Meme Time
Amelie has tagged me for another meme. This one, intriguingly enough, asks for "Five things society at large enjoys, but that I just don't get...." That shouldn't be too hard.So, without further ado...
1. Bare midriffs. I just don't get the bare midriff thing. It's so tacky. And let's face it, many of those people sporting bare midsections should really be hiding it under a rock. It is dumb fashion. It is not elegant. And it isn't even sexy in that "I wonder..." kind of way. Tacky. Cheap. It is a trailer trash look.
2. The hoi polloi's fascination with Paris Hilton. She's a fake celebrity. She's not talented, she's not attractive, and she's not funny. As far as I can tell, she's the equivalent of a horny 13-year-old boy with an excessive amount of money. She has a piss-poor reality show that features her making an utter ass of herself - and not in an amusing fashion - all the while proving how little class she actually has. To be honest, I'm stunned that she is actually wealthy, because I'd have expected somebody to have beaten some manners into her before now. She annoys the hell out of me for so many reasons. What a waste! Her parents could afford to have sent her to Harvard - if only she had a brain. I find it highly ironic that her mother is now on a different reality show teaching people how to be sophisticated and enoy the finer life - when her daughter talks like a trucker trying to get a 24-hour truck stop waitress into the sack.
3. Instant messaging on cell phones. Why would I instant message someone from my phone when I could call them? Speaking is a more efficient means of instant communication, after all, and it is a phone's primary function. Moreover, you have to learn all of this shorthand and learn to type using a keyboard consisting of 9 buttons for 26 characters. If I want to send a message, can I not send an email? Or, since I'm on my phone, leave a voicemail message? I don't understand IM, and I probably never will.
4. People who don't spank their own kids. This is a big pet peeve of mine. I'm not suggesting that you abuse your child. Not at all. But, spankings are an important message to developing humans. What good is it to threaten your child incessantly if you never follow through? I'll tell you what that gets you: a child who doesn't listen to what you say. I have heard people tell their kids not to do something 3 consecutive times. When the kid doesn't give up the behavior, the parent gives up. That's an excellent lesson for little Johnny. "All I have to do is wait her out." I dont' even think spankings need to hurt. To me, spankings are about shock and humiliation. You have to break that behavior in the child before it is too late. Isn't it smarter to tap a toddler on his well-padded, diapered bum to teach him to share or be polite than, say...wait until he's a 14-year-old pain in the ass who ignores everything you say? How can you be the authority in your own home if your children don't listen to you? Children have to learn the concept of consequences early, else they are handicapped in the rest of their life by an impression that nothing can harm them and there is no greater authority. Moreover, spankings are a safety thing. You can't have a toddler playing with matches or the buttons on the stove. You catch them at it, you sternly say "no" and give a swat to make an impression. Or else next time the baby's crib will be on fire or you'll have a third-degree burn on a little arm. Will you be proud of your moral stance on spanking then? No. I think spankings are an act of love. I love you so much I don't want you to accidentally hurt yourself or turn into a rude little turd, so I spank. You'll thank me later.
5. People who think I shouldn't have any say in my own Social Security. I have to pay into a system for 50-some odd years and get absolutely no say in how that money is spent. Let's consider, shall we? Suppose I am required to buy food every week for 50 years, but get no say in what I buy. Is that right? Suppose I pay for electricity every month for the rest of my life, but get no say in when I can use any? Suppose I pay for gas every week to fuel my car, but I get no say in where I can go. Is that the American way? FUCK NO. I realize that what I pay into Social Security today gets paid out to some senior citizen tomorrow. I get that. But what I don't get is how so few people understand that this is really just a big pyramid scheme. Don't people realize that we aren't making as many people to stick at the bottom anymore? What fool I, if I really believe that when I get to the top of the pyramid there will be anything to be paid out. Knowing that my actual probability of ever receiving any part of my fair share is the same as Michael Moore's last donut hitting the trash can stale, is it so wrong for me to see myself as getting screwed royally by the baby boomers? I understand about civic duty, but why call it "social security"? Why not be honest and call it welfare? I expect to benefit exactly ZERO when it comes my time to feed at the trough of my grandchildren. Therefore, I see no real harm in letting me invest some of what is referred to as "my contribution" on my own. Even if I am only allowed control of 1% of my "contribution", so long as my contribution is a positive number, I'll still get more than zero. .01X>0. Everytime. Why can't people see this?
Labels: Meme Time
