You Have Crappy Manners

I am so sick of people who have crappy manners.

SICK. AND TIRED.

It's really not that hard to have good manners in public. Simply hold the door for folks who want to enter a building behind you. Say "excuse me" when you bump into people. Say "please" when you ask for something, and "thank you" when someone provides you with a courtesy or a service.

NOT HARD.

But apparently it is hard, at least for some people. They're too busy, or too special, or just too ignorant to abide by the social contract.

Well, I'm taking another step in my insuppressible slide toward curmudgeonliness.

I've decided to tell people when they're acting like ill-mannered asshats.

I'm not going to shake my fist and yell "Get off my lawn!" I'm not going to break my own rules about courtesy when I inform people that they've broken the social contract.

But I'm not going to shake my head and move along anymore.

I started my new found crusade the other day at the library. Our library is quite small - a holdover from when Parker was a very small horse town, not the booming bedroom community it is today. As a result, there's not very much parking, especially during their busiest hours, typically from 3:00 p.m. to about 6:00 p.m.

I went to the library after work to return some audio books, and pick up some new selections that had arrived. When I pulled in, it was crowded as always, and I looked around for a place to park. As I drove past the last row of parking, I found a spot next to a white Toyota...that was taking up two spaces.

Now, the spaces in that parking lot are quite small, and sometimes it's hard to pull in and "stay between the lines." If the Toyota was just creeping over, I would not have thought much about it. But the tires of this vehicle were straddling the line. The driver clearly intended to take two spots - I can only assume because they were afraid someone might ding their door. I'm actually okay with that strategy - provided the person parks their vehicle way out in the boonies where there's no shortage of parking. But I guess white Toyota is not only too special to require a single parking spot, but is also too busy to walk 100 feet to the larger parking lot where things were not as tight.

So before I left, I put the following note under the windshield wiper:

You really don't need two parking spaces. Perhaps next time you'll be more considerate.

I suspect white Toyota will read the note, curse at me, and continue on their merry way without even considering their behavior might be less than optimal.

But from now on, when people have crappy manners, I'm going to say so. Silence is acceptance, and I'm not going to stay silent any longer.

And get off my lawn!

Patience is a Virtue

When I was going to library yesterday, I saw the following bumper sticker on a truck in front of me:

Don't Blame Me - I Voted For McCain!

Yeah! Why the hell hasn't that socialist Obama fixed the economy already? A McCain/Palin administration would have gotten things squared away by now!

Ahem.

Rome wasn't built in a day, people. The economy is not going to be fixed in three months. It may not be fixed in three years. He's going to make mistakes. He might even admit that he made them, and apologize for doing so.

It's a shocking turn of events, I know, but I don't think it constitutes a Constitutional crisis.

Patience is a virtue. Give the guy a chance to execute some plans before you bitch about what a crappy job he's doing, will you?

25 Random Things

I've been pretty uninspired here of late, and in order to continue that trend of utter mediocrity, I'm swiping a meme from Facebook in order to have a blog post for today.

Today's meme is "25 Random Things About Me."

