Category: WTF?

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I am in shock that PC bullshit has gone this far.

Laura.jpgThe American Association for Library Service to Children has removed Laura Ingalls Wilder’s name from one of its awards. They’re changing the name to Children’s Literature Legacy award. Read the article Here

For those who may not know that name, this is the Author of The Little House on the Prairie series of books. You know, an American Classic. The books are considered semi-autobiographical. 

This is being done because in the books she implies Native Americans were not people, and later describes African American people as “Darkies”. 

Laura Ingalls Wider was born in 1867. The books were published between 1932 and 1943. 

Since the books are semi-autobiographical in nature, it is not surprising that they might contain some racist stereotypes. From the perspective of the author, these stereotypes would have been a normal part of her lexicon and she wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with using them.

Once again the PC police are subjecting classical literature to the standards of today. Who’s next? Mark Twain? After all, his writings speak of a black man who was a slave.

I honestly don’t see the point. Why waste the energy to rename awards? In the words of a famous politician, “What does it matter at this point anyway,”

Fahrenheit 451 6I read about stuff like this and think Fahrenheit 451,  or the book burnings of Nazi Germany.

Authors create snapshots  of their times and environment. Without those perspectives from more or less “average people” I feel we risk losing something of ourselves. This is especially concerning if we continue moving toward editing our past just because our current standards are rightfully different from those of our past.

Maybe I’m worried over nothing, in fact, were I in my twenties reading this, I’d probably give it no thought. But one benefit of age is perspective.

It’s not about looking back fondly on older times. It’s the realization that one of the best ways to mark progress is to look at where we’ve been. In that, literature gives us a view that we might otherwise not have. A first person narrative while biased, allows us to see what was normal and contrast that with what is normal, for better or worse.

NevilleC_Hitler.jpgAppeasements typically don’t work, ask Neville Chamberlain. If you don’t know who that is, look him up. He & Hitler had an interesting relationship.

This kind of renaming and whitewashing of history is nothing more than appeasement. In the long run, one incident isn’t significant, but when the appeasements add up well, Poland gets annexed.

Even if you don’t agree, give it some thought and figure out where you personally would draw the line. 

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I’m getting mean

Not intentionally mind you.

It’s just that everyone is so self centered and in their own little worlds that interacting with ANYONE is becoming so fraught with getting sucked into their shit I’m happier simply staying disengaged.

Almost everyone I’m forced to deal with at work are needy, whiny, people that want to drag me into their victimhood. Deal with that 30 or 40 times a day and add to it the situations where they’re trying to con free shit out of me. It’s only heightened my already suspicious nature.

People on the freeways, in stores, at the apartments are all ONLY about their needs and completely oblivious to the fact that other people are in the world, not to service their whims but to just try to live life.

In the past 45 minutes, I’ve been run over by a woman with a shopping cart who made eye contact with me and could plainly see that I had nowhere to go but she absolutely refused to stop before she hit me. WTF?

I said something to her, “You saw me here, you saw I could not get out of your way, and yet you ran your cart into me despite that. Just what did you think was going to happen? Did you think because I was a guy I’d take it and say nothing? Did you assume that I DESERVED punishment for some perceived slight, or was it just that I am a man and you could get away with it?”

She said nothing, abandoned her cart and fled the scene. REALLY???? Accept some responsibility for the situation that was of your own creation. For all I know she ran to the police or the store manger saying I’d hurt her feelings with harsh words.

Minor damage to my hip probably some bruising and now that I look at it, minor abrasion. I’ll heal. 

So then I walk back home from the grocery store, wincing with each step… Gee Thanks Lady!

I get home carrying my bags and there’s this man, not much older than I and he’s barking “Hey You!” from across the parking lot. I don’t know him, I’m not sure who he’s barking at. As I round the corner to my apartment, he raises his volume to a bellow. I ignore him, he’s yelling, now I’m sure that he is trying to get my attention.

I obviously have my hands full, I’m limping a bit, and he wants me to … WHAT? Help him with his shit??? 

Are you kidding me? I ignore him, I’m not in the fucking mood.

In what universe does anyone think that I or anyone should be obligated to drop their parcels, limp across a parking lot to carry your shit up the stairs for you when they’ve obviously got their own stuff to deal with.

I understand the need for help but how about using some common sense?

I need help sometimes, but I ask people that are able to help. I don’t ask people that are obviously unable to render assistance.

WHY would I place a burden on someone that obviously couldn’t help? That behavior is just bad manners.

Lately it seems that people are just checked out.

It seems that my reaction to it is to check out too.

I wonder if this is some kind of cascade, the “ME” generation of selfish humans has contaminated all the rest of us. We are all reacting to selfish assholes by becoming selfish assholes.

 

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So this is funny, in a really sad way.

I talk to people all day long.  I help them figure out what’s wrong with their machines and there’s the added factor that these machines are part of life monitoring. 

Sometimes we replace parts, and we ask for the broken parts to be sent back so that they can be analyzed.  To facilitate this, we send all the packaging necessary for the client to send the broken bits back. Yes, we pay the shipping to their homes, and then pay to have the units shipped back to us. 

That’s the system anyway.

Sometimes the return label gets lost, or misplaced. 

This leads to the client calling us to request a replacement label.

Our usual procedure is to email the replacement label to the client and have them print it locally on their printer. This is fast efficient and cheap.

Which leads me to the funny, sad part of it.

I actually spoke with someone today who’d lost or never gotten their label.

I said, “No problem, I’ll email it to you and you can print it out.”

They said, “No, I shouldn’t have to waste my paper printing out your label. You must mail it to me.”

My brain rebooted.

I’d looked at the order, we’d sent this person almost 2K worth of equipment (approximately half of it un-necessary but this person had raised a stink and got their way.)  FOR FREE. They were sitting right at the end of their warranty and were clearly milking another year of stuff out of us.

I said, “Excuse me?”

They reiterated, “I shouldn’t have to waste my paper or toner, on your crappy product.”

Sensing this was a trap. I said, “Sure thing.” Then printed the label, folded it placed it in an envelope and put it in the outgoing mail. 

What I wanted to say to this person was, ” If you’re not happy with the product, why the hell do you keep having us replace old stuff with new stuff?” I wanted to call this person out on their being an ass. 

To do that would have demonstrated that I can also be an ass. So I’m glad I restrained myself. I’m trying to be a better version of myself.

Humans!

Capable of unbelievable kindness, creativity, compassion, and accomplishments that rival some of the legends of gods.

But there is an element of humanity, a subspecies if you will, that make me wonder if eugenics based breeding should be mandatory.

Honestly, If it had been up to me I’d have terminated this person’s account. Billed them retail for all the equipment, then made sure that they were never able to purchase anything from us again. None of these actions would have been harmful. The person would have survived just fine they simply wouldn’t have had convienience anymore.

Alas, such things are not up to me. Perhaps that’s for the best. Had I done this, it wouldn’t have demonstrated much compassion on my part.

I did send the return label, postage due,  by 5 cents. That’s the approximate cost of the paper this person saved.

Someone in the mail dept caught the postal discrepancy. Probably for the best too, I’m sure that the person would have demanded another label be mailed.

But I tried!