[quote] Just stuff the body in the trunk and leave her to wake up somewhere on a mountainside. Leave her cell phone but soak the battery in a bucket of water first.[/quote]


Nah, knock her out and drop her off somewheres. It's summertime, A niiiiice long walk back to civilization does wonders for attitiude adjustment.



THE
COLLEGE PRANK
AARDVARK

Yeah, Jonsey, you shoulda offed the stupid bitch. I mean what's she gonna do to ya when you walk up to her to crack her neck into a desk lamp, start screeching at you because your w2 forms aren't in yet? What, you think hat the world is gonna lose anything by killing that braindead whore? Christ, you're a pussy.

A [i]real[/i] man woulda killed 'er.

I ... geez, Vark, you think I should have [i]killed[/i] her? I mean... that's taking it a little too far, don't you, ah... don't you think?

I don't know about this any more...

[quote]If something is just a-hightailing it for your mouth, and you bite it back constantly or second guess or doubt yourself, then you probably should go ahead and say it.[/quote]


Engage Brain Before Activating Mouth. it's on everyone's instruction manual, Page 223, Para.3.

How is it that the MAYOR of RobB's town is also the CEO (or somesuch) of the..What was it? The HONEY board? I had no idea such an office existed. Is the barber the postman too? Enough of that, however. Jonsey, you should have dropped her. Why hold back, Just stuff the body in the trunk and leave her to wake up somewhere on a mountainside. Leave her cell phone but soak the battery in a bucket of water first. Attitiude is 90 percent nice and 10 percent concern. She obviously had neither. If it makes you upset enough to change a lifestyle attitiude then you have to take steps. You definitely have to take steps.

Remember the overpopulated lemmings that think they can just swim to another island and find out they can't? People (humans) are like that. They get overpopulated enough and just off each other until the stress levels go back to managable levels. Unfortunatly, we might be alive when this syndrome gets out of control.


THE
I GOT A LIFEJACKET
AARDAVRK

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]I will now firmly divide people into one of two categories:

o My friends, family and loved ones
o Everybody else[/quote]

Welcome to my world, Robb Sherwin. Welcome... to my world.

I have to add that this also goes for silences. If something is just a-hightailing it for your mouth, and you bite it back constantly or second guess or doubt yourself, then you probably should go ahead and say it.

I've found with various personalities I've tried out over the years that each one of them had something of worth, and each one of them had their drawbacks. I'm currently using, and have had no problems with, the behavioral decision that "if you hesitate at all saying something, even for 2 seconds, just don't say it at all". That goes for the nice things as well as the bad things. The reason is, because saying it probably isn't you. Saying it in a different way, or not at all, or screaming it with a raised fist might be the better choice. But there's usually a teeny tiny voice somewhere that tells you when your reaction or statement might come out wrong, inappropriately, at the wrong time, or have dire consequences. It's a soft voice, and I don't hear it until too late sometimes, especially when I'm upset over something, but it hasn't been wrong yet. If you have to [i]make[/i] yourself react in a certain way, it just isn't you.

I've been agreeing with everything that Debaser and pinback have been saying.

As far as expecting the worst in people, I had a long phase of that, from when I was 11 until sometime in my early 20s. It wasn't until I was older and wiser that I realized that most slights I encounter in a day are because, hey, I'm just the center of my world, not theirs, so most of the time, people have no idea about all the things I've been offended by over the years. In high school, sure, I knew that to most of the school, I didn't exist, but I was so certain at the time that it was a calculated twist of the knife (to ignore me) on top of all the other little injustices of not fitting in. Now, looking back, I can see that most of them probably truly didn't have intentional malice for me; it just wasn't their problem if I was trapped in a living hell.

And for all my disrespect in the eariler post about the less-aspiring aspects of the majority of people, of course, it's more of a concept thing for me than an element that goes into my average conversation. Meeting strangers is usually an interesting experience.

While I wanted to encourage the "do the right thing" element of ICJ's original post, pinback is completely right in pushing the point that you don't want to do something that sacrifices your integrity. Acting like a jackass won't get the point across to a jackass any better.

