TAG � you�re it.Candoor
I was tagged. Tagged to come up with a list. This particular list has gone around quickly - sort of like the measles I caught when I was five, or the 1918 Spanish flu, or the computer virus that wreaked havoc on my network last year.
Thing is, while I could duck, or hide, I just cannot say no to someone as fabulously fantastically phasmagorically wonderfully irreverent (and verbose) as Candoor . Ric is the person I always wanted to grow up to be.
The list I am to make is (are you ready)��
�List 5 things that society in general apparently enjoys or tolerates that you just don't get.�
Now the conundrum. How do you choose when there are so many huge, giant, large, incredibly important things to list.
Like Fantasia, Republicans, Survivor (anything), WWF, Jerry Seinfeld, or the French.
Some things are just pet peeves � like drivers who refuse to use turn signals, mothers in stores with whiny pushy kids who �count to three� or �ten��.just swat his little hinny and he�ll quickly get the message that NO means NO, litterbugs of any kind, religion mixing in politics, two triple cheeseburgers with a diet coke like that coke is gonna be a magic bullet, people smoking outside who stand right by the door so I can inhale it anyway, paper bags INSIDE plastic bags (we get to kill trees AND old-growth plastic bushes � didn�t we learn our lesson from the great naugahyde extinction of the 70�s?), store clerks who put my coins ON TOP of the bills when giving me back change, and men who won�t come right out and tell you their intentions but pussy foot around making you guess.
I hesitate to start this list. But Candoor asked and even included me on a list of his own that just made me plain break down and cry because he said such nice things and he was sure I wouldn�t. So �HAH� it just goes to show that if you lie to me, compliment me, and whisper lots of sweet nothings in my ear I�ll do just about anything.
So, please be patient whilst we get this out.
�List 5 things that society in general apparently enjoys or tolerates that you just don't get.� Here goes:
1. Professional radio and television personalities who haven�t learned how to pronounce the words in their copy. And the ad writers and directors and clients who let them get by with it.
Examples:
2. Poor Standards of Education
We have regressed our educational standards until children don�t learn until college what we used to learn in grade school. My fourth grade reading requirements were Huckleberry Finn, Mutiny on the Bounty and Kon-Tiki. And Midsummer Nights Dream, and a number of the American and English poets. The real books, not the Cliff�s Notes. No wonder kids can�t read � or add � or spell when they �graduate�.
Get rid of grading on the curve. Bring back the �F� and make sure they actually learn the material. (exceptions only for special education students). We have altered the syllabus to accommodate the slowest student instead of challenging the better ones. EXPECT MORE and you will get more. No molly coddling let�s pass him/her because they �tried� hard and we don�t want to hurt their feelings. Give me a break.
As long as we�re on the subject, re-instate corporal punishment. Teachers have these kids more hours than most parents do. Increase their salaries, and give them the same rights as (strict) parents. My teachers were judge, jury and executioner and they took no lip from anyone. They EXPECTED to be respected and they got it � even the ones we didn�t much like.
It can�t happen all at once. You�ll have to start in kindergarten, and add one grade per year. But eventually the quality of education our children receive will improve � even without the participation of the parent(s) who are working so hard to keep up with the spiraling cost of living they are often too busy, or too exhausted to be involved.
I did say I was going to rant�.you all heard me right? You still have time to back out. This is not the sweet romantic Nicim you have come to know.
3. Comedians or movies whose entire script is made up of curse words, strong sexual content, anal openings, and the stuff that comes out of all those spaces.
People � Bill Cosby is funny (Noah�Yes God�I want you to build an ark.). The Raymond show was funny. Sex in the City (ok, a little sexual content cause it was HBO) was absolutely side splitting.
Since most of you are too young to remember, do yourself a favor. Go rent an old movie called �Bringing Up Baby�. And another one called �It Happened One Night� or �The Thin Man�. And while you are at it, get �Animal Crackers� and �Day at the Races�. They are hilarious and not a bad word or sexual position in them! There are dozens and hundreds of modern examples as well.
I am against censorship. They have the right to spew it, but people � this is the trash that is influencing our society and our kids. We can�t stop it, but we can stop plunking our money down for it.
4. While I�m on this particular tirade I�m going to add Just Bad Films and TV Shows that waste our time.
What�s the deal, Hollywood. Writers who can�t write, actors who are getting by on T&A (or their plastic surgeoned enhanced good looks), wooden characters, overused plotlines, reality TV because we can�t come up with anything new, or BLOOD, GORE, FAKE MONSTERS and CG (gee, if it has CG it must be really great, right?)
Sometimes I want to bonk the entire viewing public over the head. Turn it off and they will get the message!! �Choose the Best Of� committees don�t help when they select the film, show, actor or actress that�s gotten the most publicity instead of the one that deserves the award for true excellence.
5. The non-voting public in general
Why do we get terribly excited when less than half of all registered voters choose who will run our country? And in local elections you are lucky to get 15%. Elected officials have the ability to influence laws with life-long impact and you don�t care enough to have a say in the selection. Now, and in the next two years, these officials may be instrumental in determining the fate of many personal rights you take for granted. Whether or not two people can marry and raise children, whether you can terminate a pregnancy (even if it will kill you), whether you have a choice on how and when to die, whether cloning and stem cell research will be available to cure life-threatening diseases.
They will choose � without your input - at least two justices with a lifelong commitment for a Supreme Court which sets the highest standards of law in the land.
Our elected leaders will be making choices for us about war, education, space exploration, the ozone layer, rain forests, medical marijuana, reporters being jailed for protecting sources, gun control, alternate energy and food sources, animal testing, roads and transportation, police and fire protection, censorship, school lunches, energy costs, caring for the indigent, health benefits, insurance reform, retirement funding, taxes, and deciding whether a young Muslim girl can wear a scarf on her head at school.
Everything you need to know about voter registration, your candidate�s positions, and the time and place to cast your ballot is on your computer. You�re here anyway. Look it up.
I am supposed to tag five others, but all the ones I know well enough have already done it (I think I was last actually). So � if you haven�t done it, and want to, do it and let me know. I�ll list you and link back to your entry. And it will give me a chance to get to know you better.
Rant officially over. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming
When the Iraqi people got a chance to vote, they waited in line at the polls for up to eight hours under constant threat of death. Just imagine it.
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