Ignorance, Ego, and Shame

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”~ Kurt Vonnegut

I’ve been so busy lately these days that I’ve not really had time to come here and share the ohhh so fabulous life of moi. But I promise you, that it is for a good reason. And mostly for your protection.

So as we begin to close the book on November 2015 and soar through December, there’s a tale for you.

Last night I was binge watching videos on YouTube. One led to another which led to another which led to another. None of it made any sense as the topic of the subject matter was not the same as the video before it.

I ended up watching this video called “Celebrity Wheelchair Challenge.”

The entire show was actually filmed in the UK and the “celebrities” were also from the UK. So I didn’t know any of them personally.

The challenge objective was for each person to go from point A to point B in just two days. Each individual had to remain in their wheelchairs and experience what it would be like to live day to day in a wheelchair.

I thought this would be interesting, or maybe entertaining. Instead I found myself in a world of anger, bitterness, and frustration.

By the end of the show, none of the participants had made it by the time given to them. All of them were late. The last person coming in almost a full hour late.

And it struck me. Watching these participants simply rising to their feet and walking away from the chair. I wept. And I wept bitterly.

One or two of the participants even went as far as to make comment that they never wanted to have that experience again. (Even though they have a new fond appreciation for those who have to do this every day.)

Listen here you sonofabitch, you can’t have it both ways!!

Throughout the program, even the participants were asking questions of OTHER people in wheelchairs …. what they should not have been asking. You’re IN one yourself, and you’ve got the guts to be asking questions which a vast majority of physically disabled people find offensive?

Never in a million years did I either want to slap some people so much or reach through and throttle folks by their neck so hard.

Never in my lifetime have I saw something that bothered me so much that the thoughts crawled through my brain that I wanted to collect as many wheelchairs as possible and distribute them to people that know me and say “If you wanna be friends, use this for a week. Then come back to me.”

All because of a soured ego.

There were other “Wheelchair Challenge” videos. I didn’t watch too many of them though. However it appeared that at the end of THOSE videos were the more sincere people who were showing appreciation.

So here we are, approaching what is supposed to be the “season of love” and all I can do is weep over a few people who acted stupid.

I realize that there’s a very long way to go in order to overcome the ignorance in this world about physical disabilities and what not. Including the treatment of people with the disability. And we may never get there in this lifetime. But we can hope. We can work one person at a time.

I can only do so much. I’ll never be able to reach those bastards that pissed me off last night. But I can reach others so that they learn and don’t end up saying stupid shit like last night.

GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!!!

 

Fight Of The Fanatic

“It’s cool to meet your idols. It’s a good opportunity to travel. Those kinds of things are good.”~ Meg White

Idols. We all have them. Sometimes, they change throughout our lifetime for one reason or another. But there’s always someone that we are looking up to in our lives no matter if that person changes at one point or not.

We admire them. We think about them a lot. We daydream constantly and about what it would be like to maybe one day meet them.

And for many of us, that dream will come true. But not all of us will. I have met a number of people considered “famous” and a “celebrity” in years passed. From musicians to politicians and actors. The people whom I have a great admiration for are NOT the same people that I once dreamed about every night from a decade ago.

We’ll bump into someone that we’ve admired for a long time or find ourselves to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to finally come to face to face with them.

But I think that a lot of times people forget that our idols are actually human. And they even have idols of their own!!

Our lives certainly do change though when that magical moment falls upon us and we meet them for the first time ever with our very own eyes. The world becomes your taco.

The taco however won’t last forever.

And there are those times when we meet them and when the magical moment is gone, you’re left standing there reflecting upon it and realizing that there was nothing magical about it at all.

That happened to me once. I had met a musician once and an autograph was given, but the pleasant exchange of conversation wasn’t pleasant at all.

To be fair, I had met the musician based only on the fact that they were the idol of a girl that I wanted to get together with. And in thinking that if she knew that I had met her idol, it would place me at the top of her list. But in reality, it didn’t do a thing to help my cause. Instead of having the autograph made out to me in MY name, I had it made out in HER name and then I sent it to her. I didn’t even receive a word of thanks from her. Just an acknowledgement that she had received the autograph in the mail a week later.

At the end of the night I could not for the life of me figure out what was so awesome about their personality. I was aware of their musical talents as they had won Grammy Awards, but who in the world would willingly want to hang out 24 hours a day with a personality like that? Oh well.

Fighting over meeting your idol is true behavior of selfishness. They are also human like you and I.

But recently it seems to me that in the wide world of fanatics over one person, an actor or musician, that there are two groups of people within that circle. Those who have met their idol and those who have not. And I have noticed that for those who have met their idol have a sense of “holier than thou” over those who have not. And its really ugly.

The most recent example I can give you as that I read that someone had finally met their idol after 20 years of being a fan. They got to have dinner with them, took photographs, the idol signed autographs and was on their way. Pretty fancy, I’d say.

But now they are talking to other fans like they actually KNOW the person and they’ve been friends ever since the invention of sliced bread. To be honest, that kind of ego-trip is highly annoying. And all they are doing with other people who share that same idol, are pissing them off.

This was an actor, not a husband prospect, and simply just another human being that was actually beyond more than kind to have offered them to have dinner and talk. And now that person who had that wonderful opportunity is parading around with proverbially no pants and showing off.