Not saying this is the way you should have gone with any of the aforementioned examples, but I think there's something to be said for this Dr. Bronner's quote: "Only by making him my sincere friend can I destroy my enemy!"

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]What I should have done, after realizing they were trying to rip me off is just LOSE it. Get a cop involved. Who cares? I was in the right.[/quote]

See, this sort of mentality I can't get behind. Yes, you were in the right. "Losing it", however, is an inappropriate, and [i]emotional[/i] (and therefore subject to many, many errors in judgement) reaction. If you truly want to live that way, more power to you, but I do believe that in the final analysis, on your deathbed, the equation will show that it did more harm than good.

[quote]Either calmy call the police and bring them down and make this [i]scene[/i] or go berzerk, swearing up a storm and get my fucking keys and auto out of there.[/quote]

Going berzerk would most likely cause THEM to calmly call the police, and then you would see that your irrational behavior was not worth the momentary satisfaction it brought. You are choosing to behave LESS maturely, rather than MORE maturely, and the more maturely a behavior is, the more generally effective it tends to be. Not in all cases, obviously, but the trend is there. If you do not believe this (which I suspect that you do not), you will just have to confirm/disprove it for yourself.

[quote]But when the situation calls for it -- like in the one above -- you just refrain from eating someone else's shit. [/quote]

You are assuming there are only two options, to EAT the shit, or to PUSH IT BACK IN THEIR FACE. The smart move, and the one you have yet to consider, is to just politely decline the shit, and go on about your business.

[quote]Well that's just it... I'm tired of reflecting and thinking and all this other stuff.[/quote]

Then may God help you and yours.

[quote]I'm tired of being the level-headed guy in situations where it's socially easy if one guy does nothing while another person flips out.[/quote]

Why are you tired of it? I suspect it's because while you are [i]behaving[/i] level-headedly, you are not [i]thinking[/i] level-headedly, and therefore there is a conflict within you. If you were truly [i]thinking[/i] level-headedly, then it would not be a tiring exercise. In fact, it would bring rich satisfaction, on a much deeper level than "losing it" could ever bring. Thinking level-headedly is a breeze. Not tiring at all. Once you learn to do it, then you will truly be a man.

[quote]Right. That's what essentially stopped me from making an issue out of it.[/quote]

Good choice. Keep it up.

[quote]Fuck him. He was a piece of shit.[/quote]

No argument there. What does that have to do with you?

[quote="pinback"]This was not evident from your original post, in which you declared that you were going to become "irrational, a 'problem'" whenever faced with such circumstances.

Happily working to resolve problems == good.

Irrational and 'problem' == bad.

I'm only going on the info you're giving me, so filter accordingly.[/quote]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I did get a chance to "sleep on it," and so forth.

I guess what I mean in terms of irrational is this... a few years ago my Neon needed (or maybe it didn't!) a new head gasket. Neons are disposable automobiles and I expected this. I read up on it. Everyone who has one that is 98 or older is going to need it replaced at about 70,000 miles. (Well, some 98s didn't need it. But still!)

Chrysler got whumped in a class-action lawsuit about this. They are helping out everyone suffering from it. The head gasket, at a dealer, is like a $1200 job. They were covering all but $100 for it.

Well, the heat went in my Neon two or three winters ago. I took it to the dealer. "Head gasket!" they exclaimed. Fine, whatever. $1200!!!! Yeah, I don't care, Chrysler will get the bill.

... Only they wouldn't! *I* was the one guy they weren't going to do that for. Ho ho ho!

I later found out that my head gasket was fine. It was the dealer trying to screw me. I took my car to a non-dealer guy who replaced the water pump and one other object I can't remember, got my heat working, all at a much, much lower price. I know now that Chrysler confirmed with the assholes down the road from me that my head gasket wasn't bursting, so they weren't going to help me out. But they weren't going to reveal this treachery to me either.

The thing is, the dealer wanted $40 because they looked at my car for a minute and lied about what was wrong with it. And to my shame I paid it. Fuck, I didn't know what my legal rights were. Every place gives you free estimates... except there, LOL!!

