I have never liked football, but it used to be just a passive, don't-really-give-a-darn dislike. Every year around Super Bowl time, however, it seems like people get worse and worse, making it so that I truly dread this time of year. I found out yesterday that the local football team has made the Super Bowl again. Great. Now I get to dread that weekend more than usual.
Years ago my husband worked for a major company in their security department. His friend 'P' asked if he could fill in for 'P' for Super Bowl Sunday so that 'P' could see the game. My husband feels the same way about football as I do, so he thought, "Hmmm...'P' gets to see the game, I get paid overtime...BONUS!!!"
My husband was Officer In Charge. One of the other officers asked if he could listen to the game on the radio. My husband said, "On 2 conditions: I don't want to hear about it, and don't let it interfere with your work."
I am NOT kidding when I say that the other officer called my husband EVERY 10 MINUTES with game updates! I know this because my husband called home at one point, and during a 15-minute conversation, the guy called twice! My husband told him every time, "Stop calling me. I don't care!"
Later a few emergencies came up. All the time my husband was trying to deal with the fire emergency and another officer who had a death in the family, the guy called, interrupting, a number of times. My husband handled these emergencies, then found the other guy and took his radio.
A few other things happened as well. When my husband complained to his boss, his boss actually said, "YOU should be more sympathetic; it's not every year [our local team] makes the Super Bowl!" and got a red mark on his record!
Fast forward to just a few years ago. Once again the local team made the SB. One day we needed to go shopping. My husband and I, and our 2-year-old daughter (and I was about 7-8 months pregnant) were shopping. My husband was wearing his favorite sweatshirt, a shirt that his father, who had died a few years earlier, had given him. As we're shopping, people are giving us dirty looks and making rude, snide comments. Some people purposely bumped into us, without even a feigned apology. One guy threatened to beat my husband up!
My husband didn't know it (he really doesn't follow any sport but NASCAR), but the shirt he was wearing just happened to have the logo of the OTHER SB team for that year!
Just last year my husband came home from work and told me this: His relief asked my husband if he was working SB Sunday. My husband said no. The relief said, "Then you get to watch the Super Bowl!" My husband said that he wasn't; he wasn't into it. The relief said, "That's unAmerican!!!"
Excuse me? UNAMERICAN???
There are a lot of other reasons for me to dislike the "Stupid Bowl"...but these reasons are pretty hard to top. This SB Sunday after church my family is just going to go home and mind our own businesses...we won't even have the TV on. There are a lot more interesting things going on than that piece of idiocy. I only wish I could stop having it rammed down my throat at every turn.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
“People throw rocks at things that shine…”
I’m inspired by another line from a song. This time the song is “Ours” by Taylor Swift. As my older daughter is one of the biggest Swift fans, I hear a lot of her work. I’m not complaining; I enjoy it very much. Mostly, I’m taken by her gift for words. This particular line hit me.
“People throw rocks at things that shine”
Nowadays that is SOOOO true!
When I was a kid, people tried to be respectful to each other. Parents taught their children, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Criticism were given, but given with care.
Sometimes, when I’m reading an article or a blog on the computer, I’ll check out the comments. It’s really shameful the way people will try to outdo each other in being nasty! If a celebrity announces having a child, there are comments like, “If that kid looks like the parent, it’ll be so ugly!” or “Another spoiled brat; they should be fixed!” If someone wins an award, people complain about “Hollywood wasting money padding up their egos.” If someone (celebrity or not) makes a large donation, their either accused of just trying to get attention…or worse, of not giving ENOUGH.
People throw rocks at things that shine, especially if it’s not theirs.
Even Ms. Swift herself is no stranger to these rocks. She’s young, she’s talented, she’s beautiful, she’s successful, and she lives a clean life. She truly shines. As a result, she gets rocks. “Her voice is horrible!” “She can’t sing!” “All her songs sound the same.” “She only writes about high school stuff!” “She’s so stuck up.” “Her eyes are too squinty.” “How long ‘til she ends up in jail or on drugs?” She’s never done anything to warrant any of these comments, and none of them are remotely true. There are other young, clean celebrities in the same boat.
People throw rocks at things that shine.
How innocuous is a group of children reciting John 3:16? Focus on the Family released a commercial for their organization that was nothing more than that. They weren’t selling anything, weren’t beating anyone over the head, weren’t saying, “You’ll go to HELL if you don’t agree!” It was simply a short film of children reciting John 3:16, with a few little embellishments. It was actually cute. It was originally shown during some football game. I heard about it and saw it on YouTube. I’ve heard that people have been making absolutely horrible comments! Apparently, because some people were being so inflammatory, they made it so that people could not add comments! Do the people making these comments feel threatened by these children?
I really wish that there were more positive comments in the world, that people would throw fewer rocks and shine more lights.
As an aside, my favorite comment that I almost always see in any article is, “Who cares?” Obviously, THEY must, to have opened the article, read it, and take the time to make the comment.
“People throw rocks at things that shine”
Nowadays that is SOOOO true!
When I was a kid, people tried to be respectful to each other. Parents taught their children, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Criticism were given, but given with care.
Sometimes, when I’m reading an article or a blog on the computer, I’ll check out the comments. It’s really shameful the way people will try to outdo each other in being nasty! If a celebrity announces having a child, there are comments like, “If that kid looks like the parent, it’ll be so ugly!” or “Another spoiled brat; they should be fixed!” If someone wins an award, people complain about “Hollywood wasting money padding up their egos.” If someone (celebrity or not) makes a large donation, their either accused of just trying to get attention…or worse, of not giving ENOUGH.
People throw rocks at things that shine, especially if it’s not theirs.
Even Ms. Swift herself is no stranger to these rocks. She’s young, she’s talented, she’s beautiful, she’s successful, and she lives a clean life. She truly shines. As a result, she gets rocks. “Her voice is horrible!” “She can’t sing!” “All her songs sound the same.” “She only writes about high school stuff!” “She’s so stuck up.” “Her eyes are too squinty.” “How long ‘til she ends up in jail or on drugs?” She’s never done anything to warrant any of these comments, and none of them are remotely true. There are other young, clean celebrities in the same boat.
People throw rocks at things that shine.
How innocuous is a group of children reciting John 3:16? Focus on the Family released a commercial for their organization that was nothing more than that. They weren’t selling anything, weren’t beating anyone over the head, weren’t saying, “You’ll go to HELL if you don’t agree!” It was simply a short film of children reciting John 3:16, with a few little embellishments. It was actually cute. It was originally shown during some football game. I heard about it and saw it on YouTube. I’ve heard that people have been making absolutely horrible comments! Apparently, because some people were being so inflammatory, they made it so that people could not add comments! Do the people making these comments feel threatened by these children?
I really wish that there were more positive comments in the world, that people would throw fewer rocks and shine more lights.
As an aside, my favorite comment that I almost always see in any article is, “Who cares?” Obviously, THEY must, to have opened the article, read it, and take the time to make the comment.
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