This entry may interest a tiny amount of my viewer’s but I’m going to post it anyways. Cats vs Dogs. Republicans vs Democrats. PS3 vs Xbox 360. Xbox One vs PS4. DC vs Marvel. Red vs Blue. Left handed vs right handed. Seriously, what’s with all of the controversy?!
What got me thinking about this was a video published by IGN. They blew something DC did with one of their premiere dates out of the water. DC announced that their (hopefully) blockbuster film Superman vs. Batman is now scheduled for a May 6, 2016 release. The same day Marvel has scheduled a release date for an as of yet unnamed film. 2 “experts” spent almost 10 minutes discussing how Marvel needs to change their game plan because no film that would fit into that slot would be able to “rival superman vs batman, and wouldn’t even be able to rival batman’s name alone.” They concluded that Marvel needs to change their previously mentioned release date because any movie they put out couldn’t possibly compete with DC’s biggest stars. My question is… how are they competing? I for one, as a comic book/superhero fan, would look forward to two major franchise releases more than I would look forward to Christmas. If Star Wars and Star Trek both had a major release on the same day, I’d go to both. If I didn’t die of EXCITEMENT BEFOREHAND!! Why has this “Us vs Them” mentality prevailed for so long. Who decided that competition was preferable to collaboration? Why are we expected to compete with people who don’t agree with us instead of trying to understand their point of view? I would rather intelligently discuss topics with someone than try to “win” by being the loudest voice in the room. When did we start believing that stubbornness was preferable to compromise? Or did we simply never consider the alternative? I’m sure there are those who echo my point of view but until they start speaking out, nothing is going to change. People will continue to believe that their view of the world is the only one that is correct and that anyone who opposes them is wrong. That A is true and will always be true no matter how many people believe that A is wrong. People wonder what’s wrong with society? What’s wrong with society is that it views people of differing opinions as opponents. As someone who should be defeated. The human race isn’t divided by color or creed or geographic location. It’s divided by dogmatic views that refuse to even listen to what someone else has to say. It’s divided by stubbornness and an overwhelming urge to refute anyone and everyone who doesn’t agree with a single group. The sooner we realize that cooperation and collaboration should be preferred over competition the sooner we can make actual progress. But what do I know? I’m just a college student.
This Rant isn’t going to be as “Mini” as most other Monday ones but don’t let that scare you off. Here goes nothing. Being a retail worker I see plenty of overreactions by both customers and associates.”It said $2.49 not $2.99! Let me talk to someone who knows what they’re doing in this place!!” Not an exaggeration by the way. “This schedule says I was supposed to start at 8 but the one in the back (which everyone knows to follow, which this individual did) says 7! Why can’t she ever get them to match!?” Dude it’s an hour and you showed up on time. Get over it. Then there’s this guy (I encourage you to watch this AFTER you finish reading): http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/justice/florida-movie-theater-shooting/?hpt=zite_zite3_featured Here’s the scene. A man is texting his daughter during the previews of a movie. The previews, mind you, the article doesn’t say how long his texting continued; personally, I wouldn’t care one bit about someone texting during THE PREVIEWS!! Anyways, the man behind the public nuisance that is the texting father is confronted by a 71 year old, former police officer. Voices were raised and the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife (or so I’m told by my own mental imagining of the incident) The man disturbed by the texter leaves to find a member of management to complain and hopefully resolve the situation without further incident. The man returns with no employee in tow. Ok… maybe the man has calmed down. Maybe the father has stopped texting. Let’s sit back and see what happens… Paraphrase: “Did you go and tattle on me? I was just texting my daughter.” Elderly gentleman throws popcorn, or dad does, the article doesn’t say. Event 1, event 2, event 3; everyone leaves or goes to another seat or agrees to disagree and everyone enjoys a nice flick minus the popcorn throwing and texting right? Absolutely not. What ends up happening? Before you ask, no, I did not make this up. The 71 year old FORMER POLICE OFFICER pulls a GUN and shoots the dad!!! What. Thee. ACTUAL. @#$% Hold on, a man was SHOT because he was TEXTING during the PREVIEWS of a movie?!?! It’s stuff like this that keeps the “get guns out of everywhere forever” debate going. Not only was the father shot, but his wife was as well. The elderly gentleman then sat down, placed his gone in his lap, and acted like nothing happened. The crowd reacts the way they should. One attendee just happens to be an off duty police officer. He ensures that the threat to everyone else in the theater is neutralized. People disperse and flee but there also happen to be 2 nurses in the theater as well, who are now attending to the gunshot victims making sure they’re ok. They aren’t. The father was in fact killed. KILLED!!!! A man was murdered because he was texting during the previews of a movie. I’m not sure what the wound to the wife makes this but… well… I’ll just explain it. She was shot in the hand. Definitely non-fatal. The hand that she had placed over the wound from the first shot. So… this father was double-tapped?!?! (Double-tapped is a reference to the movie Zombieland in which you shoot something twice to ensure that you’ve killed it)I don’t… I really have no idea what I can even say about this. A man lost his life because he was texting during the previews of a movie. If that doesn’t tell you that SOMETHING is wrong with society then well… honestly I don’t even know. I am at a loss for words. Even though I’m not an opponent of the death penalty, I’ve never actually wished for it to exist somewhere as much as I do right now. The day a man gets shot because he was texting is the same day I lose almost all faith in humanity. It does give extra weight to the “Please turn off all electronic devices for the consideration of other” line they throw on every movie screen. One final note, the “prohibited items and actions” section of their website includes “No cell phone use, including texting, in the theater auditorium.” and “no weapons allowed.” So the next time you think about arguing over 50 cents or shooting someone in a movie theater because their screen annoys you… you might want to take a step back. My thoughts and prayers are with the Oulson family. They’ve suffered a tragedy that should have never occurred and one that has virtually no explanation.
