How things haven’t improved
Andrea Harris, child of the 1970s, is not at all impressed by these years starting with 2:
[S]omehow we went from the relatively free-wheeling Seventies to the restricted, drugged, and psychotherapied 21st Century. We have “men’s rights” websites whining that women who don’t wear high heels and makeup aren’t “feminine,” when the idea that to be “feminine” a woman had to wear makeup and high heels is a recent development in fashion, not a basic trope of human nature.
Your MRA guys seem persuaded that women should simply fall into their laps. (Prepositions may vary.) Few remember, or will admit, that for most of recorded history it was the male who was prettied up for public consumption.
We have everyone and their dog getting a tattoo.
I remain tatless after all these year. Also dogless.
Everyone but me is on Facebook and has ten thousand “friends.”
Well, 150, anyway.
Everyone is either a treehugging hippy crap leftist Democrat who thinks the rich “1%” should pay everyone else’s bills, or a gun-hugging, Bible-flogging, commie-hating, sky-and-earth-polluting, globe-warming redneck Republican who thinks rich people should be able to do whatever they want with their money including piling it on the lawns of their mansions and setting it on fire. And if you beg to differ from either position one iota you’re a traitor and a fake.
The real GOP rednecks don’t have money to burn. Then again, since on the worldwide scale I qualify as one of the hated One Percent — well, maybe I’ll set my lawn on fire. It will make life a little more difficult for the weeds, and for any would-be Occupiers.
People are so neurotic about drugs that everyone, even non-smokers, act as if they’re having a continuous nic-fit.
It takes several dozen tablets and caplets and pills (oh, my!) to keep me going another week.
And everyone — everyone — links to the UK sensationalist tabloid The Daily Mail as if it were an objectively reported newspaper for proof of their positions.
As I did above.
Beyond that, we’re living in “interesting times,” which was either a Chinese or a Persian curse.
fillyjonk »
12 January 2012 · 9:44 am
Interesting, I remember the 1970s as being fairly miserable myself. (One of my earliest memories being sitting in the backseat of my dad’s car while he grumbled about having to wait in line to buy gas on the day corresponding to his license plate number…).
Of course, my memories of the 1970s could have largely been colored by my miserable grade-school days. Being an adult is SO MUCH BETTER than being a child in a lot of ways. And that’s even without a dog or a tattoo….
Andrea Harris »
12 January 2012 · 10:23 am
Oh don’t get me wrong — I hated the Seventies. I was sure the future would be better. In many ways it is — for me. Most of the things I complain about in my post don’t actually affect me — I couldn’t care less about what people think about me so worrying that I don’t fit in with everyone is no longer a problem for me personally. But I don’t like the trends in society today that I see. Part of it is just me grumbling like a middle-aged person I’m sure. But when I see people my age (almost fifty) still worrying like teenagers over how they need to “fit it” it bothers me. When you are past youth and no longer under the control of your hormones you should quit caring. That’s why I looked forward to getting old (I was probably the only kid in my class whose goal was to be an aged recluse).
fillyjonk »
12 January 2012 · 12:25 pm
Yeah, Andrea, I do have to agree on the whole “people shouldn’t be allowed to look their age” thing. I had “friends” (frenemies?) pushing their colorist’s card at me the day I got my first grey hair. I don’t care if people want to dye their hair, I just know it’s not for me. I didn’t say anything then, but if someone starts pushing Botox at me, they’ll get an earful. My twenties weren’t that much fun so I don’t need the illusion of remaining that age.
On a somewhat related note: one of my officemates in grad school was talking about guys thinking about sex, and made a comment something like, “How do guys in careers keep from being distracted all the time?” and our advisor (who had been listening in) responded, “That’s what being fifty is for.” I laughed my head off but I think Tim was pretty embarrassed.
hatless in hattiesburg »
12 January 2012 · 1:01 pm
i too am tatless and dogless, but take fewer caplets and pills than you (for now)
Francis W. Porretto »
12 January 2012 · 3:46 pm
Methinks Andrea needs to widen her social circle. Or acquire an absorbing new hobby.
Andrea Harris »
12 January 2012 · 11:42 pm
No, Francis, I don’t need to do either of those things. I’m not even sure what you are talking about, or what it has to do with my post or Charles’ posts or this comment thread.