What is "Making America Great" About?

 Wow.  It has been a hot minute since I have posted in here.  A lot has been going on, and I just feel like I have opinions to rant about.  So, this one may be long.

First of all, in recent news, Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were murdered.  I grew up with a lot of the movies he directed as some of my favorite movies ( "Misery," "The Princess Bride," "This is Spinal Tap," etc.) along with his role as "Meathead" in "All In the Family."  His death was tragic.  However, our president had the gall to blame Rob Reiner's political views as a reason he was killed.

Also, recently, this year was the death of Charlie Kirk.  Now, before he was assassinated, I didn't even know the name Charlie Kirk, what he stood for, etc.  As I found out later, he was a very strong Republican and one of President Trump's fans.  There were people who viewed his death as poetic justice too...  I, also, felt his death was deeply tragic.

One thing holds true in both of these deaths.  THEY WERE TRAGIC.  Period.  There is no excuse for viewing the murder of innocent people as "poetic" or "deserved" or "justified because of political affiliation."  NEVER SHOULD THIS MENTALITY EXIST.  Unfortunately, this is the extremist world we live in.

This brings me to my current topic: MAGA.  This is an acronym, "Make America Great Again."  Ok.  Back when this acronym was penned, this sounded like a great promise.  As Americans, we want America to be great.  This is a common belief everyone in America can get behind.  However, as time has gone on... I feel everyone has forgotten when America was actually great.

In a great America there is no extremism.  There is bipartisan collaboration.  People have different beliefs, different views, but are willing to compromise because by working together, that is when growth really truly happens.  It does not matter if you are on the far left, or the far right... your views are on the fringe.  And normally, those views (in a normal, mean situation) would usually be excluded from the mean.  Unless those voices are the loudest, which is now the case.

In a great America terms like "retard" to refer to people with disabilities or "people of differing beliefs [this does include the use of 'libtard' as a portmanteau of liberal & retard]" in the political hellscape, would stay gone.  It is absolute BULLSHIT that that term is being brought back.  A word that has been used in a derogatory sense towards people with disabilities.  People like myself, who happen to be autistic, but are smarter than what negative terms like that seem to suggest.  I had thought that our society had evolved into a society that was starting to treat people with disabilities with respect and support.  Now, that THAT word is being brought back into public consciousness, BY OUR OWN PRESIDENT, I worry that society is now devolving instead of being better.

In a great America people could talk freely without the worry of being canceled.  Late Night talk shows are being systematically targeted to silence free speech.  News stations, public TV, are also being targeted, with some being silenced due to difference in political opinion.  This is something that sound like the suppression of free speech.  Free Speech is one of our rights.  It is the first guaranteed right in our Bill of Rights.  The attack of Free Speech is something that EVEN conservatives should be against.  It is literally one of our earliest principles that America was founded on.  Our speaking up against the harsh taxes from the British and the fight to gain our independence was literally based on our rights to speak out against policies that were unfair to us.  Free speech gained us our independence and a loss of the right to free speech would literally be a slap in the face on how our county was founded.

In a great America, the quote on the Statue of Liberty would actually mean something again.  

 “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

This was a quote that suggested that we welcomed people from all over to come and enjoy freedom.  America used to be "The Great Melting Pot" because people from all walks of life, from everywhere could come here and enjoy the freedoms that come with being an American.  Now, closed borders and deportations are the law of the land.  The quote on the Statue of Liberty is now a lie.

In a great America the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, Charlie Kirk, and frankly any other innocent person would be seen as what they are, tragic.  In a great America, extremism would exist at the far ends of the bell curve, as progress is made by discussions that happen in the middle, instead of right now, where the bell curve has shifted so far to the left, the extremists run the country, and the people in the middle just stay quiet.