What I should have done, after realizing they were trying to rip me off is just LOSE it. Get a cop involved. Who cares? I was in the right. Either calmy call the police and bring them down and make this [i]scene[/i] or go berzerk, swearing up a storm and get my fucking keys and auto out of there.

That's what I mean. No, I am not going to start punching people in the face the next time I get peanuts in my Orchid Octopi Chestnut Surprise when I asked for it without peanuts and I said I am allergic to peantus (though I'm not) and I went looking for trouble and now I'm rolling around on the ground with my fingers at some guy's throat.

But when the situation calls for it -- like in the one above -- you just refrain from eating someone else's shit.


[quote]One must ask one's self, "What are the potential positives of me reacting in a certain way?" In the matter of "sticking up for your buds", it seems unlikely that standing up to the Mayor, or the triple-hitting guy was going to alter their behavior for the positive, or make the situation any better than it would otherwise have been if you (as you did, correctly in my opinion) did nothing. [/quote]

Well that's just it... I'm tired of reflecting and thinking and all this other stuff. I'm tired of being the level-headed guy in situations where it's socially easy if one guy does nothing while another person flips out.


[quote] In both of these cases, the potential (and likely) negatives far outweigh the potential positives, in my opinion. A very real potential negative with the Mayor would have been that she'd fire Mike on the spot. [/quote]

Right. That's what essentially stopped me from making an issue out of it.

Of course right now Mike is trying to get himself let go from the Honey Board as we speak, so maybe I should have pressed it.


[quote]A very real potential negative with Mr. Triple is that he would have started a fight. [/quote]

Fuck him. He was a piece of shit. If this were downtown Harlem and I thought I was going to get shot, then great... I'm going to go find another court or diamond or whatever. But this is Cowhump, Colorado and if some weekend warrior wants to throw then too bad for him.

... I don't want to make it sound like I am [i]looking for trouble. [/i] Reading back on this, that sounds exactly what it's like. I guess this thread was really supposed to be how, given enough time, all men become their father's, but it's instead quagmired into a sort of pain-dispending advice column, which is cool, we can take it from there.

[i]Aces!!!![/i]

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]I am not going to go out of my way to start shit with anyone. I think, rather, I'll happily be the guy working to end it when he or his loved ones are being taken advantage of.[/quote]

This was not evident from your original post, in which you declared that you were going to become "irrational, a 'problem'" whenever faced with such circumstances.

Happily working to resolve problems == good.

Irrational and 'problem' == bad.

I'm only going on the info you're giving me, so filter accordingly.

[quote]Does that make sense? (i.e., did I say it in a way that made sense?) It's like this isn't the first time it happened or has been happening lately.[/quote]

Yes, it made a lot of sense. However, blindly retaliating (or "sticking up for your buds", or whatever it is) without determining the potential pros/cons of such an action may cause more trouble than you would have had originally. To wit, MOST times you "stick up for someone", particularly in a confrontational manner, the confrontation will [i]escalate[/i], rather that subside.

One must ask one's self, "What are the potential positives of me reacting in a certain way?" In the matter of "sticking up for your buds", it seems unlikely that standing up to the Mayor, or the triple-hitting guy was going to alter their behavior for the positive, or make the situation any better than it would otherwise have been if you (as you did, correctly in my opinion) did nothing. In both of these cases, the potential (and likely) negatives far outweigh the potential positives, in my opinion. A very real potential negative with the Mayor would have been that she'd fire Mike on the spot. A very real potential negative with Mr. Triple is that he would have started a fight. Yeah, you're being "manly" and you're "having your boy's back" and all that, but I think you'll find that neither of these somewhat frivolous concepts holds much water in the face of stark reality. And everyone's got a different opinion on what it means to be "manly". Younger folks tend to equate it with being TOUGH, and NOT BEING A PUSSY. Older, wiser people might define it as seeing reality the way it is, and acting in a way which best benefits those who are important.

[quote="pinback"]To the innocent observer (me!), it appears that your entire world-view and attitude towards it has been subject to a sea change, a wild, profound alteration, in response to <i>one person being rude to you.</i> What does that mean? Well, it could mean a couple of things, I dunno. [/quote]

There were a few other incidents as well.

