That Makes Sense...in a Black and White World

[NateSean]

I've been flying through Grey's Anatomy today. The library has all six seasons and I'm on four right now. What does this have to do with the thread? Because Doctor Bailey made a comment about how people think and it resonated with alot of the conversations I've had with people throughout my life.

1: "I don't Care what Other People Think."

In a black and white world, you would never care what people thought of you. You'd go through life walking out on leases, not caring what you wore and treating your parent's house like a free hotel while you pissed away whatever money you had.

My brother and his wife were big offenders in this regard. I think having a kid of their own has matured the hell out of them in three years, but the point remains. It doesn't matter how unique or individual you think you are, eventually you have to care what people think of you.

At job interviews for example. If the quality of my life depends on getting that job, then I need to spend a fair amount of time worrying what the guy doing my interview thinks of me. I need to care what my coworkers think about me later. I need to know that they believe I am there to work hard and that my attitude is conducive to a successful working environment.

2: "You should sue your father for child support."

This is one I heard a lot after I turned eighteen. My biological father got out of paying child support when I was twelve. I've never met the guy but to be honest, I don't see any difference between my life now and how it would be if he had been paying child support.

The point is, he got out of paying it legally. My mother went up against him in court and from what I told, the judge ruled that he didn't have to pay. My mother's advocate wouldn't push for a paternity test and that was it.

Now the way my aunts tell it, you would think that my father apparently had a foreign bank account because their advice is always, "You should take him to court for child support."

Any money I could supposedly get from him would all go towards court fees and I'd still be back to square one.

That's just a few instances of course. What are yours?

[DrFaroohk]

I especially agree with number 1. I'm always challenging people who make that claim. "Well then why don't you strip off all your clothes and run naked through the streets if you don't care so much?"

I was raised with a lot of black n white rules that strangely enough only applied to me when it would get me in trouble.

If I got in a fight in school or at home it usually took a number of routes.

Who started it? If I started it by running my mouth, or being physical, it was my own damn fault. That's how the world works! Whoever starts it gets what they deserved.

If he started it by running his mouth, or being physical, it was my own damn fault, because I must've done something wrong. I mean, come on, people don't just go around starting shit without provocation.

If it can be shown I did not provoke said attack in any way, shape or form, then it's my own damn fault, since just because someone is running his mouth, or being physical with me, it doesn't give me any right to reciprocate. Two wrongs don't make a right, after all!

Come to think of it, that's not even a black n white world. That's just...a fucking crazy world. That's what happens when you grow up in a small town in Maine. Do you have any idea how much inbreeding happens here? There's this huge family who have inbred so much that supposedly they all have varying degrees of a genetic disease that is actually named for the family.

[bex1218]

In some ways, I really don't care what people think of me. But that ends with me wearing men's clothes and having a military style haircut at times and not care if people think its wrong. I do care about how I present myself at work. Hair always done, dress nicely (cept on truck days). I don't care about how I dress going grocery shopping.

And for number 2, sometimes its just not worth it, even if the parent got out of it illegally. Unless they owe millions of dollars, then fucking sue. But when does that happen?

[Rageaholic]

Oh black and white thinking just pisses me off. In my experience, it's people who think that if you don't share every single aspect of an ideology or religious belief, you're some kind of heretic. Sorry, but LOGIC DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY. If you claim that people who disagree are not part of your club, than you're discouraging free thinking. And if you're afraid of people thinking for themselves, than maybe the problem is you (or your close minded ideology).

I see this with laws. Some people think if you disagree with or break one law, you'll break all of them. Yeah I think marijuna should be legalized, but that doesn't mean I think murdering and raping people should be legalized. Laws are important, but they have to make sense. If you're only defense of a law is "it's the law we shouldn't question it", you're a MORON!!!

[NateSean]

Getting a drivers' license = Car.

That's always been the thinking with anyone I've ever spoken to on this subject. In their world having a car makes life so much easier when in my experience, the opposite has been true.

Having a car means you now have even more expenses than before. Gas, tires, windshields, insurance, time missed from work because you're stuck in traffic or broken down on the side of the road.

Suffice it to say I have never been late for work and I have never driven a day in my life. If you don't count Grand Theft auto of course.

[Andara Bledin]

You must have a great public transit system or always had the good fortune to live close enough to your workplace to walk/bike/skate to your job.

Unfortunately, thinking that not having a car is always better is just as bad as thinking that having a car is always better; it's myopic, at best, and doesn't take into consideration any of the dozens of factors that might be different.

Not having a car in my area is actually more expensive* than having one unless you work close to where you live, or are lucky enough to have a straight shot from home to work via the rail system.

* note: don't forget to value the extra time spent in transit with alternate options and arrangements that have to be made to go other places

^-.-^

[crashhelmet]

With issue number one, it's a semantics thing, I guess.

I personally don't care what others think about me. They either like me or hate me. All that matters to me is what *I* think of *MYSELF.* If I am perfectly comfortable with streaking down the Las Vegas Strip whilst singing Rod Stewart's "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" then I'll face whatever consequences it brings.