I’ll dive right into it. I’ve long been disgusted by a lot of the ideas my field of study holds when it comes to discipline. Positive reinforcement. Time outs. Treat them like you would treat an adult. Go sit in the naughty corner. Put a dollar in the swear jar. First of all, swearing isn’t that big of a damn deal when you grow up. Studies have shown that subtle swearing actually makes speeches more persuasive and the use of swear words can reduce the amount of stress in certain situations. Swearing is not what I want to talk about though. Recently I was educated on the subject of discipline by an old school black woman who doesn’t mess around with formalities. A snotty little child cries and balls their eyes out at Kmart because mommy refused to buy a candy bar that the kid clearly didn’t need. A jump rope would have been more appropriate. “Damn kids these days, got no respect.” Alright, I’m not going to dispute that. “If that was my kid I’d lay a whoopin’ on them first chance I got.” Whoa, umm… ok. A whoopin’. Not sure I can endorse that but before I can interject “hold up though I don’t be beatin my kids I just lay the whoopin’ on them.” A thought pops into my head and someone else beats me to the question. “Now hold on, what exactly is the difference between a whoopin’ and a beatin’?” “You see a beatin’ you be hittin ’em and smackin ’em until yo arm tired and you kinda lose it but a whoopin’? You in control, you holdin back yo true feelings and it ain’t until your arm tired. You just be whoopin em and whoopin em and maybe you stop to take a smoke break or grab a sandwich then you come back and whoop on em some mo. It ain’t a beaten where you snap and hurt yo kid long term but they learn they lesson. That child ain’t goin be actin up again anytime soon, you know dat.” Wow, so there’s a lesson in either black culture or old school disciplinary techniques. And no I did not embellish the conversation, that’s how she actually talked, which makes that conversation that much more amazing. Now obviously I’ve expressed two very extreme examples of discipline. You don’t have to choose between a whoopin’ or a timeout. I’ve just given you an example of how things change. Whether or not this change is for the better or worse, well I’d have to say I haven’t been here long enough to know. Obviously I’m not going to be reaching for the belt whenever my future kids misbehave but you can be damn sure there won’t be a “naughty chair.” in my house. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you Wednesday.
Welcome back ladies and gentleman. My brain has been in full on writing mode for a while and Monday finally rolled around so I can scratch the itch. An abundance of topics have been bouncing around in my head all day. Miley Cyrus, The VMA’s, Low Standards, Lack of Morals, the list goes on and on. Then it hit me, square in the face. We have the wrong role models. The days of looking up to your parents or firefighters or your 8th grade Social Studies teacher have flown out the window and been replaced with YouTube views, shitty dance crazes and dollar signs. If you had told me 10 years ago that wholesome standards and expectations would be replaced by skinny white girls who can “twerk” and guys like Robin Thicke who put out music videos where he is surrounded by naked women I would have laughed in your face. Why? Because I grew up thinking that there were standards. I was under the impression that there were certain levels of modesty, of respect, of class, the list really could go on and on. Apparently I was wrong. Maybe I was young and naive and just a little too faithful in the rest of humanity. Or, maybe the systematic desensitization of the human race has led us to an existence in which nothing is true and everything is permitted. Assassin’s Creed anyone? What gets me is that this isn’t discussed. At all. Instead we talk about Jaden Smith (I’ll get to you Wednesday) and his lack of faith in the educational system and who Liam Hemsworth was seeing while still engaged to our beloved Ms. Cyrus. News channels report on which football player got into a bar fight while they throw the real issues in the inch thick repeating ticker at the bottom of the screen. “But Grant, what can I do? I’m just one person!” Honestly, I don’t know what one person can do and I don’t know if that one person can make a difference anyways. I am just sick and tired of everyone just accepting this reality as fact. I know there are still pockets of resistance but they are few and far between and they are relatively quiet. That’s it for today but do expect to hear from me on Wednesday as well. I know this entry isn’t as “Mini” as usual but thank you to everyone who has made it this far. You’ll be hearing from me soon.
