I work for a very small...well...I'll call it a business. We are so small that we do not have janitors but rather everyone takes a week to clean, always in pairs. This week I came in to work to find a seventy-year-old sweet soul cleaning by herself. Her very selfish (and much younger) partner had decided not to help. This is not the first time this particular person has left somebody out on their own.
It makes me angry, in the kind of way that I believe is righteous. When persons care so much for themselves and so little for others...I just don't get it really. I don't understand selfishness, but I see it all around me. People don't care enough about others. Who taught us that it is ok to think only of ourselves? When did that become the norm rather than the exception? I don't like it.
Dear selfish person, get over yourself...get off your duff...care about someone else for once. You blame all your problems on others when you really should take a look at your own actions and assess. You aren't fooling anyone but yourself.
So here's the thing about selfishness, I do not care for it. And in this case, it made me angry.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
...
I have had a great deal of trouble coming to this blog and thinking on it. I think that I am a lot less angry than I was when I started it. I have not lost my passion, it's there but the focus is very different.
I don't know what that means for the blog, whether I will let it go or not. But I just wanted you to be aware.
I don't know what that means for the blog, whether I will let it go or not. But I just wanted you to be aware.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
About online interaction...
I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this one, and it seems so obvious to me, but since other people don't seem to know this, I think it ought to be said: online interaction is not the same as personal interaction. They work differently.
When you are speaking online with someone it is important to remember that tone, body language and the like cannot be communicated. Statistics says that communication is only 7% the words that you choose to use. That in itself should make people very weary of how and what they say in online communication.
You know what's hard to understand online? Sarcasm, anger, jokes, etc. Perhaps we ought to be careful using those emotions online? Perhaps we ought to not be pissed when there are misunderstandings because of these things. Perhaps people ought to be careful with their online communication...and because this is online, when I say "perhaps" I actually mean "do."
Do be careful about online interaction. And stop being pissy when people don't understand what you were trying to say. And have a little grace.
When you are speaking online with someone it is important to remember that tone, body language and the like cannot be communicated. Statistics says that communication is only 7% the words that you choose to use. That in itself should make people very weary of how and what they say in online communication.
You know what's hard to understand online? Sarcasm, anger, jokes, etc. Perhaps we ought to be careful using those emotions online? Perhaps we ought to not be pissed when there are misunderstandings because of these things. Perhaps people ought to be careful with their online communication...and because this is online, when I say "perhaps" I actually mean "do."
Do be careful about online interaction. And stop being pissy when people don't understand what you were trying to say. And have a little grace.
Monday, September 21, 2009
About hatred...
I am in an area that is severely hindered by their hatred of religions other than Christianity and races other than Caucasian. Almost daily I receive forwards that are blatantly hateful and in many cases ignorant. I want so badly to respond to these emails but cannot.
The emails range from simple to intricate, enticing me to forward them on if I am in fact a true American or a true Christian. What bothers me the most is the amount of hate that spews from the pages as I read. Every single person sending me these forwards claims the name of Christ and yet; they have hate in their hearts.
I wonder do they actually read these emails before sending them on or is there some kind of social norm that requires them to do so? I wonder how am I to respond? By doing nothing am I condoning their actions? What is the right thing to do? Because of my position I have to be very careful in my interaction. How can I show them what Jesus meant when he said, “Love one another”? I feel sure that he didn’t slip “only the Christians” into that statement. I KNOW he didn’t mean “only the white people” because hell, Jesus wasn’t white.
So here’s the thing, I feel heartbroken. I feel burdened deep within both for these people, and for the ones they hate. There are so many that just don’t get it. God is love. God is LOVE. Why is it that we act so unloving?
The emails range from simple to intricate, enticing me to forward them on if I am in fact a true American or a true Christian. What bothers me the most is the amount of hate that spews from the pages as I read. Every single person sending me these forwards claims the name of Christ and yet; they have hate in their hearts.
I wonder do they actually read these emails before sending them on or is there some kind of social norm that requires them to do so? I wonder how am I to respond? By doing nothing am I condoning their actions? What is the right thing to do? Because of my position I have to be very careful in my interaction. How can I show them what Jesus meant when he said, “Love one another”? I feel sure that he didn’t slip “only the Christians” into that statement. I KNOW he didn’t mean “only the white people” because hell, Jesus wasn’t white.
So here’s the thing, I feel heartbroken. I feel burdened deep within both for these people, and for the ones they hate. There are so many that just don’t get it. God is love. God is LOVE. Why is it that we act so unloving?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
About racism...