In a great America, MAGA would still mean what we thought it meant when it was promised to us.  Now, the term MAGA gets thrown around extremist circles... recruiting more extremist ideologies of what people feel would make America great.  Honestly, I think the term "MAGA" has lost so much of its original meaning, it should just go away.  If we want to make America great again... let's first define what made America so great in the first place.  If we want America to be great, then we as Americans have to be "great."  We as people, rule this country.  The president's job is to serve the people, and to represent our country to the world.  Do not claim for a second that wearing a MAGA hat, and blindly following people who aren't "great people" will do a damn thing to make our country "great again."  It will not.  That is delusional thinking.  If you want America to be great again, then be "great people."  Great people help others, they lead others, they be charitable and humble.  Great people do not put people they feel are inferior down, they help people who are down, rise.

If you want want America to be great... be great Americans.

T.E.V.

The Importance of Person First Speech

I want you to read the title.  Then read it again.

First of all, I did not make a typo.  A lot of people, I'm sure, are thinking I meant "first person" instead of "person first," but they are, in fact, two different things.  First person speech is a speech pattern we use every day in our writing and in our speech.

"I am ok," is a statement in the first person.

In writing, this is referred to as "first-person narrative" and is commonly used when the writer wants to include him/herself as part of the story.  "As I walked out the front door, I felt a sudden chill in the air.  This was odd, considering it is a balmy 95°F where I live," is an example of first-person narrative.

However, what I'm talking about here is "person first" language.  This is a manner of speaking (mainly in the areas of psychology) where a person HAS a condition or a disorder without actually being the disorder.  Sound confusing?  This will make it a little easier to follow:

John is an alcoholic.

John is a person with alcoholism.

Which one of the two statements sounds better?  Most people see John and are like, "Yep, he's an alcoholic."  This is not person first speech.  This is the typical manner of speech that is used by everyone because it is shorter, simpler, and let's face it easier to say.

However, saying the second one has the same meaning, but it sounds more sympathetic.  You now recognize that John is a person who just happens to have alcoholism.  This is person first language.  You are acknowledging that John is a person who just happens to have a problem with alcohol.

Why is this important?

Simply put, acknowledging that John is, in fact, a person who just happens to have a problem tends to lend itself to more sympathetic responses.  People working in the mental health field use this type of language to help bring value to the person with the condition.  They feel they are worth more than just having the condition.

People who look at someone as an alcoholic tend to devalue that person as a human being and attach to them a label that will scrutinize that person for life.  John in the example would think of himself as nothing but an alcoholic with no ability to rise above that label.  He will drink himself to death because he'll think he can not rise above that.  And everyone else in society, does the same thing.  They'll look at John and think, "He will be nothing more than an alcoholic."  "Alcoholics do nothing but drink their lives away and pick fights."

But the truth is, alcoholism is an actual medical disorder and as such, it is recognized as a condition that a person just happens to have.  That person still has value as a human being first, and having the condition second.

Makes sense right?

Now, is person first language preferred in all cases?

No.

For instance, a lot of people who have autism consider their autism as something that makes them unique.  Therefore, a lot of autistic people prefer to think of themselves as autistic.  This is one of those things where I am kind of on fence about.

See, a person who accepts their condition and the uniqueness that comes with it, also finds acceptance in the flaws that come with it.  They find acceptance in the anxiety, the social difficulties, the sensory processing issues, etc that come with it.  They fully embrace the good aspects, and accept the bad aspects as part of the condition.  However, if there is support and therapy that can help mitigate some of the bad aspects, wouldn't it seem fitting to want to see yourself as a person with autism and then accept the autistic label after the difficult traits have been lessened?

As society tends to still judge a person on their limitations, I feel it would be good to still refer to people in full acceptance of their condition in the person first language.  Society tends to look at people with autism as "disabled" or "handicapped" when the opposite is true in a lot of cases.  People devalue the worth of someone by labeling them as anything other than a person.  By saying something like

I am a person with autism.

You show employers, psychologists, and society as a whole that you are a person first with a lot of applicable skills to do the job at hand.  You have a personality beyond that of a label.  You are a unique individual who just so happens to be autistic.  You may have difficulties with social interactions, loud crowded groups, eye contact, etc, but you are more than just that.  You are you.  You are unique.  So, there are definitely reasons to stick with person first speech.

