I Want to Thank Roof Mounted TV Antennas for Pointing Me in the Right Direction

I never had cable TV growing up.  That wouldn’t have been a big deal if I were a kid in the 70s (it existed, look it up) or even a kid in the 90s, but my all important, formative pre teen and teenage years were smack in the middle of the cable TV explosion and the MTV era or 1984 to 1992, so not having cable TV was a pretty big deal. At the time I equated it to being like a Christmas ornament on a Menorah, or worse, a cavity at a dentist’s office the day after his new shipment of drills came in.

Sidebar:  For any ‘youngans’ that might be having some difficulty understanding what that might have been like, let me paint you a more modern picture.  Not having cable TV in the eighties, was like not having a cell phone today. I’m not just talking about being off the iPhone 4 bandwagon, I’m talking about not having ANY cell phone at all. Get it?

All the other kids had this crazy phenomenon except me. Most could seemingly tell at a distance that I didn’t have it too, like there was some destitute look or disturbing aroma that I gave off. (Perhaps there was a secret decoder ring given away with the subscriptions? How was I to know?)  Others, who weren’t as keen, seemed to lose their hearing once I had told them I went without it.  “YOU DON’T HAVE CABLE TV?” they’d gasp in disbelief.   Ah, didn’t I just tell you that, dumbass??   Their conversation with me would then fall as silent as the grave, and they'd slowly move away as if I was going to steal their programming via some disease or black magic.  If we had an elementary school yearbook, you would have found my picture under “Hes The One Without Cable TV” title. 

On a clear and non rainy day, I had 9 channels to choose from – 2,4,5,7,10,12,25,38,56, all broadcasting over two VHF bands and one UHF band. They didn’t have cool names like HBO, or Showtime either; they just went by their lame numbers.  To get them to come in clearly (I use the term loosely), I first had to know what city was broadcasting the channel and where it was in relation to my house. (North, South, etc)  Then I had to rotate a knob on the antenna box, which in turn would operate the motorized roof antenna to point to that city broadcasting the station.  Yeah, real space age stuff.  If I was lucky, V66 would be on and I might be able to actually watch it through the snowy reception and finally see what all of the video hype was about.  (I suppose I’m lucky it was in color at least.)   Good times I tell ya.  Good times.  

I didn’t have a Walkman either.  Or a personal computer or any advanced video game console.  Heck we didn’t even have a window AC to cool us down in the summer.  I had Twist-A-Plot books, plastic car models, a 20 year old metal fan, and the Sears Telegames rip-off of the Atari 2600 we got in 1984, two years AFTER the more advanced 5200 came out.  Yeah, there was never a risk of us loosing blood on the cutting edge of anything.  We were old school before there was an old school to be from.  It was probably a new school back then, but it went obsolete because it didn’t have a cable TV feed.  

   

But you know what?  20 years after my final teenage year, I’m still thankful to my parents for not spoiling me with all of that useless crap.  I learned very quickly that a lot of those kids in school, watching MTV or playing with video games was all they ever did.  Their idea of a great weekend was seeing how many R rated movies they could get away with watching without their parents finding out, or flipping 100,000 points in Donkey Kong or Space Invaders.   They were incredibly boring to hang around because all they wanted to do was watch or play with the damn TV. They never went outside and they most certainly never read anything beyond a TV guide.   Me on the other hand, I spent a lot of time outdoors riding my bike, playing with the other kids in the neighborhood, who too had cheap parents thankfully. We played the typical stuff kids played – street hockey, baseball with invisible men, tag, hide and seek, Red Rover, 1,2,3 Stoplight, Cat and Mouse etc.  I spent time in friend’s pools playing Marco Polo, rang doorbells, (not phones!) to see if friends could come out and play, and spent many a night waiting for the Mr. Lemon truck to come around so I could get lemon slush with a pretzel rod stirrer or a Screwball ice cream.  Those were the days.  When it was time to come home, my mom would literally yell our names out the back door like a primitive intercom system, and we’d yell back to let her know we were coming home.  We were a block and a half away.  No joke – that’s the way it was. 