Nothing makes me more angry than people who are incredibly rude, thoughtless and racist and think they're funny.
We have a neighbor who is from Yemen, for his safety I will not tell you his real name but I will call him Joe. He is a lovely man, funny and kind, he has welcomed us willingly into his life and he owns a business down the street that we frequent.
Have you ever frequented a small business? It seems like there are always people who love to just hang out there by the counter bothering the people working. They have nothing better to do than lean on the counter and talk constantly for hours on end about nothing in particular. Well at Joe's store there is a man who does this named Mike. Mike is a classic counter-leaner, who is always there and you wonder if he has a job or anyone to come home to. He is hairy and large and is always sweating like it's 100 degrees out. This man has given me the heeby-jeebies since we moved here.
Well anyway, one day we walked in and got a few items and checked out. We had exchanged pleasantries with Joe and were walking out the door when Mike addressed us with a question. After answering, Mike continued to engage us in conversation for the next 25 minutes with no break for us to escape gracefully. He would move from one story to the next with no pause to catch a breath.
He moved from gambling to being a published poet seamlessly and then moved on to talk about his brother purchasing a hooker in Vegas. Why this man thought we would care about any these things is beyond me and we tried a few times to back away and get out with no luck.
Mike finally moved on to talk about Joe, our neighbor, who had been standing behind the counter the whole time. Mike talked about how often they hung out (by hang out did he mean he leaned on Joe's counter?) I'm not even sure how it came up but he told us he called Joe "camel" which is short for camel-jockey. Noticing the look on our faces he laughed and said it was ok, because they were such good friends. We looked at Joe with raised eyebrows, he just shrugged.
The thing is, I don't even think that Mike knew he was being such a racist bastard. But ignorance does not excuse this kind of behavior. So here's the thing about racism...in no way is it ok, in no way is it acceptable behavior. There is no excuse for ever using racial slurs. Mike is rude in many ways; but ultimately I can handle his never ceasing conversation about God-knows what, I can handle his counter-leaning and his gross tank-tops, I can even handle his 3-toothed grin, but I cannot and will not handle his blatant racism.
Unlike my other blogs, this one is not just a rant, this one is about an issue that needs to be dealt with:
There are a lot of ways that we can fight racism, we must show that we believe racism to be cowardly, shameful and beneath contempt. Our best weapons against racism are our common sense and our unity against racist violence and exploitation. Our goal needs to be social equality for all people.
And while it’s important to take part in rallies, letter-writing campaigns and the like to fight racism, it’s also important to speak out against racism in everyday life. So, the next time a coworker tells a racist joke or a family member complains about a certain ethnic group, do your part and speak up. It’s hard to fight racism at large if you can’t stand up to it in your own backyard. I'm going to do my part, you need to do yours too.
We have a neighbor who is from Yemen, for his safety I will not tell you his real name but I will call him Joe. He is a lovely man, funny and kind, he has welcomed us willingly into his life and he owns a business down the street that we frequent.
Have you ever frequented a small business? It seems like there are always people who love to just hang out there by the counter bothering the people working. They have nothing better to do than lean on the counter and talk constantly for hours on end about nothing in particular. Well at Joe's store there is a man who does this named Mike. Mike is a classic counter-leaner, who is always there and you wonder if he has a job or anyone to come home to. He is hairy and large and is always sweating like it's 100 degrees out. This man has given me the heeby-jeebies since we moved here.
Well anyway, one day we walked in and got a few items and checked out. We had exchanged pleasantries with Joe and were walking out the door when Mike addressed us with a question. After answering, Mike continued to engage us in conversation for the next 25 minutes with no break for us to escape gracefully. He would move from one story to the next with no pause to catch a breath.
He moved from gambling to being a published poet seamlessly and then moved on to talk about his brother purchasing a hooker in Vegas. Why this man thought we would care about any these things is beyond me and we tried a few times to back away and get out with no luck.
Mike finally moved on to talk about Joe, our neighbor, who had been standing behind the counter the whole time. Mike talked about how often they hung out (by hang out did he mean he leaned on Joe's counter?) I'm not even sure how it came up but he told us he called Joe "camel" which is short for camel-jockey. Noticing the look on our faces he laughed and said it was ok, because they were such good friends. We looked at Joe with raised eyebrows, he just shrugged.
The thing is, I don't even think that Mike knew he was being such a racist bastard. But ignorance does not excuse this kind of behavior. So here's the thing about racism...in no way is it ok, in no way is it acceptable behavior. There is no excuse for ever using racial slurs. Mike is rude in many ways; but ultimately I can handle his never ceasing conversation about God-knows what, I can handle his counter-leaning and his gross tank-tops, I can even handle his 3-toothed grin, but I cannot and will not handle his blatant racism.