And this type of speech is widely becoming the standard.  It is becoming the preferred standard in the mental health community, and I would not be surprised to see it take off everywhere else as well.  It is something that I can see the benefits of.  We are more than what our labels say we are, and person first language is the perfect way to show the world that.

What are your thoughts?  Do you agree or do you disagree?  Will you start using person first speech in your day to day communications?  Let me know in the comments on social media or even here.  Thanks for reading!!

Inside My Mind Versus Outside of My Mind

People have speculated that I am on the Autism Spectrum.  I don't know if that is true, for it is difficult for me to accept things that haven't been confirmed to be true.  People have said that I need to "open up more" and to actually say what is on my mind.  To those who know me personally, you would know that this is extremely difficult for me cause it doesn't take much for me to shut down verbally.  But it is A LOT easier for me to say what is on my mind when I type.  So, this post may seem like a hot mess, but this is what goes on in my mind in a short amount of time...

oO{Why is it hard for me to speak to people?  Why don't I feel love like other people feel love?  Why would people say things like they would take a bullet for someone when more species are focused on self preservation?  Why did my mother not love me?  Why did she say she'd load the pistol when I told her I wanted to kill myself at 18?  Why can't I connect to my son or my wife the way a normal person does?  Why can't I feel emotions, but anger and bitterness at the opportunities that "normal" people get?  Why can't I make friends?  Why is it difficult for me to look people in the eyes, do I feel they are looking into my soul?  Why is it difficult for me to do the things that I used to love doing?  Why can't I even get motivated enough to play a game any more without quitting half way through?  I really need to find my glasses, but I find myself sick of looking within 5 minutes cause it just seems to difficult a task.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, I just have to keep trudging forward.  Why do I let people treat me like crap?  Why do I wallow in self-pity?  My last boss reminded me of a high school bully who had no further aspirations but to get a job where he could go and be a bully and be rewarded for it?  Why am I different?  How is it that I soaked every negative thing up like a sponge while other people can just brush them off?  I wish you could spend 5 minutes in my head.  You don't know what my life is like!!! You do not know what it is like to be bullied, abused, throughout your childhood, to try to cope as an adult and feel that everybody in the world is out to get you because that is all you know.  I can't change who I am because my past is to ingrained into who I am.  I wish I could be normal for just one day.  The only time I felt relaxed is when I smoked pot that one time cause the thoughts went away for a while.  When I play a game, I lose myself in the game and the thoughts go away.  Vaping helps dull the thoughts some, why can't people see that?  Why does no one understand?  Why can't I just show people what my life is like every F*CKING minute of EVERY DAY.  Why is it assumed that I'm the strong one?  I need to show a brave face in tough times cause people depend on me to be strong.  My son needs someone who can bond with him better than I can.  Where are my glasses, my contacts are too dry and frequent use of eye drops have literally caused my eye lids to feel chapped.  Why is it after 5 minutes of looking, I give up.  If we can make it until tax time, we should be better.  Why do I feel like I'm going to get yelled at if I talk about my feelings?  I don't like it when people touch me.  I don't like sitting in chairs that other people just recently sat in.  Why do I hate the feeling of moisture on my skin when it is natural for a person's skin to have moisture?  I shouldn't have to plan out every conversation I ever plan on having, when I choke up and shut down every time I want to say what is on my mind.  I should just disappear.  It's not like any one ever wants to be my friend anyways.  My son is such a happy baby.  Why would I want to subject him to the craziness that is me?  If I am autistic, is there even a point in finding out?  It's not like it would do me any good?  If I don't take care of my physical and mental health, then I can't work.  I will do what is necessary to ensure my mental health and my physical health are in tact.  Why is it when someone is verbally instructing me on how to do something, I only hear and process the first one or two instructions before I become completely lost and lose focus on everything altogether?   Why can't I say what I need to say?  Why don't I feel happiness in anything?  You have no idea what it is like to be me.  Why is it every idea I have is stupid?  Why can't people understand that I just need to shut down my brain every once in a while before I blow up and shut down???}

"Anything you want to talk about?"

