Lunch, a Scarf, and a Non-Discussion

Betty called early to ask if I was available for lunch, so Aline and I met her at Italian Gourmet and we had a pleasant one.  After, we all went to Shop-Rite to pick up a few items.  A. and I parted from Betty and we made a stop at the cemetery; I was glad to see the pretty Gerber daisies are still on Jay's grave and that the azaleas on Pat's are blooming nicely.
Got an e-mail from dear friend, Marge, who's suffering with very bad allergies, as well as sore knees, and to top it off, a bladder infection.  I was glad to hear from her and will write back.  Hope to get over there to visit sometime.
Received a darling Mother's Day card and bug-repellent scarf from that sweet girl (and guy) in Tokyo. The scarf is labeled as actually able to protect from insects.  I'm intrigued and can't wait to try it out.  (There are plenty of bugs in southern Jersey, that's a cinch.)
Took a drive late in the day, as I often do.  Went up Route 539, then down Route 9 to Barnegat and, on the way, stopped at various eateries to pick up takeout menus, which I'll send to Michigan.  Send to--?
Okay, here's the explanation: In Reminisce magazine, I saw a letter from a woman in Michigan who collects takeout menus and asked readers to send them.  Decided to do so and have been collecting with that in mind.
Women's Club luncheon today, for which I'll pick Leslie up.
WIDER:  I fell into a casual conversation with a clerk and another patron at the library yesterday, to wit: militarism.  Automatically, the other two mouthed the slogans which are almost as horrifying for their banality as they are for their brutal tone: "If we don't stop them, we'll all be wearing burkas," and "we have to make sure our enemies don't win...I was a marine...I'm patriotic...we need to defend our country..." and so on and on.  In other words, there was no discussion, no back-and-forth of ideas and beliefs, no coherent and principled point of view.  I heard only the mindless and mechanical expression of cliches dreamed up by a legion of cynical advertising hacks in the employ of those human horrors, politicians.
Depressingly, this seems a virtually universal circumstance in "discussions" of this kind: the adopting of words empty of meaning, designed to limit conversation and thought, not expand them.  Oh, yes, Orwell knew.