However, I will NOT allow someone else's opinions dictate my own self worth.

That, in my opinion, is what is wrong with so many people in this world today. They're too concerned with pleasing everybody, or being cool and liked, or being accepted. They let other people control their self worth, their self esteem, their self security, and their self respect.

"All men are the same except for their belief in their own selves, regardless of what others may think of them." - Miyamoto Musashi

"To be truly lonely, that means you don't enjoy your own company. If that's the case, why would anyone else?" -Mika Tan

[jackfaire]

"Real men don't/do....."


Fill in the blank. I have to live with this one everyday and it bugs me less because I hear it and more because I hear emotionally stunted boys say it and they have sons of their own.

They have black and white rules for how "real" men are that tends to ignore any human emotion beyond lust or hunger any interest beyond violent video games (I mean ones that exist only to be violent) and sports.

[NateSean]

You must have a great public transit system or always had the good fortune to live close enough to your workplace to walk/bike/skate to your job.^-.-^

So that you don't think I'm simply using hyperbole to prove my point I have used Google Maps to give you an approximate idea of the route I took, on foot, on the days when I had neither money for the bus nor anyone to offer me a ride to my airport job.

I did that for four months straight in the early parts of winter when the weather was the nastiest and the drivers weren't much better. I needed the money badly enough that I did it for six days until I started my job at Rank Aid. And the bus wasn't available on Sundays or in the early, early hours of the morning, when I could expect the last plane we had to clean to arrive. Sometimes the sun would just begin to rise by the time I actually made it to my house.

[Andara Bledin]

That would be a round trip of nearly 5 hours during some of the most dangerous time to be on the road. Balanced against my health, safety, and sanity, that job would have to pay a hell of a lot to be worth that commute.

And before you figure how much it paid, add in the hours spent getting there and back, and then figure out how much was actually made.

^-.-^

[NateSean]

People joking about murder, rape and other audacities in a free and open manner, but suddenly acting like the right hand of God when it's convenient for their needs to be offended.

[Andara Bledin]

People joking about murder, rape and other audacities in a free and open manner, but suddenly acting like the right hand of God when it's convenient for their needs to be offended.

You mean like the guy who did the voice of Chef on South Park being a-ok with bashing every religion until they finally got around to his and so he quit? You mean like that?

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Well, it's not like Scientology doesn't get enough bad press without South Park.

I thought Isaac was being a bit hypocritical, but at the same time there was more venom in that episode than average. It really didn't have the Mormon episode's "other hand" approach by showing the Mormon's happy despite the chorus of "dum-duh-dum-dum-dum" whenever explaining the religion. It's not one that generally sticks out for me (other than the Tom Cruise gag) namely because so many people take runs at Scientology (saw one in my Facebook feed today) I'm a bit bored with it.

[protege]

However, according to the creators of South Park, Hayes never said a thing about how other religions were bashed...until they did the Scientology episode. It wasn't until after he was released from his contract that the creators depicted Chef as being brainwashed by a cult called the Super Adventure Club...who turned out to be child molesters. They retaliated, because Hayes apparently wanted his religion to be treated differently than everyone else.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Yes, the creators said that. What did Isaac say?

I love Matt and Trey with the fiery passion of 1001 suns, but that episode strangely lacks the deference their religious themed episodes have. Even when they're making fun of Jesus, Mohammed the super hero, the Easter Bunny episode, or even Kyle's Judaism with Moses the Tron-dreidel, mocking the believer isn't really what they do. Jesus as a commando is funny. You're stupid because you believe Jesus resurrects himself, isn't and they don't try to make that the joke. Cartman makes fun of Kyle because he's a Jew. Cartman does not make fun of Kyle because he finds a burning bush idiotic nor does he point out how asinine it is that some dude parted the sea. Hayes religion was treated differently.

With Scientology, they mocked the believer for believing (complete with "This is what Scientologists actually believe" subtitles) without the Mormon episode's sugary coating and that was the difference. They delegitimized an employee's faith and that of many of the people that employee dealt with regularly. His response was to leave. They doubled down and essentially compared Scientologists to a cult of child molesters and sort of denied Hayes agency in the whole thing which is a whole other level of "dick move."

Honestly, there are very few times I've disagreed with Parker and Stone but they are downright obtuse as far as the difference in what they did. And I think they're both smarter than that and at this point, even if they think differently the fact that Hayes is now dead means their story won't change. There's no relationship to salvage.

There's an irony to it as well. Stone regrets that no one would talk about the serious point they were trying to make in Cartoon Wars about free speech BECAUSE everyone still wanted to talk Scientology. It's what happens when you take on an easy target that people want to dog pile on anyway.

That was what.... 7 years ago and the freedom of speech issue that episode talked about has gotten bigger and people have died for it. People still like to bag on Scientology but it's not like they're that relevant now either.