Berlin Law Firm May 2018

Berlin Law Firm May 2018

LEX CANIS THE

The Month of May: Then and Now

Whenever I see that May is coming up, I usually get a little excited. I will be honest, May has always been one of my favorite months. Besides May Day, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day, I look forward to great weather and longer days. As a kid growing up in Montana, May meant that the gloom of winter and heavy rain of April — with the possibility of snow — was finally over or coming to an end. May also marked the end of the school year and the official start of summer. May was that near-perfect month with school winding down. Everyone seemed happier, there was great weather, and the hard ranch work of summer was still weeks away. It was exciting and fun. I looked forward to summer, even though it meant that I’d be out working on the ranch with rigorous rules and responsibilities. Every year, since we were a little older, Dad would let my brothers and me do a little more than we attempted the previous summer. However, those issues seemed so far away as we enjoyed May. I remember the month starting out with May Day. In school, we would make the May Day baskets and bring them home to give to our moms. After school, my brothers and I had about a quarter-mile walk between the bus stop and our house. We walked home, then would veer off into the fields and start picking

wildflowers, putting them in our baskets. She would see us and just watch while we fought over the best flowers — each of us wanted to have the best basket for our mom. As a young boy, Mother’s Day was an exciting time, and we were eager to impress our mom by making her breakfast in bed. As I think back upon those special meals, maybe we were more excited about them than she was. We would wake up early in the morning and make this huge breakfast that was created with love, but which failed in its execution. We would take our creation into the bedroom, and Mom would put on a smile, genuinely thanking us while slowly eating parts of each item on the tray. We had the good intention of not wanting her to cook, but we would make quite a mess of the kitchen. I’m sure when she got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, it probably looked like a war zone. But like any loving mother, she never once complained. When comparing my memories of May as a kid to my memories of the month as an adult, May is still that ideal month for me. It has this almost Christmas-like sense of anticipation in the air all month long. Now, minus the tornadoes, May is almost a perfect month in Oklahoma — not too hot and not too cold. Things are starting

to dry out, but the struggles of another hot Oklahoma summer haven’t hit us yet. It’s one of the best times of year to play tennis, and we can play nearly every day of the week without it being miserably hot or cold. My wife Estelle is out there playing in a half- dozen leagues right now and having a great time. May also brings perfect Oklahoma evenings for grilling or spending time outside with family and friends. Start thinking about your summer plans now. Let the excitement and anticipation of those plans build through May, and let this be the year you do something you have always wanted to do but never seem to find the time for. Take a real three-day weekend over the Memorial Day holiday, and do something amazing. Stop what you are doing, book that vacation, and let May be the kickoff to summer it has always been for me. After you get back from your amazing vacation, don’t forget to send in your photos to [email protected] so that we can feature one of our favorite vacation submissions from our readers in an upcoming issue. - Lee Berlin

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Berlin Law Firm • DefendingTulsa.com

Advanced Social Media Is Something to Worry About The Dangers of Kik Messenger With all of the new social media options available, it’s important to keep in mind the safety of children who use social media apps. Teens and younger kids can use these apps with very little supervision. The further we advance in social media, the more vulnerable we become, and we need to be aware of that. Kik messaging, also called “Kik,” is one of these apps to watch out for. Kik is a messaging app that offers more anonymity than regular texting. While many messenger apps use phone numbers as identifiers, Kik users can create usernames that are more difficult to trace. Because of this increased anonymity, Kik has become such a popular sexting platform that the app’s name is now synonymous with the practice. The main function of the app is to create one-on-one chats, group chats (with up to 49 other users), anonymous chats, and promoted chats that enable you to send messages, pictures, videos, and GIFs. This allows users to chat and to follow different brands in music, entertainment, and more. Kik also offers internal apps through its browser to encourage users to remain within the app itself. These internal apps include sticker apps, meme generators, games, and dating-style apps such as Match & Chat and Flirt! They work in a way similar to Tinder, matching users by factors such as age and gender. What’s worrying about this process is the ease with which a user can chat to other users of any age group. For example, users can choose to chat with teen users. Besides the potential risks from using Kik’s dating-style apps, there are other dangers to watch out for. These can include cyberbullying, viewing or sharing inappropriate content, and chatting with strangers — all of which are easily done through Kik. To help avoid these problems, rules should be put into place to keep your child safe. Only share >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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