My reply: "No, I'm fine."

Feel free to comment if you can relate.   Sorry if this post seemed pointless, but this blog was created as a way for me to vent about things that I see a lot of people ranting and raving about.  I've had a lot of thoughts on my mind and being that I don't have friends to talk to about things (not that I could if I DID have friends), this seemed to be the best way to let my thoughts out.  If is stirs conversation, then it served its purpose.

Cautiously Religious (kind of long)

Religion and I have had a love-hate relationship for many years.  For me, religion was a roller coaster.  I had a period where I was high on a hill and could see everything around me.  The view was amazing from the top of that hill.  And then, very quickly, I rode down the hill to the bottom.  At the bottom, the view wasn't as impressive, and I was moving fast through it.  I wasn't able to take in the view any more.  I just followed the roller coaster down.  And slowly, started to ride the coaster back up.  That is my spot right now.

Let's put the metaphor into context.  As a child, I was abused.  Coming from an abusive household, you are emotionally shut down.  What moments of joy you get, you hold on to.  For me, moments of joy were sea shells, rocks, video games at my dad's house, and going to Bible study on Sundays.  I always found church services to be boring, mundane, and tiring to go to.  As a kid, with a lot of pent up energy, a church service where everyone just sits and listens felt like going to school.  The congregation would sing hymns and I'd just follow along with it, without a lot of invested interest.  But Bible Study was a bit more fun.  We'd sit with a teacher in a small group and talk and learn.  I had gotten to go on a trip to Chicago with a bible group, and got to go to a Bible camp in the summer.

I used to be paranoid about religion.  Music that made references to the devil, Hell, etc were taboo with me.  Even if the song wasn't an anti-Semitic, I wouldn't listen to it.  I was always scared that even the sheer mention of "the other place" would cause me to end up there.  Even though I was depressed with life, I held on to those beliefs and tried to be strong with religion.  I had learned A LOT about religion, but never embraced the concept of "God is love."  I never felt love in my broken home, and never felt loved by anyone or anything.

When I was 18, I was in the National Guard.  I moved out of my abusive situation just 3 days before being sent to Basic Training.  While there, I w ent to a protestant church service (because even though I was Lutheran, military churches provided one service for many different Catholic religions).  While at the church service, I felt for the first time, abandoned.  I had never felt love from anyone, not even God.  I felt, nothingness.  The years of abuse had left their mark on me.  I went into a situation where the drill sergeant's sole purpose was to break down my self-driven spirit and build it back up into a team-driven spirit.  I had NO spirit going in, and therefore, not anything to break down, except for the last of my sanity.  I had had suicidal thoughts in the past, when dealing with my mother, but my experience there brought them back into light.  As a result, I got a general discharge from the military with a mood disorder EPTS (existing prior to service).  Leaving there left me with less sanity than when I went in, and my religious world shattered.

I felt angry with God.  How could God put me into that abusive household?  How could he have not shown me love?  How is it when I talked to him, I felt nothing?  And the burning thought came to my mind...  I no longer believe.

I started listening to the music I wanted to listen to, because I felt there was no Hell.  There was no consequence for any of it.  He never listened to me, He must not exist.  I believed for the longest time, I was atheist.  Looking back on it, I wasn't atheistic.  Atheists truly believe in nothing.  Atheists truly believe there is no such thing as God.  I wasn't that.  I denied Him because I was angry.  And I spent MANY years angry with God, religion, my mother, etc.  I even harbored resentment towards the military because of the way the drill sergeants treated me, even after finding out about my abusive upbringing.

After years of therapy, anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications, and self-loathing, my views on religion started to gradually change.  I started to develop my own beliefs.  I started to believe in reincarnation.  That when I die, I will be reborn back on Earth to live again as someone or something new.  I was still on the fence about God, but did notice that when atheist people would talk to me and share their anti-God beliefs, that I would actually be a trifle offended.  That was further proof that I never really stopped believing.  I just stopped believing that He ever loved me.