Unlike my other blogs, this one is not just a rant, this one is about an issue that needs to be dealt with:
There are a lot of ways that we can fight racism, we must show that we believe racism to be cowardly, shameful and beneath contempt. Our best weapons against racism are our common sense and our unity against racist violence and exploitation. Our goal needs to be social equality for all people.
And while it’s important to take part in rallies, letter-writing campaigns and the like to fight racism, it’s also important to speak out against racism in everyday life. So, the next time a coworker tells a racist joke or a family member complains about a certain ethnic group, do your part and speak up. It’s hard to fight racism at large if you can’t stand up to it in your own backyard. I'm going to do my part, you need to do yours too.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
About Insurance Companies....
So recently I had a fairly minor out-patient surgery. Now don't get me wrong, even though it was minor it hurt like hell and took forever to heal (actually I still am having some residual issues). However, my point is that in the scheme of life, it was pretty minor.
So anyway, I had until this week gotten several bills for this surgery, normal stuff that I assumed I would get. Anesthesiology $400 with insurance covering over half, the bill from the doctor for his time (or whatever) $1,345, with insurance covering all but $88. Now these things I was ok with. Hell, I pay insurance, I'm not even sure why my bills were this high, but I was ok with it.
Well this week I got another bill, from the hospital. The bill was around $7,500, insurance covered a majority of it but still left $2,110 for me to pay. My question is this, why the hell do I pay a few hundred dollars a month for health insurance if they aren't going to cover a doctor recommended necessary surgery? And why the hell did the itemized bill have among several items I did not recognize, a $400 bill for anesthesiology? Am I paying for this service twice that made me sick for two days after surgery?
So here's the thing about insurance companies...they are crooks. They are crooked sneaky bastards. My parents told me that I would have to call and argue with them about the surgery and they will adjust some of the payments. My question is why do I have to do this? I pay them a few hundred dollars a month to take care of this shit for me, so that I don't have to do it. Right? No? So what the hell am I paying them for? The last few years of health insurance I was purchasing could have paid for this surgery outright if I'd put it into a savings account instead. I hate insurance companies. I hate their greediness, I hate their uselessness, I hate their policies that are meant to screw honest hard-working people out of their very little money.
I hate them, and I hate that my next week is going to be consumed on the phone going back and forth between the insurance company and the hospital trying to figure out who did what and what codes need to be changed in order for my health insurance to pay for my health issues that they are meant to be paying for.
Usually I can end my blog and still be angry, and yes this pisses me off, but right now I feel more like crying. We have just made a major life decision that requires a fair amount of money (buying a house) and then this comes along. What are we going to do?
I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is this: I hate insurance companies, I really do.
So anyway, I had until this week gotten several bills for this surgery, normal stuff that I assumed I would get. Anesthesiology $400 with insurance covering over half, the bill from the doctor for his time (or whatever) $1,345, with insurance covering all but $88. Now these things I was ok with. Hell, I pay insurance, I'm not even sure why my bills were this high, but I was ok with it.
Well this week I got another bill, from the hospital. The bill was around $7,500, insurance covered a majority of it but still left $2,110 for me to pay. My question is this, why the hell do I pay a few hundred dollars a month for health insurance if they aren't going to cover a doctor recommended necessary surgery? And why the hell did the itemized bill have among several items I did not recognize, a $400 bill for anesthesiology? Am I paying for this service twice that made me sick for two days after surgery?
So here's the thing about insurance companies...they are crooks. They are crooked sneaky bastards. My parents told me that I would have to call and argue with them about the surgery and they will adjust some of the payments. My question is why do I have to do this? I pay them a few hundred dollars a month to take care of this shit for me, so that I don't have to do it. Right? No? So what the hell am I paying them for? The last few years of health insurance I was purchasing could have paid for this surgery outright if I'd put it into a savings account instead. I hate insurance companies. I hate their greediness, I hate their uselessness, I hate their policies that are meant to screw honest hard-working people out of their very little money.
I hate them, and I hate that my next week is going to be consumed on the phone going back and forth between the insurance company and the hospital trying to figure out who did what and what codes need to be changed in order for my health insurance to pay for my health issues that they are meant to be paying for.
Usually I can end my blog and still be angry, and yes this pisses me off, but right now I feel more like crying. We have just made a major life decision that requires a fair amount of money (buying a house) and then this comes along. What are we going to do?
I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is this: I hate insurance companies, I really do.
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