Welcome back ladies and gentleman! I’m not gonna lie, I had this whole entry planned out almost word for word. It was going to be about freshman. How easy it is to spot them. How paranoid they seem to be. How they successfully assimilate themselves into the college experience by at least the second semester. Then come along the VMA’s. Before you ask, no, I did not watch them and would never take time out of my day to view such a shallow awards show. I didn’t even realize they were on until my twitter feed blew up with tweets about Miley Cyrus. I realized long ago that she wasn’t that cute, adorable, likable girl that doubled as Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. Her haircut is more than enough evidence of that. This clip from the VGA’s though, oh my goodness. For the safety of my readers I will not link the video but if you’re still curious it is not difficult to find. I hope to high heaven that parents realize that this girl is no longer someone their kids should look up to. I’m just gonna say it, MTV should have cut off her performance BEFORE Robin Thicke even came out. I get it, sex sells, but I have a feeling there is less risque content on SKINEMAXE!! Anyone who tuned into this show and wasn’t disgusted is well… I don’t even know what they are. The fact that this level of indecency is on a channel that teens watch disturbs me to no end. I will be the last person to say that I’m perfect but at least I still have some degree of class coursing through my veins. Both sides of this performance were deplorable to me. The dancing was unacceptable. The lyrics were unacceptable. Miley Cyrus says during one of her lines “we can screw who we want to.” Ok… WHAT?! I realize there are all types of “live and let live” types in the world but why the hell is this line in a top 10 song?! “We can love who we want to” “We can kiss who we want to” and these are just the vanilla lyrics, listen to these next ones. “And everyone in line in the bathroom, trying to get a line in the bathroom.” If I’m not mistaken she’s singing about SNORTING COCAINE AT A PARTY!! Who the hell allows this on the radio?! I am so sick of non existent morals permeating every type of media we are exposed to. I honestly pray to God that this fad passes way before my children come into existence. If my offspring are ostracized because I try to raise them to look down on this type of behavior then I truly will have lost all faith in humanity.
Welcome back everybody and thanks for tuning in! Or checking in. Or whatever the proper term would be. Alright!! This week I’m going green, not out of some sense to save the world from global warming or preventing the deforestation of the Rainforest, those things are all good and well but I don’t feel like putting that much effort into something I don’t deeply care about. What I do care about is people who decide to empty the contents of their vehicles on the side of the road. Now I’m not going to lie, I’ve thrown my gum or sunflower seed shells out the window but this individual brought it to a whole new level. So one fine Sunday on my way back to Marshall I encounter about 10 napkins blowing about in the middle of the road. Umm… ok? Half a mile later, some styrofoam cups. Another half a mile? Pop cans. I see a vehicle in the distance so I speed up to investigate. Sure enough, more random garbage. A fast food bag, more napkins, Ok the vehicle is fairly new and is absolutely spotless, and I can tell because it’s white. I’m expecting some young punk with no respect for anyone, some douchebag with gelled hair and a V-neck. I get close enough to see the license plates? It reads “DOOTS.” A vanity plate only leads me to believe this prick is some teen with an ego the size of Rhode Island. The car starts to slow and goes into the right turn lane, I pass, and what do I see? A white woman probably in her 60’s. Uhh… so you’ve been trashing this road for some 40 years? Are you serious?! Ok gal, do you show this much disrespect in every other aspect of your life? Do you walk through other peoples homes with muddy boots? Do you sit on their kitchen table? I thought the younger generation was the only disrespectful generation but boy was I wrong. It may not seem like a big deal to you but it pisses me off. Take 30 seconds, through your trash in a plastic bag at home, and throw it in the dumpster. I’m glad you’re in the minority because if everyone acted like this I hate to even think of what our roads and communities would look like. Alright now that I’m done with that, I’d like to thank all of you for reading and tuning in whenever I find time to post. I’m grateful for all of your dedication and look forward to your continued support.
It’s Monday so you know what that means! Another paragraph I’m going to ask my readers to trudge through, please? I had a couple of lackluster ideas for this week so I decided to hit up the news sites for some inspiration. Here is the article that inspired me this week. http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/01/living/parents-kids-high-fashion/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11 Ok, first off let me express my hatred of the terms “yolo” and “swag” to begin with, they should not exist. Now I’ve talked about stupid parents before, remember the adolescent sex changes? This isn’t quite as bad. I’ve heard of parents living vicariously through their children but COME ON! Dressing your kids “swagalisciously” might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of, Kids should be in shorts and t-shirts, not in clothes like this.