I told people that it would take a miracle for me to start believing in God again.  And then, I had a son.  My wife was told that she would possibly never have kids.  Finding out that we were expecting was a life-altering moment for me.  My religious beliefs started becoming more open.  Instead of being close-minded about God, I started to open my mind up to the possibility.  THAT, to me, was a miracle of some sort. 

However, I remain cautious about religion.  Things I didn't notice back when I was a bored-stiff Lutheran sitting in the church pew, started to surface.  Things like hate and bigotry happen in church all of the time.  So-called Christians actually preaching lessons of hate.

Now, while I can't say that I felt God's presence in my life as a child and as an angry young man, I can say that I feel I learned a lot:

1. God is love.  This was a tough lesson to sink in.  I still don't comprehend that feeling of communicating with God and just feeling that everything is going to be okay.  That is something I am working on.  But a lot of that stuff I read about on the news, from members of churches, is just appalling.  We have people who scream, "It's not Steve, it's Eve!!" to homosexuals everywhere.  To God, we are all His children, and are loved equally by Him.  In God's eyes, therefore, we are ALL his family.  It doesn't care what skin color you wear, your gender, or even your sexual orientation.  God would love every person as His children.  In the world of religion, everyone is family.
2. People judge wrongly.  In the eyes of God, no human has the right to cast judgement, because we as people, are not above sin.  We judge others without looking at our own sins and judging or own sins accordingly.  The only one who has a right to judge is God, because He is infallible and above sin.  Just because I don't believe the same things as someone else, doesn't mean I'm "
   going to Hell."  People who say homosexuals are going to Hell, same deal.  Those people do NOT have the right to judge.  Just even saying those things are sacrilegious.
3. Satan is hate.  Is is kind of a stretch, but hear me out.  If God is love, then conversely, Satan must be hate.  And the influence is everywhere.  Even if it that whisper in your ear, telling you to discriminate against someone, is Satan influencing you to do so.  Satan is infiltrated every aspect of our lives, EVEN RELIGION.  Just think about it.  Where would be the most powerful way of corrupting our lives to a life of sin?  That's right.  In the very churches we go to every Sunday.  It is NOT safe to assume that ALL churches have this going on.  There are churches that preach love to all of God's children.  There are churches out there that know what the true word of God is.  We as people need to be mindful of this fact when selecting what churches we go to.  Hate as found its way into churches so easily, that people even claim that hate is in the Bible.  And while the Bible was written by men, and therefore fallible, it has been justified over the centuries.  People even added anti-Semitic passages into the Bible.  For instance, there is a passage that states, "A man who lays with another man, shall surely be put to death."  This is found in the "Holiness Code" of Leviticus in the Bible.  However, a lot of scholars believe that those passages were added much later than the rest of the ones in Leviticus. The language used differs significantly than the rest of the book.  Now, no one can confirm with certainly the legitimacy of that, but even so, we as humans can not hate.  Going back to previous points: we can not judge, and God is love.  Even if those acts were performed, the people committing those acts are still loved, and we as people have no right to judge them for it. 

Religion has been used to justify government platforms.  Some Republicans even wanted to make religion part of government.  Looking back to the Crusades back in the 14th century, I do not feel that would be a good idea.  Forcing people who adhere to a set religion, especially if they don't believe everything religion teaches.  There are good aspects to religion, don't get me wrong, but there are bad ones too.  If I were Catholic, my views on reincarnation would be shunned.  It doesn't follow the rules of the church, therefore unacceptable.  I, personally, believe that we as people should be allowed to believe, however we see fit to believe, as long as we believe.  If we as people talk to God, let Him into our hearts, and get rid of things like hate and jealousy, then we'll find that the rest will fall into place. 

Like the book of Matthew, Chapter 18, suggests, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."  That means, what you believe in life, He will hold true in heaven.  What you don't believe in life, he won't hold true in Heaven.  This is also a major plot point in the movie "Dogma," but we don't dive too far into that tangent.  So, if you deny God in life, you'll be denied God in heaven.  If I believe in reincarnation in life, he'll hold that belief for me in Heaven.  Pretty straight-forward.


