You’re Not The Boss of ME!

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I’m generally a fairly low-key person.  Don’t laugh – it’s true.  I know  I have strong opinions about most everything but I am fairly easygoing and most often easy to get along with.  I  usually mind my own business and don’t judge others for their different views or lifestyles.

Why then is it that certain people feel compelled to  inform me that I am WRONG?  Not just wrong about something, but WRONG.  Wrong in who I am,  what I do, what I think, what I believe, and  how I behave or don’t behave.

Several years ago I was  called out in  the newspaper for a letter to the editor pertaining to an issue that was on the ballots.  I usually don’t say anything, but the  specific topic got my dander up.   NOT the issue so much as the people’s ignorance surrounding  it.  Voting was based on misconceptions,  and wrong thinking –  I mean wrong to the point of this is not scientific fact, they were basing their decision off something someone said with no evidence to back their claims while a little bit of research ( and you all know how much I love to dig into research) I found several sites that listed the  facts easily.

In this article I pleaded with the  people to become  informed of the facts,  and stop voting strictly based on party lines.  Well, of course  there was a rebuttal  – in which I was called a narrow-minded religious zealot.  Huh?  That didn’t even make sense as the issue I was trying to argue was that instead of making your decision based on what was being preached from the pulpit, which was not  Biblical by the way, that the people should read it for themselves and get the facts.  FACTS people, scientific evidence to  dispute the  views being spouted.  I didn’t write a rebuttal to the rebuttal, but the newspaper offered me a column in which I went on to inflame many readers about many topics.  Thank you, it’s a gift!

Fast forward to  today – Where does Mr. Behavioural Fascist get off thinking that he is my personal life police?  Really?  Once again the  fountain of garbage has spewed all over my writer’s desk. Where is the rule book that says that certain people are appointed  as judge over  others?   Where is it?  Did I miss that one somehow?  Where’s my copy?  When do I get to be judge and juror over someone else’s life? 

You all may have missed this before, but I’m not a child –  not by any stretch of the imagination. At the beginning of this year I  hit the big 50. I know, age does not define maturity. Mr. Behavioral Fascist has determined that I am the scourge of the earth by this latest  bout of tongue lashing.  I am a legal adult!  I don’t need morality police telling me that every choice I make is wrong.  I don’t need  to be babysat like a delinquent school girl.

When I make mistakes – and I do, big ones – I own up to them and take full responsibility for them.  But NOOOOOOOOOO, that isn’t good enough. I’m taken to task over every slight offense. Guess what?  I”m not perfect and never claimed to be.  I screw up on a grand scale at times because I am actually doing something.  If you’re not making mistakes then you aren’t living.

I’m not making excuses for my  bad behavior, I’m not saying that my choices are always the best but it’s not anyone else’s place to judge me and inform me that I am the  great evil. If it’s anyone’s business it would be my husband’s and children and they aren’t ready to burn me at the stake.

What was that thing that Jesus said?  Oh yes – “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  He didn’t say “Let those who have made the same mistakes crucify you after they  have recovered.”

As far as I know we are all human here and all of us fall short of perfection.  I realize that is a hard concept for some to grasp but it’s true.  Until someone can  provide proof that aliens walk among us, or vampires are real, or some other nonhuman entity exists I shall assume that we are all in fact human.

Why is it that people feel the need to express to me  my failings?  This has happened to me on more than one occasion.  In fact,  it has happened to me a number of times.  Is there something about me that screams to  others to inform me of my short comings?  I’d really like to know so I can remove that sign.

And to Mr. Behavioural Fascist –  you’re not the boss of me! 

Write on my friends, regardless of what your critics say.

 

 

Bad Behaviour

Prepare to be shocked!

I know I’ve gone on in length before about how I refuse to act my age.  It’s a numerical designator that lost it’s appeal to me somewhere around 35. Since then I’ve made the decision that I’m not going to be an old fuddy duddy.  However,  I must point out a certain aspect of maturity that apparently eludes apprrximately 70% of our society, and a good 50% of the authors and aspiring authors I’ve observed on facebook.

I love funny posts as much as the next gal.  I’ve posted a few myself.  But there are certain behaviours that are reminiscent to my high school days or even back in junior high.  People behaving badly on social media – it’s rampant!