All that “extra” time I had NOT playing video games and learning useless trivia (is there any useful trivia?) about  MTV Veejays, I put to good use listening to and appreciating music, reading magazines about cars, and most importantly, learning about people and relationships. That last one wasn’t planned…it was just something that happened because I spent so much time with other kids. Instead of staying in to learn how to beat level 15 of Zaxxon,  I learned how to talk to people, how to get along with them and how to size someone up based on the limited knowledge of them I had.  (It helped too that I was the youngest of four, so I got to see firsthand what NOT to do when testing authority figures)  I learned to listen before I spoke and I learned to hear what someone wasn’t saying.  TV couldn’t teach you that.  Building relationships with those tools has served me well.  And believe it or not, you learn a lot about people through the eyes of an 11 year old.  They don’t think you’re paying attention, but you are.

Onward to my point. 

My favorite Japanese proverb (yeah, like I know more than one) has always been “When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”  Now I didn’t know it at the time, but I’ve always followed that idiom when deciding to whom I would become friends.   Did I want to be friends with the kids who got in trouble all the time? No, not really. What fun was that?  They were always in detention, or grounded.  Lame.   Did I want to be friends with the ones who were into all the “bad boy” stuff. i.e. sneaking cigarettes, stealing booze, doing drugs, and  hanging out in the middle of the night getting arrested?   I passed on those guys too. Seems like a terrible waste of every weekend , don’t you think? I always did. 

This line of thinking didn’t leave many people to actually BE friends with, but I stuck to my guns and consequently today, I am still very much friends with 12 people whom I’ve known and have been close to, for over 24 years.  One of them I’ve known even longer - since the 6^th grade.  I am proud to call each one a friend and in true form, I’m proud to be represented by them. If you were to interview these people and base who I was on the way they present themselves, I’d be blessed to be the person you’d come up with. They are all very good people.   

Whenever I think the whole world is crashing in and becoming a cesspool of degenerates, (which is often) or when I feel like I’m the only one left on the planet that thinks the way I do, all I have to do is talk to them about how they are raising their kids, or how they are living their lives, and I’m back on track.  Be it the lawyers, the janitors, the self defense instructors, the DPW workers, the mechanics, the Verizon gurus, or any of my friends that are more easily classified as office professionals, we all view the world and our future the same way.  We share common beliefs and ideals; we support the same moral and ethical codes, and we can relate to each other on almost every level.  Money doesn’t divide us, nor does our status in life.  We are friends and that is all we see when we get together and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Do I consider myself lucky?  Of course I do.  All the careful planning and forethought of any worthwhile goal isn’t worth a damn without a little bit of luck your side – I’ve seen too much to think otherwise.  But take note, I did have a little something to do with all of this way back when I could have been playing those video games.  All those years without all those distractions taught me a lot about who I was on the inside, and who I wanted to be.  I knew early on my identity, and not being confused about that, allowed me more time to focus on those with whom I wanted to associate. I didn’t waste that time watching Kurt Loder or Adam Curry. I knew who I liked and who I didn’t like at a very young age, but more importantly, I knew why I like them. The friends

have today I wouldn’t trade for anything and my hope is they’d say the same about me.

I was in a terrible mood the other night. Nothing was going right all day, and it was really one of those days where I would have been better off staying in bed.  I almost canceled the dinner plans I had with 3 of my friends I was so bent out of shape. But I went anyway, and I’m glad I did.  A little bit of talking, a little bit of understanding and a little bit of knowing you’re not the only one on the planet with issues goes a long way to putting me in a better mood. I have friends that I can tell anything, and they won’t judge.  They’ll offer honest advice and help whenever they can.  Most people can count close friends on one hand. I am proud to say I’ve got to at least take off my shoes to get that high. 

Responsibility or Censorship?

