Gore Theater

Anyone who has been stuck in traffic knows it seems like human nature to want to see gore.  This is the sentiment behind the author of an article about a man recently arrested who was doing snuff films on the Internet.  The article goes on to talk about various snuff sites on the web and the mentality behind them.  These kinds of videos are not just common in other countries but the US as well and apparently it is not illegal to watch a snuff film online.

It may not be illegal, but it is highly disturbing to me.  I can’t imagine anyone would want to consistently watch this genre.  I do like to watch CSI and I suppose it is not really any different than that, but I do not rubberneck on the highway.  I even get upset seeing a dead animal on the road, and I do get a little squeamish when I see blood.  Maybe that’s the real reason why I have decided not to eat meat.  Anyway, I remember having to clean up a large amount of blood when a friend put his arm through a window and I had to take him to the ER.  I got pretty nauseated smelling it when I came back to clean it up.  But I definitely draw the line at watching people getting their limbs ground up in a meat grinder.

I am constantly amazed at the different things that get people off.  I can understand porn but I can’t understand gore.  I can even understand reality shows, but I think that people who get off on watching someone being dismembered while alive needs psychological help.  Maybe it’s just me.

Civility

Rudeness is the new norm, says an article I read the other day.  While this article is about rudeness in politics, politics are not the only place where rudeness occurs.  I must admit that I have been guilty of being rude a time or two.  Okay, well maybe more, but sometimes the situation warrants that kind of behavior, like when a telephone solicitor doesn’t take no for an answer.  I know I should be better at that since I have been doing cold calls from time to time for politicians I am supporting. But in the heat of the moment, I stop thinking.

But the amazing thing of this topic is that Americans are more accepting of rudeness.  According to the article, 21 more percent of people are accepting of rude behavior this year than last.  That to me is the most telling of all.  It is one thing to be rude and quite another to shrug it off as something that happens all the time.  It means we have become complacent with it and that is not a good thing in my eyes.

Civility is the basis of civilization.  Once we lose the ability to communicate with each other in a way that is courteous and respectful, we lose the ability to be human.  We might as well revert back to the wild and be the animals we came from.  Then again dogs are kinder to each other than some people are to each other, so this makes us lower than dogs. Not a good thing for our future.

Mean Streak

I realized recently that I have a mean streak that I didn’t really realize I had.  There is a co-worker who really annoys me because he is always arguing with me at every chance he gets.  The other day he sent me an email asking about something that was so obvious I couldn’t believe it.  Instead of answering it simply, I printed out exactly where the answer appeared and responded in such a snarky way that really didn’t sound like me.  I didn’t copy the whole team, which really would have been mean, but hey, he had it coming. 

I don’t consider myself a particularly mean person.  I do not call myself a bitch, but sometimes I can be bitchy.  Sometimes I get annoyed with someone in particular and do little things to annoy them back, but I don’t really consider that being mean.  I have seen mean people, and as the bumper sticker says, they suck.  I try to be nice to people as much as possible but sometimes it is unavoidable especially when they are mean to me.  My husband has remarked that I can be really strong especially when writing and he is glad he is not on the bad side of me.  Occasionally I have sent a letter when I am dissatisfied with a service or an issue and after reading it he has said that my words can really cut.  But overall I don’t normally see myself as that kind of person.

Being mean is a sad state.  You have to remember, I think, what you have done in the past and think of things to do in the future that can top that.  That’s too much work.  I have enough trouble trying to remember to pay my bills on a monthly basis.  There are far too many things to keep in check in my regular life that adding what I did to so and so and how I can do it better, seems way too much to keep in the air.  I know that everyone loves a good villain in TV shows and movies, but I am not sure that people act like that in real life.  Maybe they do, but I don’t associate myself with them so I am naive on their existence.  Like people who constantly complain, people who are conniving all the time are tiresome.  A mean streak is fine, but being mean is too much of a hassle.