Remeber the mean girls in school? The ones who had their little cliques, wore the latest designer clothes while your parents made you wear the same jeans they bought you last week?  The ones who felt compelled to tell you that “ew. That outfit is so last season.” Or something like “Well, girls with any sense of fashion would wear a pair of jeans that does NOT emphasize the muffin top.”  Meanwhile they’re sporting the whole muffin! Girls that go through a tube of mascara every month while ridiculing the girl with the extraordinary long lashes for wearing a ton of mascar when she in fact doesn’t wear any!

It’ s not just the girls either. Bad behaviour is not confined to gender, or nationality.  Bad behaviour is a universal truth in our world of social media.  Sad very sad truth that it is.

The overwhelming majority of us weren’t in the cliques. Think about it, five or six girls (I’m using girls becasue that’s my reference but remember not gender specific!) out of the entire high school.  I attended a small high school where the total enrollment was under 500.  I know many who had their senior class larger than 500.  So that leaves the greater majority of us non clique-ers that the “meangirls clique” lashed out at.

It must be difficult to be perfect; to know that nobody else is as good as you,  or can ever hope to achieve that level of perfection. What a sad, lonely, and pathetic existence. So here’s my top   offenses by the recent “meangirl” lashing.

1. Bashing someone elses work that is different from yours.   I don’t read noire fiction but some do.  Don’t bash my stuff because I don’t write like you! Shakespeare isn’t for everyone either but he had his share of critics.  On one hand if you have critics I suppose you must be doing something right.  Score one for me!
2. Snarky comments – really? Really??  Is that the best you can do?  If you’ve got a problem with me bring it sister or mister! Saying little comments to my other facebook friends in chat and telling them lies about me or telling me lies about my friends or posting lies in a group is really tasteless, juvenile behaviour. Do you honestly think the rest of us are so ignorant not to observe this continued behaviour?  Score another one for me.
3. Subtle innuendos thrown my way.  Please, you might as well give it up becasue your efforts are lame at best, pathetic at their worst.  Until you’ve mastered the art of insult I suggest you refrain form them. And sublte?  You might want to look that one up in the dictionary sweetums. Score three for me!
4. Name Calling.  That was what, preschool?  Doodoo head, booger eater, frog face, . . . Granted you have advanced to a few more intelligent names but really, they are just as lame.   Penalty on your for resorting to such juvenile behaviour that’s one point for me, and negative 1 for you.
5.  Resorting to insults when I’m not immediate with a response.  Seriously?  Do you thnk I live my life by Facebook? Maybe that’s how you roll, but I have other things to do than hang on every word that you type into Facebook.  I know it’s difficult to believe, but some of us do have real life contacts in our lives, people that  we care about  and care about them.
6. Blasting in generalities for all the millions of people that don’t recognize your brilliance.  Uh no.  Sorry to say that your bulb is not brilliant, and in fact is quite dim. Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?  OH, sadly apparently you don’t. Again score 1 point for me.
7. Exagerrating an incident to appear greater in your friend’s eyes.  That didn’t work back in fourth grade, it isn’t going to fly here.

Seven to negative one, clear victory here!  Feel free to give a rebuttal. I will give fair warning however, I will counter your rebuttal with the remainder of my lists and then call you out by name.  My blog – my rules – deal with it!

What about you? Ever have to deal with those juvenile “meanies” on the cyber waves?  Have you ever been taken in by their lame attempts to slander others while raising themselves up?

I think my readers are smarter than than. Therefore, I do realize that most of this rant is indeed wasted as the guilty parties would only read this purely to criticize.  It has been one very bad day in Mack land.  Hope your day has been better. I shall return to the usually scheduled program tomorrow.  To counter this rant I shall give you my other links.  this was the highlight of an otherwise very bad day.

http://authoranjieharrte.blogspot.com/2012/09/kiss-of-dragon-tantalizing-excerpt-by.html?showComment=1346957302472#c5480150170366026777  This is a blurb, an excerpt, and a review of Kiss of the Dragon.

http://satinsheet.nowatapress.com/2012/09/06/september-showcase-the-beauty-behind-the-blog-ms-ellie-mack/ An interview with yours truly!

Double blessings!  Would it be really mean to give the  mean people a big rasperry?

Write On my Friends, Write on!