between accounts of fairy and alien encounters. A recent study by James Pontolillo compared 1517th century accounts of sexual relations with demons to 20th century encounters with aliens and concluded that both traditions expressed a fundamental fear of female sexuality but today the male body and mind are just as likely to be under attack. Communion author Whitley Strieber famously described being sodomised by a narrow, 1ft (0.3m)-long alien probe. He felt that, while inside him, it seemed alive and was surprised, on its removal, to find it was a mechanical device. In my own research I have interviewed 'Martin Bolton' who had visions of, and telepathic communications with, three young space women. On behalf of these entities, he window-shopped for female attire and watched porn films. They were the 'goodies'; the 'baddies' beamed pain to his brain and for a three-year period stretched his penis during the night. On several occasions they afflicted him with phantom pregnancies. Historian David Jacobs who offers accounts, in his book, of abductees compelled to have sex with fellow victims while aliens watched speaks for many who believe that the apparently spontaneous experience of abduction by so many different people implies the phenomenon really exists as an objective threat. Yet Rogerson has demonstrated that most of the elements of the abduction narrative appeared together as early as 1967 in "The Terror Above Us" by Malcolm Kent. This science fiction novel anticipated such ufological themes as the 'Oz factor' (the sensation of being transported to a different reality), the supernatural cold, the doorway amnesia (the informant cannot remember what went on inside a room after entering), the alien in disguise, and impersonal scientists experimenting on humans. For good measure, the story also includes a male protagonist having his genitals examined before sex with an alien female. Another critic of the hybrid-breeding idea is British ufologist Peter Brookesmith, who compared the described activities of the alien 'doctors' with the procedures used by terrestrial fertility specialists. He found that the alien inseminators singularly fail to take their subjects at the premium time for egg removal, namely within 48 hours of ovulation. And the aliens are just as likely to be confused by 'missing' fetuses as are humans, given the general difficulty of diagnosing pregnancy within the first eight weeks. For all their cosmic superiority, the alien inseminators can make pretty elementary, and farcical, errors. Aliens inserted a long needle into Betty Andreasson's navel. They said their purpose had to do with creation and were puzzled to find 'something' missing. Andreasson had to explain to them that she'd had a hysterectomy. Whatever the genesis of such reports, we have to consider that folk have reported sexual contact with all manner of supernatural beings throughout history. Either the aliens have been conducting their beastly experiments for millennia, or such stories meet some deep-seated socio-psychological need. Until any solid medical evidence is provided, the latter hypothesis seems the more likely. This article by NIGEL WATSON can be found in Fortean Times 121. It is printed with a fully anotated reference guide. http://www.forteantimes.com/artic/121/artic/thisiss.htm I am appalled..... LoraLee:?:?:?

Back to School Shopping with a New Twist Published September 01, 2010 by: Annette Robbins Remember the days when school shopping meant going to the local retailer and purchasing items such as pencils, scissors, crayons and other academic paraphernalia and buying that "must have" first day of school outfit? Well, in case you have been far removed from school shopping, let me give you an update on the new school shopping lists. Teachers have long dug deeply into their pockets to buy school supplies for their classes but now students and their families are being asked to help supply schools with needed schools supplies for the coming school year. I accompanied my daughter to Walmart recently to do school shopping and was amazed at the items required for her to purchase for the first day of school for her two young children. She was not shopping for school clothes or the usual school supply items. Instead, I noticed Ziploc bags, markers of certain colors, glue as well as those well known black and white composition books, backpacks, paper items such as paper towels listed on a paper that she was clutching in her hand. The composition book had to be in four different colors and not the usual black and white composition books that we all know from our school days. I was unaware that the ubiquitous black and white composition book is now manufactured in different colors. As I moved about the aisles stocked with a myriad selection of school supplies, I noted parents and children intently looking for the requested items on their list. In fact in our state, when you shop at the large retail stores, at its entrance you will often see school shopping lists for that particular school district so that you can shop for the exact items needed for your particular school. It is my understanding that this shopping trip will be conducted again for the spring semester to replenish the school supplies. So, what caused the change from the usual school supply list to the now enlarged school shopping list that includes classroom and janitorial supplies? The answer plain and simple is budget cuts. Communities across the country have repeatedly publicized cuts that impact the available funds for purchasing even the most basic of school supplies. School buses no longer maintain their regular routes and in some districts bus routes no longer exist and parents have the full responsibility of transporting their children to and from school. In other school districts, children are asked to provide their own plastic cutlery to eat lunch. Are these changes an indictment against our school system or is it a trend that we should embrace without reservation? We acknowledge that we live in perilous financial times but it seems to me that some areas need to be left untouched unless absolutely necessary to cut: education is one area that I think should not be placed on the proverbial chopping block until all avenues to save money have been exhausted. Impact upon families Another concern is how are families who may be struggling with financial cutbacks within their households due to unemployment or underemployment able to handle this extra burden? If there are several children in the family with several different lists, you can see how the costs mount to further throw the family budget in disarray. Is there a "penalty" for families that are unable to meet their shopping list obligation? Do other families feel that they are taking on more responsibility unfairly when some families are unable to shoulder their fair share-- questions that have no easy answer when you stop and seriously consider the implications. Possible Alternative Action We recognize that when problems arise, we need to consider possible options to effectively resolve the problem. Would it be reasonable instead of families frantically looking for the exact items on the school shopping list for the schools to ask for a specified amount of money from each family to contribute to the purchase of school supplies? The money could then be spent at a local school supply store where supplies could be purchased in quantity? Would that make the dollar stretch further than each family purchasing the items individually? Admittedly, some families perhaps would not be able to give the specified amount of money but if the families are informed early in the summer or at the end of the school year of the projected contribution for the new school year, they could most likely budget for the required contribution. Families could form a school supplies purchasing pool and share the costs by separating and shopping for the listed items. Throughout the summer, keep your eyes open for sales and purchase the items over time instead of all at once. Dollar stores are a good place to purchase commonly used school supplies and helps to keep your budget intact Whether this extended school shopping trend will continue will be determined in the future. I am dismayed that families now have this added responsibility. One good result may be that families may become more involved with their local schools which would be a remarkable benefit. I think most families are willing to do their fair share but I wonder how and if the fair share can be distributed equally in today's economy. Just a question. Meanwhile, in spite of the new and revised school shopping list, my wish is that all of our students will have a productive, meaningful school year in spite of budget cuts and unconventional school shopping lists. Study well, students.:???: