Politically Peeved

I was going to try and write something creative or entertaining today, but I have recently become quite angered, and am no longer in the mood to do so.

I am becoming quite sick and tired of being misinterpreted with just about everything I try to say. Maybe I do not convey meanings well enough in my writing, or maybe people are just too quick to skim my writing and assume they read what is there, but somehow I seem to not be getting any of my points across.

I’ve been frustrated lately with all of the political crap going around, and how somehow politics gets brought up a lot into conversations where it does not necessarily belong. That isn’t even really the big problem.

Here’s the main problem:

I have no issues with people having differing viewpoints from my own. I base all of my opinions on what I see is actually going on, not on what someone’s “political party” is. A person’s party affiliation does not matter as much as whether or not you agree with what they stand for, or what they are trying to do for (or to) our country. I will fully accept anyone’s thoughts and opinions if they can explain to me why that is how they feel. If you have facts or logical ideas to back up what you say, then that is great. It is people that lack knowledge on what they are saying, or that give false information when stating their viewpoints that bother me. I just get frustrated when people put down something I believe in using false information to boost their own position. But if I were to say anything against what they believe, I would instantly get attacked for my thoughts.

This is why I generally avoid getting into any political conversations. I am generally the one with a differing viewpoint, and despite me being able to accept other people’s opinions, I feel like I am shot down for being the different one.

I never said anything for the past 8 years when people attacked and complained about the president that, in my eyes, really didn’t do anything wrong. He took the actions he believed necessary to protect our country. And just because he has an accent, and occasionally stumbled with words because his eyes weren’t glued to a teleprompter, does not mean he was a bumbling fool. He was a real person, with real thoughts and emotions. Not staged and fake.

And yet, whenever I say anything about my disapproval of the current president’s actions, or attempted actions, I am supposed to just sit back and be attacked.. How is that even remotely right? Am I supposed to apologize for being a patriotic person? Should I apologize for wanting to remain a free American, and not have to share what little “wealth” I have with people who contribute little to nothing to my country? I don’t think so.

I know plenty of people on the other side of the political spectrum from myself, and I would like to think they are my friends regardless. I don’t force my thoughts on anyone else, so it doesn’t become an issue.

I let everyone else have their opinions, so I should be allowed to have my own.

In Perfect Pessimism

People… I know, it’s amazing that I might consider complaining about people. All kinds of people. But the truth is, people frustrate me to the end of all ends. Not intentionally, but they just do. It is a continually worsening cycle of annoyance with people that will probably turn me into one of those little old ladies that all the kids hate, because I just sit on my porch all day and yell at them for being potty-mouthed hooligans. But that will be me, and I’m sure there will plenty of kids like that as well.

First of all, it would be nice if people would stop voicing their opinions or beliefs on political matters when they are completely ignorant of facts about the matters in which they are speaking. Also, it would be appreciated if they would not assume that everyone around them shares their same views. If you are going to rant about something, have true information to back up what you are saying about the opposing side, not just what you wish was true. And don’t assume that I automatically agree with you, because after the thoughts I’ve encountered this past week, chances are I will not.

I’m also tired of the masses of rude people everywhere I go. I may write in this cynical tone, but in reality I’m quite friendly to others. I just have a lot of pent up thoughts, due to the negativeness I witness everyday, along with my inability to be rude or hateful to any person’s face. But there is really no reason for anyone out in public to be so hateful or inconsiderate to anyone else. I do what I can to be polite to other people in public. I try not to offend anyone, and I help the elderly people in wheelchairs at the grocery store when they have trouble reaching something. It’s just who I am.

But just like everyone else, I go to work for eight hours (sometimes more) a day, and I never have one complaint about what I do. (That’s not saying I’ve never complained, because I used to abhor my job, until I started a different one, now it’s glorious.) But I’m still exhausted by the end of the day and want to collapse. I pull parts for orders, and lift mufflers and exhaust pipes and gas tanks, and push carts around all day. I’m on my feet all day doing manual labor, and yet I still have nothing bad to say about my job. But no matter where else I go during the day, rarely do I ever see  an employee that actually looks like they don’t mind being at work. Or I guess I should say I rarely see someone that doesn’t look like they are mad at the world.

I understand not wanting to physically be at work all the time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the best of it while you are there. I never feel like getting up in the morning to go to work, but that does not make me act like a jerk to everyone around me, and I still work hard so that I can feel like I’ve accomplished something for the day. Everyone is always so hateful for no apparent reason. I know some people are going through rough situations and whatnot that I have no idea about, but I know every single person in the world is not having a personal crisis all the time.

I’m tired of all the narcissism I encounter all the time. It’s almost impossible to have conversations with people sometimes, or comment on something someone says, without the other person bringing their own circumstance into the picture. Occasionally I may feel like telling someone about something that happened to me, or something I am going through, without them taking it as an opportunity to tell me about a similar situation of their own, or something they are going through. Maybe that makes me self-centered as well, but considering I rarely get to make those statements about myself because of the egocentrism of everyone else, I’d say that hardly makes me full of myself.

I’m tired. I’m tired. I’m tired. Physically and mentally. I’m sorry to anyone who misinterprets anything I write here, as it’s already happened at least once, but chances are people are looking for something deeper than what is actually here. I am exhausted from working, and frustrated by the things people do.

So, my friends, or acquaintances, go ahead, misinterpret things I say. I will continue on, writing my random thoughts about whatever I feel like, because I am a writer. I do not write to keep a journal, I write to write, hopefully well, and after my rampage of frustration is over I will come up with something more interesting to write.

When Not to Speak

It occurs to me on many occasions that perhaps I should focus more on what I allow myself to say. I am often seen as a somewhat quiet person, so many people do not realize this, but I have a bit of a filter problem when it comes to spouting out things at the wrong time about complete strangers.

Perhaps the reason I do not care as much is because they are, in fact, strangers, and chances are slim I will ever see them again. And most times I do not believe anyone actually hears me say anything, but there’s always the possibility. But after this past weekend I fear that I may get myself in trouble one of these days.

Let’s just say that late at night, while driving out of the 7-Eleven parking lot, is not the time to yell “What are you looking at!?” to an insanely creepy guy who is quite possibly on drugs staring through the windows of the car as you drive away. And because he stopped behind the car, took a step toward it while giving the finger, and just stood there all horror movie-like, I know for a fact he heard me say something. Yet I still have the defense that he could not have heard what I said exactly, nor known that I was saying it to him, as it’s always possible I could have been yelling at my husband, who was driving the car at the time. Nevertheless, those defenses would not stop a crazy person from doing me physical harm.

I generally only say things when I am very annoyed by the actions of someone, and I have no control over anything they are doing.

For instance, the crazy lady at Walmart yelling at her children, swearing at them and telling them to “shut up” in Spanish. I am all for discipline, but outright yelling in a public place in a different language because you cannot control your children is a bit frustrating to me. And if they really are misbehaving that badly, then leave the store and wait until you can come back without them.

Then there’s always the people at the beach, letting their five young children take off around the playground while they hang out and completely ignore them the entire time. Never mind the forty other older children pushing them around when they know better than to do that, or the hundreds of tourists or creepy people wandering around the beach that I just don’t necessarily trust. Let’s just let our kids loose and hope they come back or don’t injure themselves because we won’t notice either way! It’s too nice of a day out to care about the safety of the kids… I’m not saying people should be super overprotective of their children, because that can be aggravating as well, but they should at least know where they are and that they are not hurt.

Let’s not forget the people who constantly walk around with their phones attached to their ears, regardless of the fact that they are about to walk right smack into someone’s face because they are not paying attention. Or the people with the bluetooths or ear phones surgically attached to their heads, that are just oblivious to the world around them and don’t realize that they look like idiots talking to themselves all the time.

Or people constantly speaking a foreign language. I understand you are from another country, but I do not speak your language here, so you should try to speak mine. If I went to your country, I would have to speak your language for you to understand me, so please return the favor.

I make comments to the people I am with when I encounter such annoyances, and if the offenders happen to overhear and have a problem with it, then so be it. But aside from the creepy druggie guy I have not faced any such issues, and will probably continue to say things without thinking beforehand.  However, I should work on my filter a little bit, and I suppose I will try to avoid saying anything about people that I may be afraid of. Other than that, I don’t generally say a whole lot, and as annoyed by people in the world as I am, I should get to have my fun and complain sometimes.

Mmm… Cheese dip.

If you go to most any restaurant and look on the appetizer section of the menu, you are bound to see some form of “queso” dip listed. Literal translation of this simply means “cheese” dip. So why is it that people seem to assume that by simply saying “queso” they actually mean “cheese with something else in it”? If you go to someone’s house, and they get out or make queso, they generally mean cheese with salsa mixed in. However, when you buy this food at the store in a jar, you will notice that the jar specifically states, “salsa con queso”, or “salsa with cheese”, not just “cheese”.

Queso cheese (cheese cheese) and queso dip are both just melted cheese, nothing more.

I tend to think of things in more literal translations, and this is what I think of.

Merciful Goodness, I Am Losing Weight!

No, I haven’t actually lost any. But wouldn’t that just be exciting?!?

Apparently some people tend to think that makes them important, and other people seem to think they are important. Well, kudos to you folk, for losing weight. I, on the other hand, will continue to probably stay the same size despite any efforts I make, and not feel as excited for you as you wish I would.

I can sense my own pessimism, can you? I bet you can.

Here’s the next step in my weight-loss program: Take a shower, and go to bed. Work off those calories in my dreams.

Bloggers

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I am not quite the usual “blogging” type. I have a lot that I could say, but not as much that I would actually prefer to share.

The typical bloggers that I notice most often are the same folk that tend to contribute their five-times-a-day Twitter and Facebook updates, all regarding topics that further profess how self-centered they really are. And for some odd reason people actually pay attention to these self-important ramblings. I could write a paragraph or two or five pages on how I stubbed my big toe on the door and it hurt like hell (maybe it’s even broken!), or my entire meal plan for the day to act like I’m being healthy when in fact I’m actually going to have a cheeseburger, or any of the other thousands of problems I deal with each and every day that no one may know about. But, in reality, who in their right mind is truly going to care? Are other random blog-writers that I have never met and probably never will meet actually going to care about the trivial things that I encounter on a day-to-day basis? Probably not. They just read for something to do, and comment to show that they are a nice person and that you should read their writings.

I know I tend to be a bit pessimistic at times, as anyone who knows me well would say the same, but the way I see it, I’m not here to toot my own horn when it’s not meant to be, or to boost anyone else up when it’s not deserved. If I go to read someone’s writings, and all it is is someone complaining that they put on five pounds, or celebrating themselves because they started a “diet”, and it goes on for about 4 paragraphs, I cannot honestly say that I would enjoy what I was reading, or even care. It would just be a waste of space where something creative could possibly go.

I’m afraid I will just have to continue wondering what the draw is to these certain types of blogs. What is so intriguing? Why does a complete stranger even care? And why do they decide to post comments as if they have known the writer for years? I will never understand, and will continue to be annoyed by the whole thing.

How to Shoot Yourself in the Face and Make a Profit

I discovered the greatness of being sick one morning. Along with being quite a bit out-of-it, and barely being able to breathe without the feeling that my head might implode, I tend to be a little more creative in an odd way, and maybe even quicker to respond. Feeling this awful while walking to a Business/Marketing class with a friend one morning, I determined a few things.
If we were to ever have to write a paper for the class, maybe about what we have learned over the course of the class, I would have to choose a topic of how we can make a profit doing just about anything, using the correct business and marketing techniques.

How to Shoot Yourself in the Face and Make a Profit
That’s the name of an A+ paper if I do say so myself. Or rather, maybe even a novel of sorts. But it’s true. I am quite positive that there are some demented people in this world who would pay to see someone point a gun at their face and shoot, as grotesque and gruesome as that may be. But, as mentioned before, it’s true. People are sick. But that’s beside the point. Now, once again, I realize that if you shoot yourself in the face, obviously you are not making any profit at all, because chances are you will die, and although that is a sad thing, you would not be around to keep your face-shooting profits. But someone else would be. So to make and keep those profits, it would be wise to create a will-type document beforehand, stating who your face-shooting profits would go to, in the event that you do not survive. Now in my case, my profits would have to go to the friend I was walking with at the time, because he witnessed the birth of this idea, and I have to pay him back somehow, because obviously since he walked to class with me, he is going to get sick from my deathly cold/flu rays that I am spreading all over the campus. So since there is no hope for him, I’ve got to make it up in some other form, on top of dying.

Following these slightly morbid yet slightly amusing thoughts, I also discovered the joys of following people. Now I’m definitely not saying that I literally followed someone, but it would be fun.
You just have to imagine yourself in such a situation:
You are walking down the sidewalk, and are passed up by a guy. You don’t pay much attention to him, but realize he seems a little strange, carrying a bag with a cup and something else in it, and mostly walking in the grass when there’s an entire sidewalk next to him. So he passes by, and you keep tramping along like you have half a clue. You happen to look up again while he’s maybe about 40 feet ahead of you, and you see him looking over his shoulder back at you, paranoid, as if you are following him. So what do you do? Walk along, thinking in your head, “Yeah I’m following you, buddy… YOU passed ME!! That is definitely reason enough for me to be a stalker. Maybe I will follow you. You are making me become a stalker because you’re paranoid and that bothers me.” Now maybe you wouldn’t think that, but I sure did, and as much as I would have enjoyed actually starting to follow him, I’m too nice for that… no, maybe I’m not, but I figured it wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe another time, though.

Previous Thoughts on Gravity

My thoughts on the subject all began on a lovely walk back from Accounting class one morning. It was raining for the entire ten-minute walk, so of course it was a fun walk. But I actually enjoy walking in the rain, so it just took me a few minutes to get used to the mix of rain and being 50-something degrees outside. Not too bad, but definitely not warm..

When I got to the slanted sidewalk, down a little past Sangren Hall, I started to think. It seems like it would be a lot easier if gravity worked a little differently. I would feel much more comfortable if my whole body was able to turn on a slight slant as I walked down an off-balance sidewalk. The whole ‘walking with one leg bent funny while the other is dragged along for the ride’ thing is really a bit irritating at times, but it’s the only way to do it, since you have to keep your body standing straight or you’ll fall over. So I just thought it’d be fantastic if gravity shifted with you when you walked. Whatever angle the ground happens to be on is the angle gravity works.

Now I know that would destroy many other laws, but since it will never happen, I just thought I’d throw the idea out there so maybe I would stop thinking about it.