Uncommentable Things
Some things that I feel the societal pressure NOT to comment upon.
1) People who don't like how they look AND have children.
It annoys me that people will continually post pictures of their children and not themselves. I have Facebook friends whom I have not seen in years, but I continue to "not see them" because they have no pictures of themselves online. Just pictures of their children. And by the by, a significant portion of children look a lot alike when depicted in a 100x100 pixel photo as a profile shot, especially before the age of 6 months or so.
2) Posed professional pictures of newborns on flowers or bookshelves or draped on depictions of the word "LOVE".
In my opinion, creepy. When I see a sleeping newborn who has been carefully posed (or "folded") into a sitting position and given a jaunty hat, I think less of the parents. I don't know if there is a name for these type of pictures, but I loathe them all.
A friend assured me that I will "think different" when I have a child of my own. That may well be, but I find that old saw to be less than meaningful. It has as much weight as "you just haven't met the right person", which I've heard my entire adult life, with similar impact. Also it's an unarguable point. Yes, I may think different, but I won't know until then. Yes, I may not have met the right person, but I could go on not meeting her.
Plus, the babies in these photos look like they've died and are being made into taxidermy in honor of themselves. Doesn't help that the babies are usually asleep, eyes closed.
3) Thou shalt not give the bride a hard time at the wedding.
I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Nobody should be giving the bride grief about the wedding, but it becomes un-commentable when it's the parents. When they say that they're paying for the reception, so the bride only gets to make "suggestions", that deserves a big fat elopement. Send a postcard from Scotland and say, "Wish you were here, not making decisions."
I sat down to chat with a good friend who's getting married soon. She was unpacking how her wedding of 40 people has turned into 120. People she doesn't know and has never heard of are coming, because they're clients of someone or other. Wasn't it in Medieval times when weddings were used primarily as business and mergers? Good thing we're liberated now.
4) Hyper-patriotism and jingoism
Both my grandfathers fought in Europe in World War II, and I can't recall either one of them making a big deal out of what America was, other than "home". Today's braggadocio sticks in my craw.
5) Old people who are bigoted and mean are unpleasant people
Standing in line at the post office, a grandmotherly woman entered and took up a place behind me. After five minutes had elapsed, she started to comment under her breath about what the clerks were doing, questioning the capability of the clerk with a hearing aid. She also disliked all the "Mexicans" in Olathe, by which I assume she was referring to the Sikh man buying stamps ahead of us.
6) I wonder why all the McDonald's's's in the area always have their TVs tuned to FoxNews. I wonder why nobody is ever watching.
1) People who don't like how they look AND have children.
It annoys me that people will continually post pictures of their children and not themselves. I have Facebook friends whom I have not seen in years, but I continue to "not see them" because they have no pictures of themselves online. Just pictures of their children. And by the by, a significant portion of children look a lot alike when depicted in a 100x100 pixel photo as a profile shot, especially before the age of 6 months or so.
2) Posed professional pictures of newborns on flowers or bookshelves or draped on depictions of the word "LOVE".
In my opinion, creepy. When I see a sleeping newborn who has been carefully posed (or "folded") into a sitting position and given a jaunty hat, I think less of the parents. I don't know if there is a name for these type of pictures, but I loathe them all.
A friend assured me that I will "think different" when I have a child of my own. That may well be, but I find that old saw to be less than meaningful. It has as much weight as "you just haven't met the right person", which I've heard my entire adult life, with similar impact. Also it's an unarguable point. Yes, I may think different, but I won't know until then. Yes, I may not have met the right person, but I could go on not meeting her.
Plus, the babies in these photos look like they've died and are being made into taxidermy in honor of themselves. Doesn't help that the babies are usually asleep, eyes closed.
3) Thou shalt not give the bride a hard time at the wedding.
I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Nobody should be giving the bride grief about the wedding, but it becomes un-commentable when it's the parents. When they say that they're paying for the reception, so the bride only gets to make "suggestions", that deserves a big fat elopement. Send a postcard from Scotland and say, "Wish you were here, not making decisions."
I sat down to chat with a good friend who's getting married soon. She was unpacking how her wedding of 40 people has turned into 120. People she doesn't know and has never heard of are coming, because they're clients of someone or other. Wasn't it in Medieval times when weddings were used primarily as business and mergers? Good thing we're liberated now.
4) Hyper-patriotism and jingoism
Both my grandfathers fought in Europe in World War II, and I can't recall either one of them making a big deal out of what America was, other than "home". Today's braggadocio sticks in my craw.
5) Old people who are bigoted and mean are unpleasant people
Standing in line at the post office, a grandmotherly woman entered and took up a place behind me. After five minutes had elapsed, she started to comment under her breath about what the clerks were doing, questioning the capability of the clerk with a hearing aid. She also disliked all the "Mexicans" in Olathe, by which I assume she was referring to the Sikh man buying stamps ahead of us.
6) I wonder why all the McDonald's's's in the area always have their TVs tuned to FoxNews. I wonder why nobody is ever watching.
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