So, at this point, I may talk to God, hoping I'll feel that warmth and comfort that people do when they talk to Him.  I'll keep searching for that faith that I had lost on my roller coaster life.  But going back to religion again?  That is one that I will be extremely cautious about.  Religion is man-made, and fallible, and I want to make sure that my personally-held beliefs are honored and accepted as my own, without criticism or judgment.  Because in the end, what I believe is what is truly important, NOT what people think I SHOULD believe.


What are your views on this?  Do you agree or disagree?  Please leave a comment.  If you read through this, then PLEASE share it so others can read it too.  While I don't get a lot of feedback from my blogs, I know there are people out there who read these things.  Don't be shy. :)  Thanks for reading.

Social Media And Me

I haven't posted in a while.  There have been significant changes in my life.

I had a kid.

Yes, I am now a father to a baby boy we named Theodore.  :)  So, I haven't really had time to post in a while.  However, as I browse social media, I was inspired to post.  Perhaps, it was my Facebook page (also named "The Editorialistic View") informing me that I hadn't posted in a while.  And conveniently enough, Facebook (more specifically my news feed on Facebook) entered my cross hairs.

So, I will start this post on what Facebook means to me.  After all, I have been a member of Facebook since it became more than just a Harvard thing. When I signed up, you still had to be a member of a college, and being I was a student at Dakota State University, I had to use my college email address to sign up.  Now, it has expanded to a social networking platform that dominates the field.  People have even created Facebook profiles for their pets.  At first I signed up just to be in contact with others... to make friends.

Now, Facebook (and all social media for that matter) has been a way to keep in contact with family and friends I, otherwise, don't communicate with on a daily basis.  Facebook is a great way for me to see pictures of friends and family.  I have family with kids that I see pictures of on occasion.  I get comical and humorous quips from people just out to give their peers (as I'll colloquially refer to "friends and family" for the duration of this) a reason to smile or chuckle.  I get to see what is on people's minds.  If they are down or sad, they talk about it.  Sometimes the chuckle helps sad people feel better.

And now, social media has turned.  It is no longer the platform of keeping up with peers.  It is now political ramblings, memes from people who can't spell, chain posts, and links upon links from sponsored content that tricks you into never ending pages of ads and overly drawn out articles that are there just for ad revenue. 

For one, I will admit, I didn't vote this last election.  I didn't really care who won or who lost.  It was a choice between an egotist, or a person whose soul purpose was to be the first female president.  None were really the best for the nation, and I didn't feel shame for not voting.  I've always felt my vote doesn't matter because the votes are determined by the electorate, not by the people.  If looking at popular vote, Hillary would have won it.  But I didn't care then, and guess what?  I still don't care.  Political posts are ones that I either: A) quickly scroll past or B) hide from my news feed.  If a person's posts are nothing but political and nothing  I care about, they disappear magically from my feed.  Now, they may argue, "But this is stuff you need to know," or "This is important for what is going on right now."  I do watch the news and do read news articles.  So, it really isn't THAT important for me to read on Facebook.  I prefer my news without bias and complaints. 

Memes are now part of social media culture.  For those not in the know, they are images with funny captions.  And they quickly become viral.  To me, they are sort of a plague.  People post memes that are horribly misspelled, grammatically incorrect, and say NOTHING relevant about them.  They are a post that, to me, lacks substance.  They are a lazy post that can be humorous and actually worth seeing, but they can also be stupid and completely pointless.  In my opinion, memes would be posted with thought, not just thrown about because you hadn't posted something in 5 minutes.  They should be intelligent.  Memes exist that have false quotes from celebrities who have passed on.  Those are the worst kind in my opinion.  Those are memes that stick words into people's mouths who don't have the ability to deny or refute those quotes.  There are A LOT of memes, for instance, that have quotes that George Carlin allegedly made (and almost all of those quotes are fake).  If a person has passed on, no more memes should be created with his/her likeness.  They should be retired and not remembered in that disrespectful manner.

