Opinion: Which one is right?

People squabble over the silliest stuff. There is a never-ending debate going on as to which way a roll of toilet tissue should be hung on the rack. Some insist the roll hangs with the top and the first square on the roll hanging draped to the front. That is how we hang it in our water closets.

If you have a large family be grateful there is a roll of tissue at all.

Another constant debate is if the toilet seat should be left-up or put-down.

Women, if there is a man in your house you can bet putting the seat down on the toilet is a low priority item for him. Deal with it. Save your ire for something that really matters. Teach your sons to put the seat in the down position if you can, but don’t be such a control freak that it becomes a major issue. In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff!

When I was in high school, my mother had this horrible Pepto-Bismol pink fluffy toilet tank covering with a matching lid and seat covering complimented by a pink bath mat.

She really thought these commode coverings were the height of home decoration.

When I was 16 years old, I nagged a guy I knew into teaching me how to change the oil in my 1962 Buick Le Sabre. He was annoyed I didn’t let him get around to it in his own sweet time, so he walked me through the process.

I crawled under the car and removed the plug from the oil pan. My “friend” didn’t tell me that I needed a container for the oil to drain into.

Here I am, under the car and I unscrewed the plug. I get a face full of oil that drenched my hair and my clothes. I also lost my friend that day, too, because he thought it was funny to let me make a mess in the driveway.

During the cleanup process, I needed multiple baths and shampoos. I also got really old, cruddy motor oil all over my mother’s bath accessories.

Multiple washing at the Bridge Store Laundromat did little to get the oil stains out of all that pink fur.

That day, my mom worked the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift at the Snow-White Drive-In. When she came home, she about exploded at the mess I had made trying to wash off all that oil. What infuriated her more than the ruined bath ensemble came when she asked me:

“So, did you learn anything by this?”

My answer, that I learned how to change the oil in my car, just infuriated her more.

After a couple of days of being in the doghouse with her, she repeatedly asked me what I learned from the experience. I finally asked her what she expected me learn.

She said, I should have learned that when you change the oil in a car you need a drip pan when you remove the plug or you will get oil all over everything.

I don’t think we used the expression “Duh!” in the early 1970s, but that is what I thought at the time.

Never again have I tried to change the oil in one of our automobiles. I did learn that much.

When she moved out to Dixieland to live in a mother-in-law’s cabin on our five acres place, I finally replaced her bath mat and all the rest.

People know how fond I am of the color red. My mother was blue — royal blue. The items I replaced for her pink ones were royal blue, just her shade. She and my dad had a difference of opinion when it came to the color blue. Daddy would buy her something in turquoise or aqua blue. To her, the color was green, a shade of green she didn’t like. We were both primary color kind of people. No pastels or the various shades of beige. Give me red, green, yellow, blue, purple, black, brown and white.

A box of eight crayons had all the colors I ever needed. The box with 64 colors in it with the crayon sharpener in the back were way cool, but all I really needed was a box of eight.

To all my friends who have given up something enjoyable for lent, I salute you. This year I’m giving up algebra and maybe geometry for lent. Sacrifices must be made.

Long days and pleasant nights. Have a great weekend.

• • •

Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.