A guy hit a triple the last time we played softball. My friend Henry was playing first base for us. The scumbag who got the triple then started barking over across the infield to Henry telling him to "get out of the basepaths."

Now, this didn't erupt further because the ump stepped in. The ump said, "Hey, champ, you were just as far out of the path as he was." The guy tried to say something in his meagre defense because we're all now smirking at him because the ump told him to STFU and the ump told him to drop it. Great! Excellent! The ump was completely in control of the game.

However, you've only got your friends in this world and the first response that should have come from me (I'm playing catcher) in chud softball is, "Hey, shut up and act like you've been there before," (meaning, STFU and act like you've hit a triple, not that you're so surprised you did it that you freak out and start complaining about things). There was still a "pause" there in me which comes from being surprised that anyone could be such a cretin. In five years when I look back at that game I'd rather that I saw myself INSTANTLY stick up for my friend rather than not have things ready. Even if the ump did handle it.

Does that make sense? (i.e., did I say it in a way that made sense?) It's like this isn't the first time it happened or has been happening lately.

And my brother, as you know, has been getting absolutely shat upon by the forces of justice out here. I didn't want to get into that, but that's a lot of it as well.

So really, the incident at the Honey Board was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back, I guess. It's not that my worldview was fragile -- for 30 years I managed to resist the public traits my old man possesses -- it's that they finally accumulated and completely blew up.

Mike's currently asking the CEO if he can get terminated in a way that gets him unemployment. If it doesn't go through I realize intellectually there's little I can do to change the CEO's mind, but I'm still going to call and at least make it difficult for him and let him know that there are consequences to making decisions about my brother -- if he's going to let him stew in that shithole of government business then he can field a few phone calls from that person's family.

I don't care if his day is unsettled because of it, even if he wasn't the guy giving Mike a hard time.


... You made a lot of good points in your post, Ben. Do know that I read them and appreciate them.


[quote](And, just a brief warning: Being "that guy", the one who tromps around vociferously demanding that all of his needs/desires be taken care of in the manner he prefers, or everyone can go fuck themselves, is unlikely to bring you the satisfaction or fulfillment you desire. Could happen, of course, but I think you're too nice a guy for it to be true.)[/quote]

I am not going to go out of my way to start shit with anyone. I think, rather, I'll happily be the guy working to end it when he or his loved ones are being taken advantage of.

Debaser is the most brilliant man I have ever known.

[dabs a tear away]

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]In closing... I think you sort of have three attitudes in your life. At first you're innocent that people can treat others badly. Then you're aware of it. Then you expect it. I got thirty good years of not expecting it, but that's no longer the case. I recall that my father expected it sometime before I was a teenager. I'd imagine that most of you can say the same. Maybe it's part of growing up and getting,finally, into adulthood.[/quote]

I started expecting it at 13 and stopped expecting it circa 22. I don't know what mystical fantasy kingdom I live in or maybe I'm just unusually forgiving, but I can think of exactly six people in my life over the age of eighteen who have really and truly behaved like unmitigated assholes to or around me. And two of them were assholes from work to whom I was effectively just a customer service orifice.

By contrast, every person I come into regular contact with right now (and, admittedly, that's somewhere in the vicinity of ten people) has nothing if not fair, decent, and respectful with and to me.

I'm not a people person by even the grandest stretch, and I don't want to come of as a weepy and/or self-righteous douchebag, but what might be described as "human feeling" (i.e., the sense that you enjoy being nice to relative strangers) is something you don't especially want to lose. I lose it sometimes, especially when I'm driving. I often have lost it for months or years in the past, and it was consistently and uncooincidentally during some of the absolute worst, most miserable times of my life.

