Other People's Opinions

The old saying goes, "opinions are like assholes, everyone has one". I believe more in the fact that, "people that openly share their uninformed opinions sound like a bunch of assholes". While I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion...I do NOT believe that everyone is entitled to voice it out loud.


I have had my fill of people sharing their misconceived notions and bullshit opinions about everything...but especially three areas: sports, politics and parenting. Three areas that require more than just what you read somewhere or heard third-hand from someone else that doesn't know shit on the subject(s).


I will touch on sports before getting in to the two that people will take offense to...


When it comes to sports, if you don't know about them - shut up about them. If you don't like them - don't bother those that do with your lack of enthusiasm over them...or your opinion about how they are over paid. We don't care. Root for your team, root against mine, whatever. Just don't throw out what you heard or read this morning or heard from a friend of a friend and expect me to give any credibility to it. I can always tell when you are just quoting someone else's bullshit...and it makes you look like an asshole.




Politics is a whole other story...but very similar to sports. Most people have no fucking clue what they are talking about when it comes to politics. Nothing. Not how they work, not how they actually affect us, not about the processes involved. Nothing. They know that they hate anyone that comes to office and that they are all the worst person to ever sit in that office. It doesn't matter who it is...they are terrible and the next guy will be so much better. Until, of course, that guy takes office for a year and then they take the crown of "worst ever". Again, having that opinion is your right - voicing it makes you sound like the rest of the uninformed assholes. Take the time to do some research instead of relying on your retarded friends and their bullshit opinions.




Parenting is the fun one and I will make it short until someone decides to debate it with me:

IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD KIDS, SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT HOW ANY PARENT HANDLES THEIR CHILD!

Seriously, you have no idea what that woman in Walgreen's is flipping out about or what her asshole kid has put her through for the last 3 hours. You have no clue as to the week she has had or the bullshit she has had to endure. Any parent can tell you, and they are fucking lying if they deny it, that there has been at least one day that they would have jumped off a roof rather than endure another "why?", another spilled drink, another broken something or another sleepless night. You and your infinite wisdom may have caught her in Walgreen's after any of those...or a string of those put together. Point is, you have no idea. It is easy to sit back and judge anyone for what you know nothing about...but kids isn't a subject you want to broach with me or any other actual parent.


Again, you are entitled to your opinion...but keep it to your fucking self.

Attention All Mothers!

If you do this to your child...

CUT IT THE FUCK OUT!!!

That is all...

Kids Just Need Attention...and a Beatin'

Let me start off by saying that I loved my Grandmother very much while she was alive...and think of her fondly to this day. I couldn't have asked for a better influence growing up...and will always be thankful for the help she provided my Mother in raising me. I am in no way attempting to paint her in a bad light, nor am I looking for anyone to feel sorry for me. Quite the opposite. 

Growing up in the 70s, it wasn't just acceptable to hit, yell at and embarrass a child...it was expected. Whether you were at home, in church, the grocery store or at the bus stop didn't matter - you cut out of line, you took one for it. If you were acting like a fool and your parent/guardian/babysitter didn't control you - any adult present had the right to yell at you and straighten you out. It seemed normal at the time to us...and it worked.

My Grandmother was one of the most racist people I can ever remember meeting, but it was how she was raised. It was the time that she grew up in. However, she would no sooner finish the word "nigger" and already be wrapping you in the mouth for repeating it. She knew it was wrong, she knew it was disrespectful...but it was instilled in her. It was in her nature to call black people "colored", "niggers", "spear chuckers", "moolies" and "porch monkeys". God forbid I did it, though...and she would just about let them beat my ass. Very much "do as I say, not as I do", I know. But it worked. I said it once...once. That was all it took for me to keep my mouth closed and not repeat any of those epithets. It may not have been the greatest way to teach me respect for other people...but it was what she knew. I learned every ounce of respect for others that I have from my Grandmother and her way of instilling it.

Today, I can't go a full shopping trip at the grocery store, Target, GameStop - anywhere - without watching and listening to kids be blatantly disrespectful to their parents, grandparents and adults in general. And I fully believe that it's because we, as a society, allow them to. We coddle kids in so many ways over the last few years that they can now do whatever the Hell they want without any fear of repercussion. Not from their parents, not from school...and not even from Grandma.

In my house, he'd get another one for flinching.

God forbid you raise your voice to a kid, even your own kid, in front of anyone these days. You might as well call Child Protective Services on yourself when you're done. Don't even consider grabbing a hold of them and letting them know they are out of line - that'll get the cops called to the local McDonald's before the Happy Meal toy is out of the plastic. 

Fact is, some kids ( maybe even your kid, I can't say for sure ) are just assholes. They weren't born assholes, either. Just like no one is born racist. It is instilled in them by their parents, caregivers and the people you allow to influence them. Plus, the whole of society adds to the little asshole's self entitlement...

A kid throws a fit at home when he doesn't get his way? Medicate him.

A kid acts out in school when he doesn't want to be there? Medicate him.

A kid has a fit of rage because he loses a game of Connect 4? You guessed it - get the pills!

All we got were Flintstones!

ADD/ADHD has been discussed since the late 1700s in some way, shape or form and in 1937 they started prescribing medication for it. My question is, why wasn't anyone I grew up with ( or our parents ) ever diagnosed with it or medicated for it? I won't bother touching on any conspiracy theories about the pharmaceutical companies looking to make money off of it, as that can be attributed to many other things in life. Instead, I will attribute it to the fact that we weren't coddled and treated with such a "hands off" approach by parents. 

When we were kids, if we were hyper and all over the place, bouncing from one thing to another like a bunch of mini coke fiends - it was because we were KIDS! Now it is easier for parents to allow their kids to become literal zombies than actually...I dunno...deal with and interact with them. Fucking shameful. 

Your kids don't need medication. they need your Goddamn attention. I know it is a strange concept, but it actually works when applied. Get off of facebook, turn off your iPhone, iPad, iEverything and turn off the fucking TV. You get to be an adult when they go to sleep. Right now, they are awake and very much out of control. Set the DVR so you can watch your bullshit later.

Another source of coddling leading to self-entitlement is clearly sports and any other organized competition. When did we start giving trophies to every kid who signed up for a sport? What is with the "everyone is a winner" bullshit we are feeding these kids? Last Summer I heard a teacher tell a kid, "you didn't lose...you were just the last winner". What the fuck does that mean? Teaching your kids that no one ever loses is a ridiculous way to get them ready for life. An offense that should be punishable by jail time. Okay, that might be a bit harsh, but fines should be levied. Heavy ones.

So now we can't play games at recess that involve picking teams, because someone has to be picked last...and that will hurt their feelings. We can't play dodge ball because that singles kids out...and that will hurt their feelings. Can't play Tag because, well...they have feelings. We can't let them leave without a trophy...all because of their precious feelings. Jesus Christ, am I the only one that has a problem with this shit? Are we, as a society, really okay with sending our kids out in to the "real" world with these types of expectations? Nothing about what you experience after your High School years coincides with the bullshit we are instilling in our kids...and other people's kids.

If your kid is being a disrespectful asshole, to you or a friend or another adult - it's your fault, so you deal with it. You, personally. Not your nosy neighbor. Not the newest "Doctor" with a TV show. Not the hottest developmental problem on the block. Sit with your kids. Experience them. Teach them. Learn from them. Listen to them. Yell at them if you have to. Threaten them if you need to. And don't be afraid to beat them.

It certainly worked when I was a kid, and I didn't grow up to be any type of dysfunctional emo serial killer who cut himself or shot up a school because my feelings were stepped on.