I’ve always felt some of my best writing was done under the pressure of my teachers laying down restrictions on topics, words or particular styles they DIDN’T want me to use. I never viewed it as censorship at the time, (probably because it wasn’t restricting me from doing anything I actually wanted to do) but while it technically WAS censorship, it made a better writer in terms of creativity, depth and expression.  (One could argue that I suppose, but with only my wife reading these posts, I think I’m safe)

All of that said, you know the old debate about freedom of speech and the ability for someone to falsely yell “Fire!” in the middle of a movie theater? I feel that same way about music. (In case you don’t know, yelling fire in a movie theater (or any other place where people congregate) when there is no fire, will land you in the back seat of a patrol car with criminal and civil “breech of peace” charges pending (civil charges if anyone got hurt in the panic you created).

Lennon

You see, much like that person that isn’t allowed to falsely yell “fire”, I don’t think music, mainstream or otherwise,  should be allowed to have offensive lyrics suggesting to its listeners that violence, rape and murder are OK. Insane Clown Posse, GGAllin, Blood Duster, Marilyn Manson, and Cannibal Corpse are just a few of the groups who have pushed this envelope and have gotten away with it in the past. (Forgive the fact that my age is showing. There may be more offensive people in music today, but these guys are still pretty revolting if internet forums are any indication, even if they are 20 years out)   As usual, these groups stand behind their “music” and claim protection under the 1st Amendment saying they are entitled to free speech, but here is what they - even that guy in the movie theater – all fail to grasp.  The 1st Amendment does not protect those who intend to do harm -either to people or society – with their speech.   And if you ask me, that is exactly what songs of this nature do. 

Have you even heard of a teenager arrested for killing his schoolmate with a sword because the Beach Boys told him to?  No you haven’t.  But you’ve heard them blame Slipknot.  How about Columbine? Marilyn Manson’s name came up a few times during that incident.  Have you ever heard of a teenager committing suicide because of Kenny Rogers?  Again, no, but you’ve heard them blame Ozzy Osbourne, on more than one occasion.

To be clear, I’m not saying that music made these people do what they did. We all have the freedom to choose our actions and ultimately we should be taking responsibility for ourselves.  We cannot blame those around us for what we do. (yet it happens every day)   However, I AM saying that the folks involved in the writing, producing, marketing, and singing music should all be held to the same level of responsibility as its buying public. They all know its vulgar disgusting trash they are putting out, and don’t care to stop it. Sounds like harm to the public to me.

 

Is it right they craft songs suggesting folks kill themselves, or masturbate in a school parking lot to the images of little children?   Is it right they compose songs that glorify rape of their own mothers, senseless beatings and murders of women, and butchery of a fellow man?  When is it EVER OK to write about such things?  If music is expression of who you are supposed to be, these twisted and sick individuals don’t belong on a stage, they belong in mental hospital.  And if any of the people in the chain of command in making any of that trash had any morality at all, those sorry excuses for musicians would have been thrown out of the studio a long time ago.

The worst part of it all is like it or not, these artists actually become some sort of demented role model for the impressionable adolescents buying their "music". But of course they shirk that responsibility never once believing they have any influence over anyone, (how convenient) but they truly posses a power they will never care to comprehend.  (Perhaps if you put a dollar value on it, they may begin to get it)   They don’t want to believe that their music reaches out to people and touches them. Or that their music makes them feel like someone out there understands who they are and what they are all about - makes them feel a little less alone.  No, instead they waste their opportunity to be positive to produce songs like:

“Your Kid Committed Suicide Because You Suck"
"I Became A Counselor So I Could Tell Rape Victims They Asked For It"
"I Like Drugs And Child Abuse"
"I Convinced You To Beat Your Wife On A Daily Basis"
"Sweatshops Are Cool"
"I Sent A Thank you Card To The Guy That Raped You"
"I Made You're Kid Get AIDS, So You Could Watch It Die"
"You're Pregnant, So I Kicked You In The Stomach"
"I Pushed Your Wife In Front Of A Subway"

Think I’m making this up do ya? These scumbags actually put that crap to vinyl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AxCx

Some very offensive material on that page....don't say I didn't warn you. What an embarrassment to the human race these guys are. (from Massachusetts no less....what a surprise. Not.)