1. I was such a poor student in high school that I barely graduated. Barely.
2. I've been married four times. I finally became successful when I realized that I was the one who needed to change, both in my choices and my outlook.
3. Seeing the way adolescent kids treat each other makes my heart ache for those who are different.
4. My family kept horses when I was growing up, and I became quite an accomplished rider. I subsequently outgrew my interest, although I wouldn't mind owning a mule.
5. I joined the Navy when I was 17 years old. My parents had to sign my enlistment papers.
6. I love good television, but I hate commercials and don't like having it on "in the background." NetFlix and TiVo are the best inventions evah.
7. When the Smart Twins are off the payroll, I want to go to Law School and take up a life of public service. I'm kind of over engineering. I'm really over corporate America.
8. When I watch nature shows on PBS, I feel bad when the predators actually catch the prey animals, even though I know they'll die if they don't. I can't take the terror of the prey animal as they're run down.
9. I have very eclectic taste in music. I love R&B, folk, classical, rock - pretty much anything but rap.
10. Even though I had a rather strained relationship with my dad, I still miss him.
11. Sometimes I think the process of becoming an effective adult is nothing more than fixing what's broken about yourself.
12. I've been a college student, on and off, for over twenty years. With the exception of a "B" in microbiology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, I'm a straight "A" student.
13. I always wished I was more athletic. Because I'm really, really not.
14. My favorite place in the world outside of the U.S. is Singapore.
15. The Smart Twins were nine weeks premature. When they finally came home from the hospital, they ate every two hours, around the clock.
16. I'm a bit compulsive about knitting, which is strange, since the only thing I do is make hats and scarves on a loom.
17. I met my Smart Man at work. We were on the same team, so I didn't ask him out until 18 months later, when he moved to another division.
18. I miss being in the Navy.
19. Sometimes I wish I had the natural gifts to be a scientist, instead of my natural gifts in the liberal arts.
20. I used to be poor. I'd rather not do that again.
21. I'd like to live downtown, but I don't think I ever will.
22. I eat Kashi Go Lean Crunch for breakfast almost every day.
23. I once spent a summer roofing.
24. I've always wanted to drive a Beemer.
25. I'm a member of a sooper-sekrit online community called the UCF. To quote Jeri, we're dedicated to international espionage, debunking bad science, creative writing and comment-hijacking.

'Tard of the Week - Those Crazy Batista Boys

This week's 'tard are two brothers, Jose and Jason Batista, who live in a village called Haverstraw, in New York.

It seems that brother Jose has a violent relationship with the mother of his children, and the young woman in question called the police when he tried to enter her home against her wishes. She also claimed that he threatened her.

When a police officer arrived to arrest brother Jose, both brothers - get this - proceeded to beat the crap out of the officer. Brother Jose even went so far as to club the officer with his own flashlight, resulting in the officer requiring 21 stitches.

For today's IQ test, can you guess what happened when the officer's backup arrived? Ding-ding-ding! That's right, Hot Chicks and Smart Men! The Batista brothers got the crap beaten out of them by the victim's fellow officers.

The brothers are being held on charges of felony assault until a grand jury meets to determine if they should be indicted.

The Batista family is now accusing the police of brutality. A spokesman for the police has basically responded with, "Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck off, you dipshit."

Now, I'm not going to speculate about whether or not the police in this instance used excessive force. If you take the Batista brothers' account at face value, it might in fact be true, but I wasn't there, the veracity of the Batista brothers is suspect, and the police aren't really talking about it, pending investigation.

But I have to ask, in what universe is beating the crap out of the police officer sent to arrest you - with his own flashlight - an idea that will end with a positive result for you? What did these morons think was going to happen? That the backup officers would simply say, "Excuse me, young man - stop that this instant! It's most inappropriate! Stop, or I'll say 'stop' again!"

Not so much.

They got tuned up, an outcome that should of been obvious to anyone with an IQ higher than Michelle's Broccoli Cheddar soup.

'Tards.

Time-Wasting Fun for the Whole Family

You all have heard about those ads on the British buses paid for by the atheists that said "THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE?"

Well, now, via Splendid Elles, there's a bus slogan generator of win! Here's my contribution:

January 'Tard of the Month

It's time for to vote on the January 'Tard of the Month!

This month's contenders are James Tankersley, whose Mensa-certified intellect deduced the true purpose of the UCF, much to our chagrin; Andrew D. Basiago, emo-lawyer who believes Spirit and Opportunity are sending proof of life on Mars, but he's the only one who can recognize it; Tony Isaacs, a proponent of homeopathic medicine who believes Patrick Swayze should denounce that pesky science-based medicine in favor of natural remedies; and Dale and Leilani Neumann, whose belief in superstitious nonsense cost their daughter her life.

What say you, Hot Chicks and Smart Men?

poll by twiigs.com

A Meme, Brought to You by Nathan

Here's the deal, brought to you by Nathan:

* The first six (6) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.
* Subject to the following restrictions and limitations:

o I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
o what I create will be just for you.
o It will be done this year (2009).
o You have no clue what it's going to be. it may be a mix CD. it may be a poem. I may draw or paint or knit or cook something. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure, and not me either.
o I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

* The catch is that you must post this in your blog or journal as well.

So go ahead. Sign up and raffle yourself off to some others. You know you want to.