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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Rattling About In My Head.


So today, I find myself with some downtime, which doesn't happen often so I have time to think about all the posts and links I've read over the last few days and there are some things that are bothering me. 

First off, be warned, I'm a bit edgy this week.  I just submersed myself in Denis Leary land, and even though the book he wrote came out like 4 years ago and I have heard most of it, I just feel comfortable with his communication.  It's the type of home communication I wish I had, which I don't know, likely says a lot about me. 

Anyway.  First thing:

Last night we were out walking the beagle.  Her name is Sculley.  I named her that because I love shouting "SCULLEY!!!" Just like Agent Mulder did in X-files. 

When we walk her off the leash it has to be in wide open areas because she is a beagle and while she is fat and well loved, she will run for hours after jackrabbits and stuff, so we have to have time to walk while she tires herself out so we actually get her back.  Last night we walked along the levy close to where we live. 

It's dry and grassy and snakes, jackrabbits, coyotes, etc. live there.  She loves it.  Now, we came upon this couple who we do not know, who decided we were really bad dog owners letting her run free.  They chastised us.  Really.  Like a school marm or a Nun or something about how they had heard from a friend of a neighbor or something that rattlesnakes are out and killing dogs. 

Seriously.  They said that. 

I have yet to see a rattlesnake purposefully kill a dog, but whatever.

So, I calmly asked, "Have you seen any rattlesnakes tonight?"

Which I thought was pertinent as why the fuck would I want to know about supposed dog-hunting rattlesnakes?  But if they just saw one...yeah that's kinda important. 

No, no they hadn't.  They gave us the stink eye and continued on.  They probably talked about what bad pet owners we were.  We talked about natural selection and if a dog wasn't smart enough to get out of the way of a snake that actually warns big things before attacking then they are probably best left out of the chain of life. 

But that's just me,  I realize that some of the 3 people who read this may actually be scandalized but I do not care.  Animals are not stupid and will not go after things that are clearly warning them.  Humans are stupid. 

And just so everyone is clear, Rattlesnakes do not want to attack humans, dogs, bears, etc. They know they are too big and a last ditch attack will drain their venom, hence the warning rattle.  Nature is beautiful. 

We did see a California King Snake which actually eats Rattlesnakes so we felt pretty good about that.

Yesterday I read a link several people posted about a woman being bullied on a school bus.  Her job was to "monitor the kids."  It was in fact terribly mean.  But I couldn't help wondering about a couple of things. 

Who on earth thought this elderly lady was the right one to monitor their shitty behavior?  She did absolutely nothing (not that I blame her) she was obviously ill-prepared for the job. 

And what the hell is up with kids.  Bully each other, yeah, I can see that, it's a right of passage and I know this will piss someone off too but most  of what we call "bully" behavior is absolutely normal and will pass.  I know, I'm a ginger.  I got it every year, it went away.  Actually paying attention to it and talking it out makes it worse. 

But we never ever would have talked to an adult never mind an elderly person like that.  It was horrible and every parent of those kids have failed.  I have worked with some pretty fucked up ( that's a clinical term) kids in my life who are absolutely horrible, who wouldn't talk to an elder that way.  This is an absolute failure and is most likely due to parents being assholes to people in front of their kids. 

And is anyone surprised by that?  With the "Me first, customer's always right" attitude we have? 

Punishing the kids in this situation will not work.  The whole screwed up family needs to do some making  up.  It should be required and when they complain (which they will) about missing this or that meeting or their T-time, they should get extra hours.

Finally, there is this acquaintance I have who just came back to social networking for a pop-in.  Apparently this person could no longer handle whiny bitches so they just took off for a time.  Which by the way is the appropriate thing to do.  Why do people start flame wars when they can just shut off the computer and re- watch Buffy re-runs or whatever? 

Anyway, I'm sick of whiny Bitches too.  I call them "Emotional Pirates" or "Emotional Vampires"  depending on what book or movie I'm into just then. 

The point is, getting on-line and telling the world about your menstrual cycle and how bad your kids/husband/partner/dog/imaginary friend/ postal person/sales clerk treats you is so obviously a ploy to get attention.  Especially when you follow it up with something like "I just can't take it, boo-hoo." 

What amazes me is that people respond to this in droves.  It's like a perfect hunting technique for an emotional predator.  "I don't know where I went wrong I can't take it."  then 53 answers of "Hang in there baby." complete with Kitten pictures.

And yet, post something serious about the world like the Julian Assange trial (for or against) or the fact that Israel continues its neocon attack on its neighbors and nothing, nada, zip.  Same with culture.  Give people out of the ordinary music, art or literature and no dice.  But, "I'm out of coffee and my pants are tight and I hate my neighbors who love alternative music."  and 74 responses to cheer you up. 

I hate it.  It's a hijack. 

Anyways that's it, that's what's on my mind.

P.S. If you think I'm talking directly about you (because this has happened before) the answer is probably not, but you should examine why you think that...really.

Really.

1 comment:

  1. Denis Leary would be proud of this rant. I love that you talk about things that I see during my day and think about but fail to talk about it with peers and loved ones. I pledge to make a point of expressing what I truly feel and think in the moment and bring up in conversations things like these to my friends and loved ones as a discussion. Thanks for sharing.

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