So yes, another old band, and back then you’d never hear them on the radio. To get their stuff you’d have to know what to look for and where to go if you really wanted to seek out this type of putrid waste..   (Lets put it this way, I never saw their stuff in Strawberries, or Check It Out).  But today’s pop music while not so direct or graphic isn’t much better in terms of being a positive role model.   Take a look at Katy Perry’s T.G.I.F, or Kesha’s “Booty Call”. And lest you think I’m picking on female artists whose names begin with K, take a look at Eminem’s latest album for a song called “False Love in Real Life”.   You think these are songs your teenager ought o be listening to?  God, I hope not. 

Don’t you “artists” realize that by virtue of being famous and on stage you are idolized by young folk?  All you do from this point on becomes a direction in which they will follow. These warped kids listen to your vile verse all the while believing you are talking straight to their soul, and you choose to talk about having sex with prostitutes you beat up, blowjobs, or how hung over you are after getting high and drunk for the past two days. 

 

I’m not suggesting that government get involved to lay down rules on these folk. Nah, that would just make matters worse. What I am suggesting is songwriters take some personal responsibility for the crap they put out and stop taking the easy road of writing about violence, sex, alcohol and drugs.   Those topics are just too easy to speak to and lend no value to the world of music.  It doesn’t mean one can’t write about romance and relationships, but there is a pretty thick line between the I Wanna Hold Your Hand to I Wanna Sex You Up, so find some middle ground. The same goes for all of the people in the chain of releasing music to the public - from the label all the way to the producers - if any of you just stood up and said you actually have some integrity and you wont release any of this crap, you might just find that you're not alone. 
 

Dylan

Ever wonder why artists from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are still being heard on the radio today after an average of 45 years of being recorded?  (If I was in the profession of making music, id certainly be wondering)  Perhaps the reason is because it was good wholesome music that people young to old can relate to?  Did the artists want it to be wholesome?  Well…… I’m guessing the FCC and the higher moral fiber of the people in charge of the industry at the time was what kept most of it clean, but the artists had something to do with it.   But even if they didn’t, they got point across even in the wake of those strict FCC rules, didn’t they?  Fast forward 50 years and ask yourself if songs like Nickelback’s  oh so cleverly titled “S.E.X” or “Something in Your Mouth” will ever be heard on the radio 50 years from now.  (I’ll give you a hint – those songs are only 3-5 years old and I haven’t heard them on the radio since their release. )  Taking those kinds of topics out of the hands of the writers would weed out less talented folk, and leave only ones that can overcome the hurdle of having to deal with restrictions on their writing.  Trust me, it will raise the level of songwriting and it will grow and mature the craft. Who knows, maybe they will actually discover they are much more creative, expressive and deeper than they ever imagined.

.  

So to quote Voltaire (or Uncle Ben, take your pick) with great power, comes great responsibility. Now someone go and tell these losers.   

I Hate This Woman.

 

Yes I know hate is a strong word, but that’s exactly why I’m using it.   

Nadya Suleman, AKA Octomom is a disgusting waste of human existence.   She is the epitome of the vermin that is the “me me me” generation and she’s an embarrassment to humankind the world over.  An avaricious and greedy attention seeker, bent on her own selfish, egotistical, self centered need to be loved, trudging along in a relentless pursuit of notoriety.  Why am I all riled up now when she was made infamous for all of this back in 2009?  Because she just filed for bankruptcy, that’s why.

http://news.yahoo.com/octomom-files-bankruptcy-owes-30k-rent-235042455.html

Yeah…like we didn’t all see that coming. Color me unsurprised. 

Let’s take a quick step back to see how void of ethical fiber, logic and decency this woman really is.

