Friday, August 25, 2006

Panties in a whirlwind

Whether it was at the bar last night, at work, or reading the news, it seems that too many people are getting their panties in a twist over little, stupid things.

Let's take the drama at the bar last night. I walk in, take a walk down to the usual corner and see that it is full, and walk to the other side. As I do, some dude that is somewhat sauced (what? In Milwaukee?) starts talking to me. Or so I thought. I couldn't tell if he was trying to get my attention or the chick with the nice rack. No, not me. He wanted the rack. After she ignored him, he commented to his buddy that he would get some of that.

I didn't quite hear what he was trying to say to her, but about 5 minutes later, some guy comes into the bar from the deck and orders a beer. As he does, he starts talking to two dudes and tells them to leave her alone. Stop hitting on her and making comments. She had told these guys she had a boyfriend and wasn't interested. Apparently this had started before I had gotten there and I was witnessing the boiling point.

The boyfriend was polite and firm. He wasn't backing down but told them to stop it. Both these tough dudes stood up, did their posturing, and tried to tell him to calm down, to not get his panties in a whirlwind. At that point, he simply told his "We're done here" and walked away. That left the dudes stunned. With a dumbfounded look on their face, they sat back down.

Then the real toughness came out.

The first thing one of the tough dudes says is "I have never kicked a cop's ass before". Huh? I didn't catch that the boyfriend was a cop, but what kind of stupid comment is that? They want to pick a fight with a cop? Are they begging to be arrested? Pick a fight with a cop and you are going to have a bunch of them pounding on your ass. Then you accidentally slam your head into the roof of the car as they put you in the back seat. Oops, should have ducked. Then you get put in jail. Sounds like a great idea to me.

They two tough dudes sat there and rambled on about their toughness, what a pussy the boyfriend was, and blah blah blah. I noticed the nervous energy they had. Hell, if they were that bad, they wouldn't ramble on about what would have happened. They would go back to their beer and watch the game.

But it ain't over yet. 10 minutes later, the boyfriend is back in the bar and heading to the men's room. Tough dude #1 follows. Yes, more drama! The volleyball ref happened to be inside and quickly told the owner to make sure nothing happened in the men's room. She also told tough dude #2 to park his ass on the bar stool. Of course, he sat his ass down. Ha!

Apparently nothing happened but the tough dudes were told to finish their beers and leave. Before they did, they talked some more shit about how the bar sucked, etc. Just a bunch of losers that complained because they couldn't get laid and were put in their place. I wouldn't have mind seeing the cop kick the shit out of one of them. That would have been entertaining.

Then this morning, I see more overreacting stupidity.

The new Survivor is looking to split up teams based on race. White, black, Asian, and Latino. Sounds like a good idea to me. That way the critics cannot say there are not enough minorities on the show, or they cannot doctor the footage to show stereotypes. But wait, the city officials of New York have a big problem with that. They say "promotes diviseness" and it could "encourage racial division and promote negative typecasts".

But doesn't complaining about a show that hasn't even aired do the same thing? They have planted the seed for people who want to complain about every little thing on the show now. What happens if someone counts the amount of time each tribe (or is that offensive to the black team?) is "on air". Will they complain that the black team had only 10 minutes while the white team had 17 minutes? If the Latino team decides to take it easy and say let the Asians do the work- a strategy that can be viable in this game- will the network be bashed for showing that? And why don't they capitalize White and Black?

It is wrong to think that dividing by race is bad. Was there a problem when they divided by sex years ago? Or by age groups and sex last year? No. The teams always merge and then they hash out differences. Or in reality kick out the new tribe members. But it is nothing to get upset about.

Seriously, who the hell made these NYC officials the TV police? If the contestants have no problem with it, why should they? Get your panties out of a bunch and watch the show. This show could do more to break down negatives typecasts and promote racial harmony by having people understand how different cultures act within themselves and others. These city official actions' are in fact promoting the biases they claim to be against.

I think I will go add to the stereotype of the Milwaukeean this weekend. I will binge drink. That is I will have more than 5 beers tonight. Who the hell defined binge drinking as more than 5 drinks in a session? Hell, I do that before lunch.

1 comment:

AletaR said...

I miss all the action. Apparently I need to get a job where I can start later than 5am.
My word is itchtou