Today, I want to talk about moles.  Oh, you are probably thinking, that I am talking about the kind that you find on your body.  When they look suspicious, you go to the doctor and he/she cuts them out and has them analyzed.  They are then found to be benign in most cases...and that is a good thing.

But, I am not talking about the moles that you find on your bodies.  I am referring to the moles that you read or hear about in mystery novels or in suspense movies.....or sometimes even in the White House.  So, by now, you are probably wondering why in the world I am bringing this up.  Am I involved in some sort of espionage?  No....not by a long shot.  My life is a mundane boring one.  But, recently, while at a crop, some women who sat in my group were talking about how an organizer of a scrapbooking group wanted to find out who was bad-mouthing her and sent in a mole.  The spy reported back to her and she then kicked the perpetrators out of the group.  Now, I am not sure of what warranted this exaggerated reaction, but something must have triggered it somehow.

So, what does this have to do with me?  Nothing really.  It was just an observation.  You see, I love going to group functions, namely crops, and letting my hair down and just hanging out with the ladies.  (I don't know what we will do if men ever start coming!)  I love sitting there and listening to the stories and jumping in with opinions that get debated.  It is not all gossip....we talk about the world and what is going on within it.  We come from all different walks of lives and look at things very differently from one another.  But, have you ever noticed, when you go to a crop, that some people are listening intently, yet rarely say anything at all? I have observed this in one of my groups, and I have to tell you that sometimes, my imagination stretches wide, and I imagine her being a mole.  Quite frankly, I don't think that I am that far off.

Now, here is the thing...I am a Pazzles fan.  I love my machine and promote it wherever I go because I really believe in it.  I do not work for Pazzles.  I have no affiliation with Pazzles.  I just love their product and I love how they run their business.  I love that they take us all seriously.  It is still small enough to be personable.  Okay...that being said...there are a lot of Cricket fans in my midst.  First of all, I want to say that I have absolutely nothing against the Cricket.  I have never owned a Cricket.  I had shopped for one initially, until I stumbled onto the Pazzles machine...and found the Pazzles to meet my preferences.  But, lately, I have noticed that there is a silent battle going on between Cricket owners and those who own other machines or who have abandoned ship.  I have noticed that the non-Cricket owners or owners who use technology and not the cartridges are more vocal than most because they hate the outcome of the lawsuit that Cricket posted.  In one of my crop groups, there is a person who is a diehard Cricket fan.  She is a wonderful person....very quiet though.  But, I always see her listening intently to these debates.  So, I surmise....is she a mole?  I hope that she is laughing if she is reading this....LOL.  But, that is how serious these businesses are becoming in our world.

Even the shopping industry sends out moles to their respective stores to see if customer service is up to par.  I remember being a high school aged clerk in the early seventies, when I was warned that there was a "shopper/mole" in the store.  I was told to be on my best behavior.  I actually had already waited on the person before I got the warning and surprisingly, got a good review....you know how much high school clerks love to gab and gab.  But, I must have been gabbing to the right person at the time. 

So, what is the point of this whole article?  There are moles all around us.  When you go for coffee, they are looking to see what variety you are drinking. When you go to church, they are looking to see how much you placed in the collection plate.  When you are watching television, they are monitoring what you are watching.  When you surf the net, they are making note of where you have been and send advertising your way.  When you are driving your car, they are monitoring whether or not you stopped long enough before making a right on red.  They are everywhere.  We all knew about the technology and how they monitor us.  Just be careful. And, I don't know about you, but have you noticed that whenever you are in a store and someone's cell phone rings, they answer it as though they are talking to someone from across the continent?!  Why is it that people's voices get much louder whenever they are on their cell phones?

I remember being in Michael's one time and could not help but overhear a woman talking about her sister's extra-marital affair to some guy named Mike.  We all heard about it.  She was disgusted at her sister for doing what she was doing and was advertising it loudly.  We both checked out at the same time and headed to our cars that were parked near one another when I heard a guy holler out to one of us. He was hollering a greeting to her....you guessed it...it was Mike.  I looked at her and grinned and she blushed from ear to ear.  I hope that she learned her lesson from that one.  But, it happens all around us with all of this technology.  But, you don't need technology to get an ear full either.

When you are at a crop and someone is talking about so and so....someone else is always listening.  So, first, we need to curb our gossiping.  But, second, we need to be careful of who is listening because though you may not be a victim...someone else could become one.  As with the girl in Michael's......even though nobody got hurt in that instance...what if Mike's daughter was in one of the aisles and was able to connect the dots?  How would she react to that information?  It would hurt her...and it could definitely hurt her mother...and put the daughter in the middle...trying to decide what to do...at too young of an age to have to deal with it.

So, in closing....watch out for moles.  But, likewise, be careful, lest you become a mole unknowingly....just through chatter with friends, on the phone, on the Internet....whatever.  News travels too fast for my liking these days....and all the while....some one is listening somewhere.  While most of it may be innocent or non-threatening....there can come a time when it is threatening in one way or another.  So, without being paranoid...just be careful and use common sense. Watch out for moles.