The SINGLE mother had 6 children all under the age of 8 and was $50,000 in debt before undergoing additional in vetro fertilization to allow her to conceive 8 more kids!!. (6 wasn’t enough apparently) Up to that point she was already receiving $490/mo in food stamps and $600/mo in government payments for EACH of the three children she had with varying disabilities — an autistic son, a child with ADHD and another who was “developmentally delayed” in learning to speak, yet Suleman claims she’s not on welfare. There is no father in the picture here either mind you, just an egotistical woman and a “friend” she had donate sperm, which she claims has never met his kids.   Oh yeah…to complete the trifecta, she’s also unemployed. She was employed, but within two years of working at a mental institution (how fitting) back in 1999, she was caught up in a riot and “injured” her back. (how convenient)   Over the next seven years, she would collect $167,908 in disability payments. .(Alison Stateman, Time.com, February, 2009)   To this day she is still without a job or any continuous revenue stream, other than state funded money. 

To further underline how psychotic, damaged, and deranged this woman really is, understand a single IVF procedure usually has women implanted with two or three embryos. But Suleman being the greedy monster she is, requested to be implanted with all 12 (!)  of her remaining embryos she had stored.  When asked by Ann Curry of NBCs The Today Show about selectively weeding some out, she had this to say.  “What gives any human being a right to pick and choose which embryo —which fetus —  is more valuable than another? You know, that is not up to human beings.”  (Mike Celizic, TODAY.com contributor, updated 2/11/2009)

So let me get this straight, you vile waste of oxygen… You play God when it’s convenient for you, but once you’re asked to be responsible for the sake of your children and the world around you, you claim it’s out of your hands??  Am I the only one that gets sick over the lengths this woman was allowed to go to satiate an obvious mental illness? (Her doctor had his license revoked in 2011 by the way.  Another reprehensible pig who I hope rots in Hell for a thousand eternities)


So fast forward 3 years and here she is, like we all knew she would be. Flat Broke and looking for a handout. She claims she’s over $1,000,000  in debt and needs the help of the state via a court appointed trustee to liquidate her assets.  Funny... she wears Abercrombie and Fitch clothing, sends her kids to private schools, has a stylist that she pays $520 a month, and owes DirecTV a huge sum of money. Plus she rents the house shes living in.  What assets do you think she has? Does anyone else see the problem here?  The sense of entitlement with this family is nothing short of astounding.  I guess she felt she was entitled to Satellite TV while failing to pay her mortgage, huh?  Or payments to the stylist were more important than say, paying the water and electricity bills?  When all of this is over, the only take away anyone will have will be the children.  After this debacle, you can rest assured they will all have a better understanding of how to milk the system to their advantage. How to live off the backs of others; how to screw, cheat and steal from those who actually work to provide them the “assistance” they claim they so desperately need, and how to accumulate debt and live so irresponsibly beyond your means that they’ll never have to worry about any of it.  Absolutely gross.

Nadya Suleman is a revolting and despicable human being. She is the worst mankind has to offer and by all standards is a deplorable waste of space. Jillita Horton, a Yahoo! Contributor called Nadya a “professional parasite” and her assessment couldn’t be closer to the truth. The mere thought of this woman and the mockery she’s made of motherhood should churn your stomach like it does mine.  Her ego and lack of self esteem got her into this mess, and now the tax payers of California have to bail her and her little army out of it.  Such is the circle of life for the professional parasite. 

When did it become so wrong to to be called American?

I know I’m a little late to this rodeo, but I’m going to vent anyway because it just irks me whenever I hear it. 

I am so tired of all the people that need to let you know their ethnic background when they announce what kind an American they think they are.  “I’m an Italian American” or “I’m an Irish American”.   Or a Dutch American or a Polish American.  Same goes for those people that want to include all of the places their parents, grandparents or great grandparents were from when they start telling you about themselves.  I don’t know why they have this crazy need to give you all of the countries those 6  were from to let you know they live in Tennessee, but they do.  “I’m a Dutch Canadian, Venezuelan, Australian, American with a little bit of Sioux Indian mixed in.  Yeah, I know I’ve been here in Chattanooga all my life, but my relatives are were from all around.”    Moron.    Listen tool bag, if you were born here that makes you an American citizen – there is no need to be anything else.  I don’t care where your moms parents were from and I couldn’t give two hoots about where your Dads family may have made millions raising Rahmani sheep.   If you were born here or passed a test to become a naturalized citizen, then you are an American you jack wagon, plain and simple. 