And this week, someone else who has NOT met their idol really wants to. But they have been meeting constant resistance from that one person who thinks now that they are virtually family. And now a fight has broken out. Its scattering other fans to choose and pick sides. Two groups of people (those who have met their idol and those who have not) have splintered off into four, five, even six smaller groups of fanatics. But they have hatred and malice toward those who are not on their side.

I sit back. Watch. Stay silent. And shake my head in great disappointment. I would give them ALL the quote from Rodney King, but unfortunately those involved in this ridiculous dispute are too young to remember who Rodney King is. Which I suppose, makes me old.

But the quote still remains a vital and truthful statement and poses the great question of why cannot all of these fanatics get along with one another?

I have no problem with other people meeting their idol. And I have no problem with other people meeting those people that I admire the same as they do. But to have done so, and then get in the face of someone who hasn’t and speaking like they are the idol’s representative that the other person can’t have their dreams come true, just makes me so sad.

I understand the thrill and joy of meeting your idol. Nobody says that you cannot be overjoyed with emotions of happiness when you have met your idol. And nobody says that you cannot share freely of your experience. There is always someone willing to listen and share with you.

 

In the past month, I have been able to receive several autographs in the mail from people that I admire. Some of you will know what I am talking about, but most will not. And that’s because I’ve decided that I was not going to jump to the top of that mountain and start screaming about it. These were not people that you will find on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, but people that I do admire… after all, I DO have other people that I admire. More than what I discuss about frequently in this blog.

What I do not understand is how that one person who has met their idol will continue to inflate their own ego to the point where they’ve become obnoxious, rude, and turned into a monster… believing that they’ve somehow entered a new world and became a member of some secret society.

The theory that I have come up with is that they are attempting to hold on that that precious memory for as long as they can. And by letting their ego loose is one way of allowing them to continue holding on to that experience to keep it alive. But I  could be all wrong about that!

So its all about egos it seems. But I swear that these fights that I have witnessed over the past six months over actors, musicians, politicians, and other idols are unnecessary and awfully mean.  

In my opinion, instead of fighting one another, we should be helping one another out.

Life is too short to be fighting with people. Especially if you have a common bond with that other person. Rather we all should be caring and kind and show respect. Be genuinely happy for those who have the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to have been able to meet their idol. And help those and hope for the best that other people who share that common respect and admiration that they too can meet their idol. It creates yet one more common bond that you will be able to share with one another.

I will say again, our idols are people too. They are human just like you and I. People just really need to learn to get along better.

Enjoy the taco if the opportunity arises. But when you are finished, don’t forget to SHARE it with others.

 

 

P.S.A. #2- Hollywood Edition

This has been a long time coming. In fact, this post was inevitable.

Hollywood needs to quit. Either that, or the rest of the world needs to learn to ignore Hollywood.

This is 2011. And our generations have been following the footsteps of Hollywood for far too long. We seem to be still in this pretend world that we need to be doing exactly what they are doing in Hollywood. Wear THEIR style, drive THEIR cars, talk and behave as THEY do.

Seriously people? I would much rather spend the $500 on things like food, rather than buy a cell phone with someone’s name on it. I can design crap too, but nobody will ever buy it.

The pressure for females from Hollywood is totally unreal. Little girls who look up to certain celebrities and decide that they want to live their lives just like their Hollywood idols. Whatever happened to being yourself??

And who made Hollywood the ultimate judge of character on what a woman should look like? I find it absolutely insane that a woman who is 5’6″ tall (or 1.68m) and weighs approximately 130 pounds (59 kg), and is being told that she is fat. I cannot even begin to say how much of a malicious lie that is. Just because you do not look like those who you see walk the red carpet, doesn’t make you less of a person. It does not mean that you are lesser of a human being. And it does not mean that you are not capable of being loved for who you are.

I will add, that the wrong people in Hollywood are becoming more and more of a social influence. Those who break the law, act with lasciviousness, and appear to be lacking in self control. These are the people that are broadcast into our lives through the Internet, newspapers, television, and radio at a pace of force feeding the rest of the world. It seems as if it is more “interesting” to watch the public fall of others rather than commend those who are doing good deeds. (I know there are some good people out there, right?)

Another thing that bothers me about Hollywood and their lifestyles are the things that they can get away with. They get caught driving while drunk, being a public disturbance, they are seen exposing themselves, doing drugs, and so much more. The phrase “Getting away with murder” must have originated there. Because its the only place that I know of, that a person could actually commit an array of very serious crime and walk away with a slap on the wrist.

Let me assure you of this: If I were arrested for drugs, driving drunk, or even killing someone … I would have the book thrown at me, have it picked up off of the floor, and have it thrown at me again. There is no way that I would be judged to pay a fine and then be able to walk out of court. If I was to be convicted of murder, you would never hear from me again. If I stole a car, I’d disappear for several years.

And yet people in Hollywood who are caught breaking the law, pay fines in thousands of dollars, which is basically pennies to them. They are sentenced to be incarcerated in resorts and day spas. Then they are celebrated some more because they had “survived” the experience. It is totally ridiculous.

Now there have been a few exceptions to this rule. VERY FEW exceptions!

It truly gives me such a frustration headache that no prescription medicine could cure.

And people wonder why I don’t watch television much.

I’ve always said that Hollywood is on an entirely different planet. If ever I was to visit there, I wonder how long it would take for me to apply for an intergalactic passport?