Life's Lessons With A Side Of Snark

Now I know that doesn’t sound like a big thing, yet I’m sure there is more than one person out there who is drooling a little bit because I found toilet paper.

It’s fuckin’ insane.

I went to the grocery store last Saturday and the shelf was bare. We were down to six rolls. The guys don’t use a lot except for when they have a shit, then they wrap their arm up like a cast before they wipe. (seriously, you can wash your hands if you miss and get a bit on you) but us girls have to use a few sheets every time we go. Watching that roll disappear can feel like watching the clock ticking on a bomb timer.

I hit the drug store and they had five small packs on the shelf and three packs of paper towel. We’re Canadian, so we circled the shelf while keeping a respectful social distance from each other, as each one of us made a pass and grabbed a piece of plastic wrapped, rolled gold. The store opened at eight o’clock and by 8:05 the shelves were empty again.

I had to wait for a prescription so I took my prize to the car and hid it in my trunk. I laughed at the ridiculousness of it. I was hiding toilet paper so someone wouldn’t break into my car and steal it. Seriously, how fucked up is that?

This past Saturday, there was a full shelf of TP in the grocery store. It was all I could do to walk on by without grabbing some. The famine was over and there was plenty to go around. Even though I hadn’t hoarded, it took only a couple of weeks to condition me to panic at the thought of running out of toilet paper.

You want a conspiracy – how’s that for one.

Trump has been trending all weekend. Each daily update is a mini-rah-rah session to give strength and hope to the dying masses. It is a very scary thing to see.

It’s obvious that anyone who cheers for him hasn’t stopped long enough to string his statements together to find a deeper meaning. They call the rest of us brainwashed sheeple, yet follow this man blindly down his personal rabbit hole, believing him when he says “It’s terrific, it’s the most terrific and tremendous as it’s ever been.” all while he contradicts himself (on average) every fifth statement.

The Canadian Prime Minister said the word ‘tremendous’ the other day and I wanted to cross my fingers in front of me and hiss. No matter how madly you dislike Trudeau, there is a certain level of pride in realizing that he isn’t Trump and you feel keenly disappointed that he used a ‘Trump word’

Hell, even when I was working on my novel yesterday, I started to type the word tremendous, and started backspacing before I’d made it half way through the word. I’ve grown to associate it that word so strongly with Trump that I feel ill using it myself. Which pisses me off, I used to like that word.

There is some scary shit out there and it amazes me how many people refuse to even err on the side of caution. If you have a cold or the flu, you stay away from others. Why is this any different?

Even if you think this is a conspiracy, or something blown to extremes by the media, does it not sink in that people are getting sick and dying.

Honestly, if a single conspiracy could be as far reaching (199 countries) and multi-leveled (gov’t, medical, grocery stores and your favourite bar), as this pandemic has become, we’re in a lot more trouble than just an uncontrollable illness.

All your temper tantrums and BS calling is going to do, is create the very dictator government that you are rallying against. People were asked to do the right thing and they refused. Now their individual rights are going to be squashed for the greater good. Just like your parent after asking you to play nicely with your sibling. Eventually, you’ll be sent to your room and grounded.

But unlike your parent, who wants you to grow into a strong, mature, intelligent adult, when you let the government invade your home, they won’t want to leave at the all clear. They’ll like their new found power and want to keep it.

So for fuck’s sake, stop making it easy for them.

Begin rant:

After seeing yet another mass shooting, I have finally realized the reason many of these individuals who feel free to take the lives of others.

Note – this doesn’t include the seriously ill, like the fellow who killed the children at Sandy Hook, he was long-term mentally ill person he wasn’t just a whiny brat just off on a rejection rampage.

I blame the concept of “no child left behind”. The first kids who have ‘benefited’ from this program are young adults now – our new crop of self-indulgent mass murderers.

Now, there are other causes that aid and abet this issue, but none of them have the sheer effect that trickles into every aspect of their interactions as this one concept.

By sparing young children the embarrassment of failure, we’re not teaching them resilience. We’re not teaching them critical thinking. We’re not teaching them to overcome. We’re not teaching them to work harder. We’re not teaching them the consequences of their actions.

If they don’t pay attention in class we can’t fail them any more. They are still promoted to the next grade and can still play with all their friends. They haven’t lost anything, they don’t need to have goals and have no reason to work harder. We’ve taken away the joy of achievement. There is no feeling of pride and accomplishment when they succeed after failing because nothing spurs them to even bother to try again.

This concept is also promoted in many homes. Both parents work so there is little time to spend with their children. Either the kids are left alone too often in front of the TV and given whatever they want to shut up or they’re coddled so much that they never have the opportunity to play freely and learn consequences, get splinters, scrape their knees, fall and get up again.

