Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[snowywolfowl]

*Wonders why noone is getting ready to stuff themselves silly with turkey, then remembers to drape himself in the Canadian flag.*

Ok, we can try this again:

"Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!"

Now, in the spirit of any holiday here are some things that have just got me thinking, sometimes seriously, sometimes not:

1. Jordan Eberle's first ever goal in the National Hockey League.

Ok people lots of players have scored nice goals in their very first game but this may be the goal of the year. It's definately Top Ten quality:

I just think its awesome that Oiler fans will have something like this to brag about this year, especially since this team is not going to the playoffs. Nothing against the Oil but hey, reality bites.

2.  Man with Alzheimer's gets confused, spends month in jail despite wife's efforts to free him.

I like this quote from the judge that got involved in this case:
 

"I don't want this gentleman to spend one more second in custody," provincial court Judge Sandra Chapman said Friday morning, directing that Joe McLeod be released on bail.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/10/08/mb-alzheimer-patient-jail-release.html#ixzz11oqukdbF

Ok. I realize that any call that involves a domestic disturbance has to be treated with the utmost attention by our police officers, but is it really necessary to jail a man whose wife called the police only because she had no other idea who she should be calling?  I can accept him being taken into custody for his and his family's safety but wouldn't a hospital emergency room suffice?  The poor guy must have been terrified and hopelessly confused being in jail.

Oh well. At least they didn't taser him, although if they had they might have gotten him to a doctor sooner.

3. I find these guys absolutely fascinating. I think they are the most interesting...phenomenon in America right now:

 

I've mentioned Fred Phelps and his Westboro screaming banshee battalion  before on this blog but seriously, even though I know I should just turn away I just can't. Its such a train wreck of infantile attention seeking that if it wasn't so hurtful, and wasn't so sad to see the children they bring to these protests, it would be...well, I don't know. It's not really funny or humourous. I mean this group and its leaders are so full of hatred that I really think they should be tested for rabies.

Am I the only one who thinks that the woman who was leading these freaks was getting a stiffy from this? I mean some of her other interviews you'd swear she's channelling Meg Ryan from "When Harry met Sally" when she starts off on her rantings about how we are all filthy and deserving to go to the great sauna underground.
 

*Sigh*

They make my head hurt. Can they just go away?
 

4. My take on these tragic bullicides that have claimed so many lives?  Relax! It could have been far worse. Its not like this type of thing can cause a school shooting or something truly horrific.

Oh.

Yeah.

Shit.

Am I the only one who is silently relieved that, as bad as it is that these children killed themselves, at least they didn't take a gun to school and kill a whole bunch of their classmates as a final statement about their pain? Am I the only one who can see that one day I'm going to turn on CNN and hear "Bullied kid decides to end life...and chooses their least favourite classmates as companions for the trip"?

It's going to happen people, and I'm scared shitless at the thought. Some poor, misguided, lost, hurt kid, who deserves a hell of lot better than what he or she is getting is going to sit down and decide "There is no way out. If I want the pain to end, I have to die". And you know what, they're going to have a terrifying moment of clarity. They are going to ask themselves "If I have to die, then why should my tormenters get to live?".  And when it happens I will not be surprised. Hell, I'm thankful that all the kids who've killed themselves lately had the uncommon decency and strength of character to NOT go on a killing spree. 

If you just found that last bit offensive, disgusting, and obscene, don't be alarmed. It means that you get it. You might be a teacher, or a parent, or a classmate, or a bullied kid, or just a bystander, but you get it. I'm not sure everyone else is, but if you want to punch me for saying that, you do. 

For those of you who are still reading this, I thank and salute you. This can't be fun reading. And if you're a kid who's wandered into this blog somehow please listen up here:

I know people say "It gets better" and it does. However, I can also see how that statement might seem like a crock of bull poop when you've got some jackass being cruel to you. I don't want you to strike back. I don't want you to lash out, or self harm. What I do want you to do is just think about some things. Bullying is ALWAYS going to be here. Its not going to end because CNN is covering it this week. It happens in school, it happens on the street, it happens in the workplace, it happens everywhere.

But....

....and this is a big "but"...

...it doesn't always have to matter if you don't want it to. There are somethings were you've got more power than you know.

Seriously, think about it. If you've got somebody in your  Grade Eight class who needs to use their fingers to add 2 and 3 together to get 4 telling you that what you say in class is "stupid"  then I have to ask why are you giving any value to this person? You can safely ignore them in this situation. Trust me from experience on this. If this is the pinnacle of their academic thought at this level you won't be taking classes or socializing much longer with them. College requires basic math, and an ability to use your head for more than just crushing empty beer cans. 

Just keep that image in mind, okay? And don't do anything crazy.

If anyone read this who needed to hear this, I hope it helped.

Comments

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

It's just sad there's so much cruelty in human nature - you can see it manifested in lots of different ways you mentioned here. The recent suicide of the kid who was videotaped - that was so awful. He went to the same high school I went to. I guess my former band teacher knew him. :-(

I do agree that things get better and you don't have the perspective as a kid. Tim Gunn wrote about trying to kill himself when he was younger - and about the perspective he has on it now. :-(

[snowywolfowl.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry about that. What a horrible example of just how wide an effect this type of thing has. Its just got to stop. It was ridiculous when I was a kid, but now its just insanity.

When I look back on my own experiences in elementary school and compare them with today I honestly don't think I'd have made it. It was bad enough to know that every day you were going to be verbally abused, and that every week you were going to fight. Having to go home and deal with nasty stuff on Facebook and the like just makes me thankful the technology wasn't there to be used to hurt me like it was used in some of these cases.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really does. There are so many more means to bully people now, you're right. And it can be so hard.

I really like this "It Gets Better" campaign they've got going on now. Here is Tim Gunn's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GGAgtq_rQc

[snowywolfowl.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I like this initiative, even to the point where I'm considering a video. The only problem I have is that its not quite inclusive enough. One of the scariest things anyone's ever said to me, ever, was said in elementary school. This one school mate, with a history of dangerous violence said "I'm to going to kill you, and then I'll just say it was because you're gay so people won't be upset with it".* And you know what? He was sort of right. Beating me to death with a baseball bat (he threatened me twice) 'just because" might not go over well, but "its because he's a faggot" would have made it tolerable to many people. He knew I wasn't gay. He just wanted an excuse that would make it right.




*We never actually fought AFTER that pronouncement by him. The closest we did come was one night when he and one of his friends caught me in a sidestreet near the TransCanada Highway one winter's night during my parent's divorce. I remember seeing them approach, thinking "There's nothing to live for anymore" and then weeping on my knees after shitkicking a snowbank when I realized that I'd never catch them after they turned and ran. For their part I think they had me filed under the "is he on angeldust?" category for the rest of high school. I recognize that that wasn't the most emotionally mature way to handle the situation (I was 14 at the time, but that's no excuse) but I can't complain about his friends leaving me alone after that.