Chain posts are just dangerous and any one who passes those on should stop.  Chain posts create long lists that can be used for malicious purposes.  It is a form of farming that can result in people getting spam.  A lot of these posts are used for "like-farming."  They tug at people's heart strings and cause people to like the posts.  After a lot of people have liked the post, they change the content and it can either download spyware to a person's computer or link to spammy content.  For more information on this, click here to read an article on "like-farming."  There are some legitimate ones out there, who use like-farming as a way to generate buzz about their business and draw in more customers, but there are others that are there just to put spam on your computers.  Do not share posts that are not trust-worthy, and do not tag me in like-farming posts.

The sponsored click-bait that Facebook throws on my news feed is really frustrating.  I can't help myself to occasionally reading them, but they are stupid at the same time.  I, actually, feel a sense of shame for reading them.  Luckily there are people who have ventured into the abyss and summarized the post so I don't have to waste my time on 20-30 needlessly drawn out, ad-infested pages of crap just to get to the one relevant page at the end.  I don't have the time, I don't have the patience, and I don't want to be spammed with ads every single page I read.  Trying to read those on my phone causes my phone to claim to have a virus and redirect me to a fake "Google Play" page trying to get me to download spyware to my phone.  Those posts NEED to STOP.  The problem is, they take up a good chunk of my news feed.

Now, if dumb memes, political ramblings, chain posts, and click bait sponsored content was to disappear from my news feed, I would find that my news feed is pretty empty.  It may seem like a sad existence, but it isn't.  The occasional relevant post that I get from people does brighten my day.  It really doesn't take much.  Social media still does remain a great way to keep in contact with people whom I don't see or talk to on a frequent basis.  Even the occasional meme does have relevance if properly placed (and properly spelled).  Sometimes, how a person is feeling is best summed up by a meme.  There are posts that I feel have no place on Facebook or any other social media site, but it is one of those things that can't be helped.  While there are people who are obsessively political, they may also be peers that I can't just unfriend, block, or hide because in the end, they are still peers and occasionally they'll post something that is relevant.  I just choose not to read.

So, I choose to use social media to do what I feel it is intended for.  To be social, in a manner that is most comfortable for me.  I like being able to keep in contact with peers I don't see, and I will continue to use it for that purpose.  Feel free to comment to me every once in a while, and I will respond.  Feel free to respond to this post if you have an opinion you want to share.  Thank you for taking the time to read!!

Ode to Perforations

Oh perforations... how I hate thee, let me count the ways.... R-R-R-I-I-I-P-P-P...

Badly torn box.

For those wondering what I do outside of blogging (which had a brief hiatus as I was coming up with things to write about), I work at Walmart.  Part of my job responsibilities is to stock shelves.  A lot of our boxes are what is referred to as PDQs (Product Display Quantity or Pretty Darn Quick).  Basically, rip the box along the perforation, and it becomes a product display to put on the shelf.  In theory, this is supposed to help make the product more presentable for customers, and much easier for shelf stockers to get items on the shelf quickly.

In theory....

However, the bane of my existence when dealing with PDQs is perforations.  A perforation (for those REALLY not in the know) are pre-cut slots in the boxes.  They exist on important tax documents, credit card offers, PDQs (as already mentioned), and on other things.

Now, I don't know if I'm an idiot, but I HATE PERFORATIONS!!!!

If I try to rip anything along one of these perforations, I end up ripping beyond the perforation.  I find myself frustrated enough that end up just taking my little box cutter knife, on blade setting 1, and cutting the perforation just to open it.  My question is:  how is these any faster?

It definitely isn't neater if the perforation rips beyond the line is it supposed to rip upon.  It just looks shoddy.  Ripping checks out of check books have resulted in damaged checks (luckily not in half yet), but there are occasionally chunks missing out of the top.  It's not MY fault, blame the perforation!!!

I swear, there is a conspiracy by the people who invented perforations to piss me off.  They are succeeding....