Some people are just gaping cunts, yes. Some people are. It sounds like Miss Mayor is one of those people. But most people, by nature, aren't. Even that asshole in the SUV you hate probably just genuinely doesn't realize what a miserable time they're making for you on the road. If someone treats you like shit on any given day, it's probably either by accident or because they're in a foul mood over something unrelated or because you've genuinely done something to deserve it and in cases one or two they'd probably apologize for it the next day if motive and opportunity presented itself.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I've just been really really lucky thus far. But I honestly believe that, for the most part, everyone just:

A. Remembers the assholes better than the decent folk, because they're the ones that stand out.

B. Extrapolates douchebaggery from one or two character flaws and or pet peeves.

In closing, because being this touchy feely is making me queasy, I'll say what I said to someone else elsewhere: People will usually engage you on the level you meet them at. I guarantee, Robb, if you go forward with this plan, the number of "Everyone Elses" who will treat you like utter shite will increase exponentially.

Well, all I can say Jonsey is this:

"Welcome to the club"

I've basically had the same opinion of things that you now have for the last 10-12 years or so. Happened in college actually. I graduated high school, all happy and glad to be going off on the big adventure we call "higher learning". Got there, and found that just about all of my teachers didn't give a rat's ass whether you passed or failed. Some of them were total assholes too, not showing students ANY respect. I took a class with one of them and got an "F". Took it again with one of the THREE professors who was actually a good guy, and got an "A". You tell me if it was me or the professor that was the cause of my failure.

A few years into the program, there was no joy left in it for me...it had basically come down to a "me against them" attitude, and the only way to not feel like a complete failure was to graduate. The only reason I stuck it out and got the degree were the two department heads I had....great guys who actually cared and worked with me to see that I made it through (I had changed majors and had a REALLY fucked up class schedule to deal with). Had it not been for them, I probably would have quit.

By the time I had graduated, I basically didn't care much about "others" anymore....I had spent 7 years in college (5 year program plus I went part-time for the last 4 years), and (with one or two exceptions) the "others" never did anything for me. Fuck 'em.

Now as for your problem, I think it's your moral responsibility to see that the Fueherin your brother works for doesn't get re-elected as mayor. And once she loses, make sure she knows how hard you campaigned against her. Bitch.

Jonsey: Your dedication to your friends and family is admirable. It is rare indeed to fine one so genuinely and fervently concerned with the well-being of those he is close to, and you are to be roundly praised for such nobility.

I do think, however, you may wish to re-think your recent decisions about how you will treat "everybody else", and here's why:

To the innocent observer (me!), it appears that your entire world-view and attitude towards it has been subject to a sea change, a wild, profound alteration, in response to <i>one person being rude to you.</i> What does that mean? Well, it could mean a couple of things, I dunno. Let's list a few alternatives:

1. Your sense of self and your view of the world before this incident was so fragile and of flimsy construction that one insignificant (!) occurrence was enough to blow it away and completely restructure it.

2. Your sense of self and your view of the world was <i>already</i> that of the "fuck everybody else" variety, and you've been fighting yourself on this issue for a long period of time.

3. You are (I believe) a highly emotional sort who is very quick to let those emotions determine your thoughts and actions, and thus, something <i>good</i> might happen today which would utterly reverse this "landmark decision" in your life. Followed by something bad the next day, which would change it back. Followed by something good the day after that, etc, etc.

4. Something else I haven't considered.

In any case, though I would not presume to advise you on how to live your own life, you may find it beneficial to at some point really sit down, and thoughtfully consider the nature of <i>who you are</i>, and what you <i>really</i> think and believe, and how you <i>really</i> want to view the world, not through <i>reactionary</i> eyes (which is what caused your original post), but with patient, wizened eyes that can see past the "what is happening now", and see into the "what is". Or something like that.

(And, just a brief warning: Being "that guy", the one who tromps around vociferously demanding that all of his needs/desires be taken care of in the manner he prefers, or everyone can go fuck themselves, is unlikely to bring you the satisfaction or fulfillment you desire. Could happen, of course, but I think you're too nice a guy for it to be true.)

Even though what I'm about to say pretty much reflects what you just said, I just wanted to go a bit further on the whole self-centered mentality. Yeah, the majority of people are ignorant asses who can't be bothered to think that they should have to care about anyone else and thinks of other people in general as hindrances to their own self-importance. I just don't believe in buying into that shit myself since it just continues the vicious cycle and, hey, I probably couldn't do it even if I wanted to.