Why do people do that?  Why mention their ethnicity in the title of what they are? I get being proud of who you are and where you might be from, but if you grew up in Cleveland, there is no way in hell you were ever an African American regardless of the color of your skin. So why do you adopt the title?  To belong? To identify? Whats wrong with just being an American?

And for those that came to this country and took that pledge to become a citizen, that Oath of Allegiance, you declared to “entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen”.  In other words, you promised to become an American which by doing so, relinquishes all loyalty to your previous country of citizenship.  So guess what Esse, you’re not a Hispanic American, or a Canadian American.   You’re not an Asian American or even a Scottish American.  So drop the pretense and get over yourself. 

Listen, you came to this country because you felt for some reason or another it could benefit you or your family.  Can’t you at least be respectful to the land and people that are giving you the opportunity to better yourself?   If you like your home country so much you feel the need to go around flying your native colors rather than Old Glory, and all you want to do is talk about is how much better it was from whence you came, then do us all a favor and go home.  This American doesn’t need you.

And Bingo was his name ..o

Dog people are different people.  Before you go all nuts, understand I love dogs; it’s the owners with which I have a problem.  Personally I feel there are a large percentage of dog owners that get them for all the wrong reasons.  It’s like they are missing something in their lives, or have this need to have power over…something.  Worse than that is they tend to lose perspective on what is really important.  Let me explain…

  

First things first.  This is a dog we are talking about. Yes its man’s best friend and probably the most loyal pet you’ll ever have, but at the end of a day, it’s still just a pet.  It loves you because you feed it and give it shelter. If it could do it better than you, it would. It only hangs around because we have domesticated them so much, they know nothing else.  What else is it going to do? 

Most importantly, as much as you might want it to be, it is NOT a human child.  Its life is not worth more than a human life.  We all might sit here and shake our heads saying “yeah, I know” but if we really understand its just a pet,  then explain this type of post on Facebook. 

“I can't watch this video.  Honest to God, I can watch a video of a person lying in the road after being hit by a car, but not a dog. If you're not a dog lover, you won't get it.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/16/loyal-dog-braves-highway-to-remain-by-fatally-struck-friend-side/

  

I admit, it’s a heart breaking story for sure.  And it’s a tragedy that a dog died, but let’s put things in perspective, shall we?  You’d rather see a human, presumably dead in the street, than a dog? Seriously? One could argue that we’ve been desensitized to human death through movies and TV and that’s why it affects us so badly to see a pet injured, but unless you are as dumb as that dog, it doesn’t excuse you from not thinking twice about actually posting colossally stupid and inane comments that show how warped and twisted your priorities really are.  Saying you’d more easily watch a human get hit by a car not only devalues anyone's loss of a relative/friend/partner/,  but it also shows to all of us that you value that animals life over you own wife, daughter or son,  or father, or mother or sister etc…  and that makes me sick.  Is that what you meant?  Because that’s the message you sent

Oh and by the way, I don’t need to be a dog owner to “get it”.  As a human, I completely understand how it feels to lose someone I love. But its not someone who died here, was it?  It was someTHING, and as much as that mystifies you, it’s you that doesn’t get it.  If you feel more over the loss of your dog than you do a family member or friend, then that is truly a problem with you.  You shouldn’t be the owner of anything.

If you want to talk about something I don't get, lets take this example. If you really care about your dog, why do you let them crawl all over you when you’re driving your car? You think that enhances their driving experience, or yours? (Attention selfish jerk, the dog doesn’t care which seat it occupies).

Yayyy Rhode Island!!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-dog-on-lap-20120409,0,388641.story

You say you care about your dog, but you don't stop to think what could happen to them if you were to get into an accident?  Seems contradictory to me. If your pet is really one of the family, why do you treat it so differently?  Get a pet seat belt/harness.   We already know you don’t care about the lives of anyone around you (or else you would keep them off your lap for such an important activity such as driving) so do it for the damn animal, you jackass.