More than once, I find myself punching a PDQ in order to rip the perforation without taking my knife to it.  Most of the time, that works, other times, still have to break out the knife.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??  Seriously, if the perforations were designed to just look neat, then kudos.  But if they were meant to be functional... someone needs to be fired.  I am better off just getting a line on the box that says, "Cut here."  I guarantee my knife cuts will look neater.

But no.   These perforations will continue to laugh at me.  To mock me.  To make me look like a fool.  Other people will rip these perforations neatly.  It isn't the fact that they are better than me.  It is the fact that the perforations have it out for me.  I don't know if I made fun of their mother, but they enjoy my torment.

Screw you, perforations.

You may have won this round.  But I will have my revenge!!!

Do any of you have issues with perforations?  Feel free to comment.  If this post brightened your day, then feel free to share it.  Thanks for reading.

Political Attack

Now normally, I do not post political ramblings.  There is enough of that on Facebook to make me want to rip the remaining hairs out of my head.  However, an event happened that made me change my mind (at least this week).

On June 14th, 2017, a gunman opened fire on several Republican members of Congress as they were practicing for a charity baseball game against Democrats.  4 people (5 counting the gunman) were shot during the practice.  2 people were listed in critical condition, 2 people were treated and released, and the gunman was killed.

The gunman was a contractor who had his business shut down because he caused more damage to the properties he was supposed to be inspecting.  He had been living out of his van in the Alexandria, VA, area for months before he opened fire that fateful day.

He had a bitter dislike towards the Republicans.

Now, the tough part of this.  I am not looking to get into a political debate because people like what they like, and they believe what they believe.  I'm not looking to try to "prove anyone wrong" because ultimately it is a waste of time, and a cause of lost friendships for no reason, whatsoever.

But one thing CAN be agreed on.  Violence is not the answer.  If you believe that violence is going to solve the problems in Washington, than maybe YOU need to be investigated, just in case, you plan on committing acts like this yourself.

Mr. Hodgkinson had a list of Congressmen he wanted to target.  His motive was unclear at this moment.  If he wanted to get the "old-timers" out of Congress, he didn't succeed.  If he did it as a Democratic loyalist, he failed that too, because all he did there was make Democrats look worse.

The thing that needs to be remembered is that he acted on his own accord.  He didn't meet with a bunch of Democrats and plan an assassination.  This was a mentally disturbed individual who committed these crimes.  And Democrats and Republicans participated in unity afterwards.  The shooter didn't accomplish anything.

For people who want to get the old-timers out of Congress, you have that power.  It is called elections.  While people do not vote for the President directly, they DO vote for the members of Congress at every election.  If you want a change in Congress, then vote for that change.  Otherwise, you are just the minority.  Killing people is not the answer.

And IF you are one of the sad, pathetic people who believes that murdering senior members of Congress is the answer, then newsflash.  It isn't.  The repercussions are far worse than what you think.  Because senior members of Congress were attacked, there will now be more motivation for gun control legislation.  This now hits home for Congress.  They are going to be more determined than ever.  And in the end, Congress isn't really more unified.  A lot of those Congressmen have been there a while, and are good friends, despite their disagreements.  People need to practice the same level of friendship.  That while we may differ on things, politically, we can still be friends, and we can still get along.

Any one who believes that someone needs to die because of their beliefs is part of the problem in this country right now.  If questioned about my political beliefs, I will share them.  You can tell me yours, and I'll respect yours, even if I don't agree.  That is part of what makes freedom so great.  But believing that violence is the answer is what is going to tear this country apart.  VIOLENCE NEEDS TO END!!!  That is one thing that NEEDS to be agreed on.  Republicans and Democrats alike don't want violence.  So, knock it off.  Act your age.  People are acting like babies throwing temper tantrums, and using weapons instead of words.

Post your opinions.  What do you think?  Do you think violence needs to end?  Will you be part of the solution?  Share this post if you agree.  Spread the word.  Love your neighbor, even if you don't agree with him/her.  You don't have to agree, but you have the freedom not to.  Do not eliminate your freedom by trying to eliminate someone else's.

Thanks for reading.