Agree to disagree

I know it's been over a year since anyone's posted here, but this has been bothering me for awhile, and this blog is the perfect place to vent!

One of my friends posted some cutesy picture of a baby that had "We call time of death when the heartbeat stops, why don't we call time of life when it starts?" or something like that.  It annoyed me.  For one thing, I think abortion is a serious issue and stupid little memes like that just seem so disrespectful to both sides of the argument. It also bothered me because the way we define life isn't that simple, and as this person went through the surgical tech program with me, where we spent like 2 weeks on that, should know better.  So I pointed out that the heartbeat isn't always the line we draw between alive and not alive, as everyone who reads this knows.  She responded with something like "Well I believe that one cell is alive."  Uh...  yeah...  of course it is?  No one has ever said that the embryo isn't alive.  And that's totally not the point.  I responded with something about how those little cute pictures bother me anyway, and she just said "agree to disagree."

Here's the thing, I think you should have whatever view you want on abortion.  We are all allowed to have our own opinions.  And this is a pretty divisive topic, I get that.  One side thinks we're murdering babies, one side thinks the government is telling women what they can or can't do with their bodies and are effectively ruining their lives.  But if you believe that that one cell is a human being, and that abortion is murder, shouldn't you try to change people's minds?  And if you're so sure of your belief, why would it scare you so much to hear an opposing viewpoint?  That's what bothers me the most about that phrase.  It's saying "I don't want to hear your opinion.   I don't think there's any value to it, and my mind is completely closed to anything different from what I think."  When we refuse to hear anything other than what we already believe, we stagnate.  Growth stops.  Improvement ends.  I understand that in this case, she probably just didn't want to get into that kind of discussion on facebook, but she could have just said that.  Not that she is so set in her ways that she wont hear any dissent, even if that just makes her belief stronger.  After all, shouldn't you be able to defend your ideas?  Especially if you're trying to make a law about it?  Shouldn't you know why you believe that, and know why the other side believes what they do?

I do not "agree to disagree." I agree to keep the conversation going, even if neither of us ever change our minds, because the conversation is important!

Where is everyone?

Hey, I am all by myself here, it's getting a little lonely.

Sad

Not so much an outrage as it is sadness.

I received this email from a friend:

Hello Friends:

I am trying to take some of the stress off of "S" (my edit) and keep everyone updated on what’s going on (per S’s request). The easiest way is to send out this email to everyone at the same time, so all of her close friends can stay up-to-date without having her have to respond to everyone individually...especially once she arrives to be with her mother/brothers/sister.

It is with great sadness that I let you know that they found S’s father a couple minutes ago. He has passed on. I just talked to S and she is beyond devastated…..she said to tell everyone thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

It’s a very sad day - Please keep S and her family in your thoughts and prayers. We all love her and she is going to need all of our support to help her get through this. If there’s anyone that I may have forgotten or you think should be on this email update list, please shoot me their email addresses and I will check with S. Thanks everyone.

Love,
A

It must be true...

if someone sent me an email, then by golly no matter how crazy it is, as matter of fact the crazier it is the more likely, I will believe it and defend it and not be swayed by mere facts.

Target is owned by the French!  So don't shop there!  AND they don't support the military! But shop at Kohl's because they are ok!  And use lots of exclamation marks when you write!!!

Mental anguish

Things that are making me crazy:

1. The staffer that asked if by "annually" I meant "yearly."
2. The staffer that asked if I knew how long an indefinite postponement would be.
3. When I tell my coworker, "they want this written in a timeline format" and she then proceeds to ask me ten times throughout the day, "they want a timeline format?"
4. When I have to show a coworker basic computer skills.
5. When the media finds out stuff about where I work before any of us do.
6. When on the front of my bus, there is a HUGE sign that says where the bus is going, and people getting on the bus still ask, "is this bus going to -----?"
7. When we get phone calls from random people who want us to die along with our family members.
8. When the media reports incorrect things and does not retract them.
9. When everyone assumes they are suddenly experts in a field they know nothing about and then proceed to spout off their opinion.
10. When staffers put conference calls on hold so we can hear their music playing and not be able to talk, even though in the email we send out we say "DO NOT PUT THE CALL ON HOLD, JUST CALL BACK" and we also mention it at the beginning of each call.

That's all I can think of right now. I just needed to vent.

Parking drama

So I'm laying out on my patio, reading my new book and enjoying the sun, when my phone rings. It was Diamond Realty. I assumed they were calling about the maintenance request I made, but no, apparently my neighbor called to complain about me because I parked in front of his apartment. 99% of the time I park across the street, but the gutter across the street is totally full of trash, so I didnt want to park there this time. Seeing as how my neighbor has a driveway and a garage, I figured it'd be perfectly fine for me to park there. Public street and all. But no. Not only does he call to complain less than thirty minutes after I parked there, but he tells me them that I leave my car there for days on end without moving it. Um, no. For one thing, this is the first time I've parked there in months. For another, I work, so my car never stays in the same spot for days on end. For yet another, it's a public street. The dumbass from Diamond kept trying to tell me that it's his spot, and my spot is in my garage. So... Let me get this straight, this guy gets three spots- one in his garage, one in his driveway, and one on the street, and got so pissed that he had to park in front of my car that he called to complain and make up lies about me? WTF??????

I need to move. I need to move. I need to move. OMG

beer? please?

Ugh, so I go to Vons to buy some beer and groceries and stuff (ok, so yeah, the main point was the beer), get in line, and realize I forgot my id. Damn. Oh well. I buy the nonalcoholic stuff, and come back for the beer. I got in the same line as before, which happened to have the store manager at the register. Not only did he not immediately recognize me from ten minutes ago, he gave me a completely blank look when I said "I'm back for my beer, this time with my id!" So he finally figures out that the beer I was pointing to was, indeed, mine, and goes to get it. And then drops it. And then for some reason, rings in a couple other things I was getting, making everyone else behind me wait for him to call someone up front to take away the broken box, then wait as he called another person up to get me a new box. Why he couldn't have just rang in the broken box and then gave me the new later, or just skipped me and helped the people behind me (which I offered), I don't know. Then the Vons discount wouldn't work and he overcharged me by like $15. All in all, it took me about an hour and a half to get some beer. Which I shall now enjoy.

(Firestone Double Barrel, in case you were wondering)