As futile as it is, I'd rather just sort of advertise decency by trying to emulate it myself. The great thing is, in a lot of cases, you can leave these idiots to your own misery. I've been lucky enough to have a fantastic family and a strong core of friends who I'm genuine with in a way that I feel a surprising amount of people can't imagine what it's even like. And there are more decent people out there. Get out there and be yourself and be decent and one will find them. Next week, I'm going to head in to my favorite bar for my birthday, and I know that I'm going to be treated like a god.

But yeah, much props to be given for standing up for stuff. At the zoo, people would whine and mewl about this and that but everything was okay as long as they weren't the one who was getting fucked with (at which point they'd care but as soon as that passed, it's back to ineffectualness). Granted, I never ended up doing anything about it myself since eventually their mentality won me over. I've heard how it has just gotten worse and worse since I left.

Of course, certain compromises have to be made in life, but that doesn't mean you have to accept its inadequacies.

I don't know if what I've typed already had any real sort of message or if I succeeded in conveying it. A much wiser man than I, when facing hordes of enemies that made up of 89% the world's population, had these words to say:

"GO-GO GOOD TEAM!"

My brother is living on my couch, currently. There was an incident a few months ago and he temporarily lost his license. Only now it looks like temporary has really been working hard slithering around in the garden, oozing creme de la crud over everything and gotten its silky, sweaty trail over everything and cocooned nicely into permanent.

So I'm picking him up from work and taking him there. Now, keep in mind, my brother is hardly doing spectacularly for himself. He's making a little more than slave wages for the National Honey Board. I showed up just after 5:00pm to take him to my and Dayna's place but his boss wanted him to wait for an indefinite amount of time before giving him some stupid honey-based content that he was then going to send out to everyone on the list. Why couldn't his boss simply handle a mailing list herself? I have no idea but it doesn't surprise me in the least that she's wholly incapable of doing such a thing. Virtually everyone he works with are completely incompetent when it comes to using computers. I used to never hold that against people.

So Mike and I are waiting for her e-mail. There are two open offices in the Honey Board in Longmont, CO but my brother has not had one of them for more than a week in the four years he's been there. His boss doesn't want him to have an office, you see. I'd put down official reasons for it, but she's simply an inhuman shrew and a complete piece of shit who finds it amusing that the one guy who works for her does not get an office like EVERY OTHER FUCKING PERSON THERE (there's only about a dozen people at the Honey Board) even though there are COMPLETELY EMPTY OFFICES. I know, waah waah waah, there's a lot of you who have worked at cubes your whole lives. Nobody cares. If you're all setup in cubes that's the way it is and don't tell me you'd gladly accept it if everyone at your place has a closed-door office except you. You wouldn't.

My brother thinks he has no better options, though.

So we're waiting close to a half hour for this bitch to finish doing whatever the fuck she needs to. I heard her type only at the very end. Fantastic! Mike and I are talking about web forums and NFL2K5 and so on and so forth. Sports type stuff. I should mention that Mike's boss is also the mayor of Longmont, unbelievably, and hates all sports. Of course, this is very important because if you hate sports then apparently even hearing about them could cause the sagging lumps on your chest to writhe about in horror at this monstosity of spoken word.

Mike begins to click away at sending this shit out. He is able to talk to me while he does it because he's not mentally handicapped. At this point this filthy, worthless [i]cunt[/i] says to me in an unbelievably snotty tone, from her office:

"Can you two cut down on the [i]chit-chat??![/i] You need to go outside! Go [i]wait outside[/i] for Michael."

Now, I'm stunned by this. I could not believe that anyone would have the audacity or lack of class to even hint at such a conversational tactic at that point, much less express it in a wholly hypocritical and rude manner. I'm wasting away my evening waiting for her to put together some garbage relating to the fucking honey cartel and a split-second after my brother is able to get us the hell out of there she's bitching at me?


And this, well, this is where I officially gave up on mankind and People I Don't Know. This point is where I Became My Father. This is where I suddenly understood why everyone in this world is bitter, why people agitate one another, why people can't just put on a happy face and just live with one another.