Kids dressing like this at my school would have gotten beat up on a daily basis and quite frankly, I probably wouldn’t have stopped them. Granted, these kids are from Brooklyn and not rural Minnesota but come on? Do people really dress their kids like this? Thank God I live in the country where stupidity is only present 50% of the time and not running rampant through all age ranges. I for one hope that this trend of “fashion forward toddlers” dies quickly. If toddlers don’t have mud, dirt, paint, or marker on most of the clothes they don’t wear to church on Sunday then they’re doing childhood wrong and the parents are doing parenting wrong. Forgive me for being old fashioned but a flat brimmed hat and a shirt that says “SWAG” will be coming nowhere near my children. My only hope is that this trend dies off before I have kids so they won’t be picked on and put down for wearing normal clothes. One final thought, unless these kids are taking pictures of each other and picking out their own clothes, they aren’t the ones screaming “LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!!!”
Ok yes I realize how sexist this topic may seem but at least hear me out first. I have nothing against (most) women but this particular encounter is incredibly special. This situation fascinates me as a Psychology major and terrifies me as a man. One fine day at Kmart I witnessed something spectacular. A man and a women, a husband and wife if you will, were checking out. The wife asks the husband for his PIN number as she is using his debit card. Husband gives the PIN, wife enters the PIN. The cash back option pops up. “Honey, would you like any cash back?” says the wife. “No, I don’t need any.” Wife reaches towards the Pin Pad. “Oops, I hit $20 cash back, is that ok?” “Well I’d rather not,” says the husband. “Oh, well do you have any cash?” “No, I don’t. But I don’t need any either.” replies the husband calmly. “Oh, you always do this! You never have cash and you charge a $1.59 pop or some other stupid thing! Just take the $20 and be happy with it!” “Ok, I’m sorry.” replies the husband apologetically. Umm… anyone else see what just happened there? Wife screws up, husband tries to act diplomatically, wife get’s pissed and convinces the husband that he’s the one who messed up. What? WHAT?! There is no way I witnessed this. Did that seriously just happen? This makes me afraid of women a little bit. I’m hoping that this particular woman is part of a small percentage of the female gender. I know enough to realize that not all women are crazy, but I also know enough to realize that a small percentage are. Here’s to hoping I find one of the not crazy ones!
And we’re back! And by we I mean me of course. I know I said at the start of summer that I’d be posting more regularly but the world is a disappointing place. Deal with it. But never fear! I have returned. Now on to the business at hand. Retail jokes. If you’re asking yourself “Hasn’t he beat this horse to death yet?” the answer is no, I have not. People say write about what you know so that’s what I’m going to do. We can all appreciate a good laugh every now and then but some jokes you hear too much. “Hey did you hear the one about that crazy chicken and that road?” Yes. I did. No that item isn’t free just because it doesn’t have a price sticker on it. Yes that’s a lot of paper. You think you’re the first person to think of that? Uhh no. You aren’t. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that IN A DAY I’d be making more than what KMart pays me. And another thing. That $35 ink cartridge you found buried in the jeans is not $15. The sign says “Wranglers Jeans” and you’re a moron. We hear this crap all the time and we’re not amused by you’re shenanigans. Either sharpen up that “wit” of yours or stop trying to be funny.
I really didn’t intend to write about the weather two weeks in a row but my previous entry was the second most viewed and hey if it ain’t broke, why shovel out the driveway? Wait, what? Ahh whatever. My first Monday Mini-Rant talked about the snow the was upon us and the lack of intelligence surrounding people’s reactions. Sound intrigued but missed it? I’ve got you covered: https://celticspy.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/monday-mini-rant-minnesota-weather/ Last week at this time it was snowing like the end of the world. This week we have enough snow to fill Target Field, believe me, there are pictures. Mother Nature changes her mind more than I change my socks. And for you smartasses that’s every day. What worries me is the warm temperatures and the amount of rain we’re supposed to get.
Get your high water pants out and dust off your floaties folks, the waters are gonna be a-risin. Seriously a tsunami is upon us. Based on how quickly mother nature unleashes her fury upon us we may be swimming to our various duties instead of driving. I’m sure peoples reactions will be the same so I’ve just accepted it. Here, let me get it out of my system, just in case I’m tempted. “It’s raining!” “It’s snowing” It’s so nice out today!” “Is that hail?!” “Oh Minnesota weather, you so crazy!” Here’s to hoping I don’t have to talk about the freaking weather next week.
Just another college student with too many thoughts and too few to listen
RantingGrant 