Flood relief efforts and teasing

The Johnson household is doing what it can to help the flood victims in the Fargo area by taking in this pathetic litte group:

Dad stayed in Fargo to sandbag, protect the house, and minister to his church flock, but Mom. the boys and Willie the dog came down for an unexpected but very welcome visit. So far their home in Fargo is dry. Keeping our fingers crossed for them and all those living near the Red River.

Our big question - who is going remove all those sandbags piled up by the hundreds of volunteers when this is over and what will they do with the sand? Inquiring minds want to know.

Like most families, ours has tradition. It's sort of fun to see this one go multi-generational. When Carrie was small, I teased her that they put signs like this out just for her.

And now Paul gets the same treatment. As you can tell his ego is taking a real bruising.

I suppose everyone knows about when it is OK to tease and when it is not, but it might be worth repeating. Fun, even affectionate, teasing is about something that the person  feels confident (in this case Paul and his mom's intelligence). Mean teasing is poking fun of something about which the other person feels insecure. Easy as that.

There are those who would like to see teasing abolished completely. Are there are enough other sources of humor that teasing wouldn't be missed?

Comments

[Sandra McLeroy]

Doug
As I've watched the news about Fargo and the rest of ND, I've thought about your kids hoping they were were safe and dry.

Hope the river doesn't do any more harm and they return to normal.

I'm glad you posted this. Thanks!
sandra

[Susan Sedro]

Hi Doug,
Was just delighted to see your name among the list of presenters for next year's ASB Un-Plugged. I was already hoping to attend. Now I'm even more excited. So many of your blog posts make the rounds here among our tech coordinators. We appreciate your insights and wisdom.

All the Best,
Susan Sedro

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Sandra,

Thanks much for the message. I am happy the kids are here and high and dry!

Doug

Hi Susan,

Really looking forward to coming to India - first time for me. Say, if you read this, send me your email address. I can't seem to find it.

Thanks,

Doug