I don't deign her worthy of a response. Fuck her. I don't go off on her, I don't use the time-tested response of, "What the hell is the matter with you?" I don't tell her that we were fucking waiting for her or a million other things I'd later consider. Because I wasn't ready or prepared. Because I didn't think that anyone could comport themselves with --as mentioned above -- such a sheer lack of class. If you take nothing else from this message, take this: I fucked up here and I hate myself for it.

My brother sends the shit off and says that he is going to talk to the CEO of the Honey Board for a bit. It's apparently like this all the time for my [i]little fucking brother[/i], the best friend I have ever had in my entire life, the one person who has been there for me in the whole of my existence and whose back I'd have until I draw my last breath.

I seethe. I wait for him while he takes the issue to the CEO. He vents and informs him that this isn't acceptable. I consider going back in and telling his cunt boss off, but I have as of yet not decided with my brother that him losing his job is the best thing for him.

He gets in my car and we drive back to my place.

This worthless piece of human garbage, I later find out, routinely has her entire fucking family running all over the offices. Half of her day is taken with personal calls that my brother -- who's desk is right outside her office -- has to listen to. She's, badly, the mayor as mentioned before and spends half her day doing shit relating to that. Believe me, I couldn't care less if someone goofed off at work in a hilariously unprofessionally manner. And she does. But to then rip on your employee, who is waiting for your incompetence to dry up so he can get the hell out of the there and the person giving him a ride?

So something in me snapped. Mike's going to request that he get fired or layed off or whatever tomorrow so he can get unemployment. He's going to save up to pay his fines and move. He can't drive anymore in Colorado, for "a year" and wants to go back to New York where all his friends are and where our parents are. Before today I wanted him to stay, but if that's the sort of shit he has to put up with and the kind of person he has to work with then I want him out and back to where he can be happy as soon as possible.

I'm extremely disappointed in myself. I hate being someone caught off guard. But if ever there were a completely shocking and indefensible way to have been insulted, that was it. It would be like, fuck, a doctor giving your wife a hard time after she just delivered kids. Or crabbing on a quarterback that just got sacked 10 times in a game but still found a way to win. I don't know. Metaphors fail me.

Roody mentioned in another thread that people in the States are really self-serving. This, I think, is how people get that way. I will now firmly divide people into one of two categories:

o My friends, family and loved ones
o Everybody else

I no longer give a shit about those people who have roles, however limited, in my life that fall into the "Everybody else" category. Everybody else has been treating my brother like he was less than human for God knows how long now. "Everybody else" has my brother -- one of the coolest, funniest, most caring and generous people you'd ever want to meet -- embarassed to be seen at work. And none of the fuckers he works with can or will lift a finger to help him and they see this shit every day. God help this bitch if I encounter her again, as every explicitive I've ever used on this BBS will be like Must See TV: quite new to her.

He's got to get the hell out of there. I hope he hops on unemployment until his trial date, finishes up what he needs to complete and skips this fucking state and its brim-filled content of "everybody else."

In closing... I think you sort of have three attitudes in your life. At first you're innocent that people can treat others badly. Then you're aware of it. Then you expect it. I got thirty good years of not expecting it, but that's no longer the case. I recall that my father expected it sometime before I was a teenager. I'd imagine that most of you can say the same. Maybe it's part of growing up and getting,finally, into adulthood.

I'm going to demand that the teeming gaggle of nobodies out there leave the people important to me THE FUCK ALONE. I will from here on out be irrational and a "problem" when I think they're getting fucked with. I'm going to be the guy who causes the problem when his girlfriend asks for a dish to be served with no peppers because [i]she's fucking allergic to them[/i] and -- after it was carefully pointed out -- still gets them in her goddamn dish. I'm going to be the guy who just loses it when he wants the brakes done on his car and, fuck I don't know, he's quoted $500 for the service. I'm going to be fine with burning bridges of those people who are trying to put the screws to the people I care about and "everybody else" can learn that there are some fucking consequences to living your life in a self-centered manner when you happen to get in my way. My girlfriend said once that she believed that I was motivated, at least in part, by having everyone "like me..." it was an OK way to live for now, but as of today, well.

I honestly couldn't give a shit any longer.