Things That Piss Me Off Tuesday - the it's winter and everyone is angry edition

I'm writing this while re-watching this week's episode of Sherlock, so I apologize in advance if it tempers my rage. It's hard to be angry when Benedict Cumberbatch is being all swoonworthy right in front of me.

I'll still try.


You guys....it's January, calm down
It's winter. In winter, it is cold. In winter, there are storms that bring snow with them. This is what happens. This year is particularly cold and snowy for parts of the country thanks to the wonder that is the polar vortex.

Still. It's January. It's winter. This happens every year, though perhaps not to this extreme.

I'm amused, to say the least, by the posts I'm seeing on Facebook. The parents pissed that school is canceled. The parents pissed that school isn't canceled. I'm amused because I don't work for a school district and don't have to put up with the emails and phone calls by all the pissed off parents.

Here's the thing.

The districts have to worry about safety first and foremost. They really aren't concerned with inconveniencing parents, honest. They have to worry about road conditions and whether the buses are equipped for winter driving. They have to worry about the kids who have to walk to school or to the bus stop. They have to especially worry about the kids that have to do those things but don't have coats or gloves. They have to worry about the required number of days in the school year. They have to worry about whether the school year will be extended into the summer, which would inevitably piss more people off.

This year, districts that never have to worry about any of this shit are having to worry about it.

Have we had snow days that were unnecessary? Of course. Have there been times that it should have been called and wasn't? Of course. There's no perfect way to interpret weather forecasts because of the simple fact that they aren't always accurate.

Give the districts a break. They are doing the best they can with the information they have.

The people who don't read, but comment on everything
This. So much this.

If you're going to take the time out of your day to ponder a response, type it out and wait for the shitpot to get stirred....for the love of all that is soft and fluffy in the world, read the goddamn article first.

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves as a writer. I really and truly enjoy commentary and even criticism on what I write, but before you give me feedback that I will take to heart, you have to read what I actually wrote. You can't glance at a title or a picture or the comments being left by other people and know what I wrote. It doesn't work that way.

I deal in sarcasm here people.

Case in point, I wrote a piece for Lefty Pop about Justin Bieber yesterday. It wasn't even really about him so much as it was about the news networks running stories about him over actual news stories that are far more important. I had a picture of the Biebs in the story. Some people just saw that and jumped to conclusions. Head:Wall.

The people who believe whatever people tell them
This. So much this.

Maybe it's just been an off week for me, but I've seen a lot of people sharing fake news stories, sharing articles from satire sites as though they are real, sharing so-called facts that someone told them as though they are true at all.

Stop that.

Maybe I'm just the most skeptical person in the universe, but I fact check everything. I tend not to believe anything people tell me. I doubt most of what I read. I love Snopes. You should love Snopes too.

Chances are anymore that if something rubs you the wrong way, makes you overly happy, makes you overly pissed off...you should verify that information before you spread it all over the book of face. There's plenty of real stuff out there to outrage you, to make you happy, to disgust you...stop falling for the fake stuff.

The Gays Are Coming!!!!!
The weekly developments in the struggle for equal rights have taken some bizarre turns. Two weeks ago, a judge ruled that Oklahoma's ban on gay marriage violated the Constitution, so legislators there have taken the next logical step...they want to ban all marriage as a way to forbid gay marriage. If everyone can get married, then no one can.

I'm going to take my toys and go home, the 2014 elected grown-ass adult version.

On the Grammy's Sunday, during the performance of the song Same Love, 34 couples got married. 68 people who love each other pledged vows and exchanged rings in front of the world. It was beautiful. I was crying from here, feeling so many feelings at the same time, honored that I was able to see it.

Then the homophobes of the world had to chime in. I'm not including the screenshots of what they said for a reason. You can read them here if you want.

Congratulations to all the newlyweds.

“At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won't be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.” - George Clooney

Can't you just be Christian? Or quiet?
This story brought out my inner Luther. And reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend very familiar with this area of the country just last week, where she made many of the same observations.

There is a sixth grade teacher in a public school telling kids that the Bible is 100% truth, that evolution is impossible and that anyone who doesn't believe in God is "stupid". A Buddhist student in the class got fed up with this and told their parents. Parents went to the school district with complaints, where they were told by the Superintendent that "this is the Biblebelt", then given options.

The options?

Change to a school with "more Asians" or change their faith.

No, I'm not kidding.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family.