 

I loathe the folk that have dogs yet want to be so nice, they refuse to “be mean” to them.  I have some neighbors like that.  In reality, a lot of owners have no clue or desire to discipline their dogs. They allow them to jump all around; bark incessantly and pretty much run their lives, in the meantime making everyone else around them miserable.  They actually think it makes the lives of their pet better when it gets to live free of rules or regulations.  Don’t get me wrong, verbal abuse of any animal is not tolerated, but disciplining your dog is not punishing your dog, and giving your pet boundaries will actually make it a happier pet in the end. Heck, if the pet owners from the first video actually disciplined their dogs, you may not have a dead animal in the street.  

Admittedly, it’s mostly the people with the small dogs that are so careless.  I’ve got a neighbor that didn’t think one annoying yapping dog was enough, so she got two more. They had to relegate the old dog to the lower part of the deck do the new ones could occupy the top. Do you think she has any clue how noisy they are?  Doubtful. How could she? She keeps them outside most of the day because shes home. She probably thinks they never make a sound.  Funny thing is I have another neighbor with two 100+lbs Pitbulls, and I never hear those dogs at all. Get out there and find out what those dogs need, lady. They are obviously upset about something, and you don’t seem to care. 

How about the double standards we create for dog owners?  Try bringing your pet horse into a supermarket; see what happens. Board of Health would have a problem with that for sure. But why then do I see all these arrogant dog owners doing it all the time with these goofy little dogs in their purses?  Because of their size?   Listen, if your fragile self esteem can’t make it the duration of a trip to the market without being reminded of how much your pet loves you, then maybe you ought to be getting groceries delivered to your home.  Animals do not belong in the supermarket unless they are in the meat section all wrapped and ready for grilling.

 Ever try bringing a pet pig on a plane ride?  It won’t go over well. (I don’t suggest it). However, if you dress it up like a dog, you might both make it by. Most airlines actually allow “pet “travel directly in the cabin. (with limitations, usually weight/size)  They must screen out passengers with pet allergies at the security gate, don’t you think?  That the real reason the TSA lines are so long.

 Seriously, when there is an airline that is specifically for pets, do they really need to continue this practice?

http://www.petairways.com/

 

Lastly, what aggravates me the most about dog owners are the ones that have so much extra money floating around they don’t know what to do with it, so they send their pooch to a dog "hotel" for things like: 

• Aromatherapy baths
• Aromatherapy massage
• Fur coloring
• Facials
• Swim sessions
• Underwater treadmill sessions

I cant make this stuff up - http://www.poochhotel.com/ 


Get this –  The “Palace Suite” is 12x10 or 20x15 and it’s a “quiet, private luxe room equipped with a flat panel TV, web camera, and exquisite raised bedding. “  Yeah, because we all know how Buster loves to watch The Price is Right, don’t we?
  

Something tells me that if you have this kind of money to spend on your pet, then maybe you ought to be thinking about donating more to a human charity, like the homeless or hungry children? But no this place exists because someone thought there was a need, and owners agreed.  Sadly there are people willing to spend $100 a night for their dog to stay in this type of hotel.  Here’s my take, If you need someone to give your dog underwater treadmill lessons, then maybe you don’t spend enough time with your dog. 

Listen people, I love dogs, but I’m not so selfish to use them just to fill a hole in my life. I value their role in our lives and I know they can do incredible things.  But they are not substitutes for children, lost relatives, or siblings or even real live friends.  They dont belong in baby carriages and dont need to be dressed up in the clothes your youngest used to wear to football rallies. They dont think like you or I do, and they dont process information the way you think is the cutest. They dont have long distant memories of their brothers and sisters, or yearn for their mommy as they grow older.  They are animals and it’s not wrong to treat them that way.   If you read this and got all ticked off screaming about how way off base you think I am, you’re obviously too blinded by your emotions  and  you should think twice about owning anything.  You may contend I’m mean and unconscionable saying all of this, but I’m betting  I’m a better pet owner than you.