By the time these kids enter the workforce they’re useless. I have direct experience with this. I facilitate new hires into our company and run them through the health and safety orientation. These kids are not desk jockeys. They are working in the trades using heave equipment. Safety is a requirement.

An alarming percentage of these kids do not know how to work. They can’t even fill out standard paperwork for payroll without skipping vital fields to be entered… like their address.  They look stunned when I tell them to keep their flippin’ phone in their pocket or in their locker. Out on the job sites, I heard from the foremen that they have no idea what to do when people correct them other than blame their boss for daring to make them look bad in front of their peers.

In some cases their hovering parents are still hovering. Trying to be included in their child’s job interview or performance evaluation. I had one parent call and threaten to remove her 18 year old child from the summer job he’d been given with us because it was a three block walk from the bus stop. When I talked to him on his first day he apologized. When he tried to call for directions to the orientation, his mom grabbed the phone from him – she wouldn’t let him make the phone call himself.

But what’s even more concerning, is these young adults aren’t resilient. They haven’t failed, they haven’t learned to correct their actions and try again and most importantly, they haven’t learned to accept rejection as a normal part of life.

There is a sense of entitlement that has never existed before on such a global scale.

The woman’s movement has been great for gender equality, but it’s also made it harder to be safe if you’re a woman. Sure, we can have sex with who ever we want but when we say no, it should mean no. It shouldn’t be a starting point for negotiation or aggression. (slightly off topic, but yet part of the same issue)

While I don’t always believe an eye for an eye, I do wonder if a little cause and effect wouldn’t be a good thing. What would happen if a rapist was made to feel powerless and raped. What if a shooter was shot as part of their punishment. What offenders were made to feel a portion of the fear and pain that they inflicted. Would they re-offend.

I look now to the RCMP shooting near my home town. Buddy just walked out onto the street with a rifle, crossbow and knifes. He was armed and ready for combat. He shot the officers without hesitation.

After a 30 hour manhunt, he walked out unarmed with his hands up and said I’m done.

Why did he give up…I think he was cold and wet and wanted his Mommy (who I truly hope is no longer alive to see what her child has done)

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve been itching to get back into it for a while and finally decided to put pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard) and see what happens.

There is a lot to be snarky about. All you have to do is read the news or look around, or if you want it really easy, just listen to the celebrity news.

Yeah, that one’s really easy. Let’s start with that one eh?

I have to admit it’s my guilty pleasure. I arrive at work in the morning a few minutes early (if I’m running late there is always a traffic jam) and I sit in my car listening to the celebrity news in the parking lot.

There are celebrities I love and others who I can’t understand why we waste our breath on them (ahem, Beiber… seriously, let me know when you re-engage your brain and pull up your big boy pants – we’ll talk).

Now I know no-one is perfect, least of all me, but when you’re in the public spotlight, you should at least try to behave with some intelligence and class. If all you can attract are the tabloids then you really need to re-think your raison d’etre.

One young star who has really disappointed me lately is Selena Gomez. I was so proud of her when I saw her in interview a few months ago. Just after her first major split with Justin. She was asked the (always stupid) question, “How does it feel to be famous?”

Her answer impressed me. She’s young, but she’s grown up in the business and understood that whether you want it or not, the side effect of being famous is constantly being under scrutiny. She’d surrounded herself with fellow singers and actors and formed a strong bond of future leaders. There was hope for the future of Hollyweird.

But then, she started thinking with her twat.

Or maybe, she decided she was the hero who could save poor little Justin from his downward spiral. But, she made a grave error. The first thing they train you when you become a lifeguard is to protect yourself. When you jump in to save someone, don’t let go of your support. You’ll need it to pull you both back to safety. Suddenly there were reports of her losing her friendship with Taylor Swift.

(Seriously, when your best friends are ready to pull the plug on your relationship, it’s not that they don’t understand, it’s that they understand all too well the road you’re travelling. If they balk at where you’re going, it would be wise to pull your head out of your ass for a minute and rethink what you’re doing. Sadly, I know this from personal experience, I had a painful divorce because I didn’t pay attention to my best friend and told her she ‘didn’t understand’. Don’t be that girl!!)

Happily, Selena seems to be coming around again. Hopefully she’s learned the lesson we all do.

Bad boys are fun, they’re addicting, the mistake is thinking they need to be saved. They don’t want to reform. They might try but it never sticks, at least not until they lose something that really matters to them. But it always has to come from him.

Remember my blog about the chase and what happens when you let yourself get caught. You magically turn into a car tire… only good for getting pissed on.