I haven't gotten off on a good rant in a long time. I think I'm over due. So, for your reading pleasure, or for you to totally ignore, I present the following.
I hate election years. I really do. I mean, I'm all for the democratic process doing it's work, but politics as it exists today is just a sick circus. It seems that the candidates are pandering to the stupidest people on the stupidest topics. They count on their ignorance or laziness in not actually checking facts for themselves. I know it's been going on forever, but as time goes along it seems that these parlor tricks get worse and worse as time goes on. Recently Romney and Santorum have both been caught, with video tape evidence, of presenting bold faced lies. And they were both like "that was taken out of context". Um, dudes, when you say A and the video tape says B, that's not context, that's you being a lying sack of dog turds. (And no, it's not just GOP candidates doing it, nor just presidential candidates. It seems "lying sack of dog turds" is a prerequisite for any political office.)
I hate people. I hope that in other areas of the country that people are much more respectful to people who need assistance to walk (cane, walker, wheelchair, etc.) I stopped at WalMart yesterday to just grab a couple of things and it took me twice as long as it should have. In almost every aisle I was cut off by people who acted like they didn't see me. In one case, a couple caught my eye, stepped directly in front of me to block the aisle, then just stood there, leaving no room to go around them and ignoring every attempt I made at saying "excuse me" and "may I get by please" and "can I just get around?" In the end, rather than make a scene I went to the other end of the aisle and around. (Yes, it was right at the end of the aisle, with my kids waiting in the main path on the other side. I had to walk all the way around to get back to them.)
Then there's this one person. I won't tell you how I know them or where I see them, but this person is just mean. I am on Social Security and Medicare because of my disability. I've made no secret of that and I am in no way ashamed of it. The system is doing what it's supposed to do in my case. However, this person I have an issue with seems to think they are paying their taxes just to take care of me because I'm too lazy to find an income. Every time I see them it's "Hey, how are you enjoying living off the government?" and "Hope my tax payer dollars didn't go to that new jacket you're wearing" and "You know, you really should make your own money and let the government take care of Veterans and people with real problems".
I don't need to tell you how much this person makes me not want to be in the same place as they are. Same town. Same planet.
I hate my local school system. We got a truancy notice on my kindergartener. In all but one case, the absences were from them sending him home for one reason or another. (One case they feared a concussion, another was from vomiting, another was a bad case of diarrhea... you get the idea.) But because the school nurse couldn't be bothered to talk to the office, his absences were marked 'unexcused'. Now I have to wast my time calling the school and telling them all this.
I hate insurance companies. Especially car insurance. For reasons they won't disclose to me, Geico has increased my monthly payments by nearly double. They say they got some information on a "driving record" from a service they use and if I want a copy of that report I can get one for free if I contact that company. Of course there is no email, no website, not even a phone number. Just a PO box. So if I want to contact this company, I have no choice but snail mail. (I tried to google them to find a website or email. All I found was a white pages listing. The phone number is no longer in service.)
And did I tell you about trying to take myself as a driver off the insurance? Because of my disability, I can't drive. So I ask them, "hey, just don't cover me anymore" and they were all like "no, can't do that. We're already covering you, we're going to keep charging you" And I said "but I can't drive, here's the papers from my doctor" and they were like "um, no, we're just going to keep you on there. Oh and by the way, we share a database with all other insurance companies so if you try to get a quote it will pop up your name whenever you list any of your vehicles ID numbers and they will insist that you have to be covered."
I mean, it's a service I pay for. Why can't I have a say in what I pay for? This is just wrong on so many levels.
One more. I hate how people forget. And it seems that they are having shorter and shorter memories. Case in point, gas prices. When George W. took office, regular gas was $1.47. When he left office, $1.85. What people forget is that somewhere in the middle, gas prices reached their record high, which is still the record high even with the recent price hikes - $4.11 for regular in July 2008. There's closed up gas station that we pass every time we go to town. The prices are still on it - $3.98 for regular. Still higher than prices currently are.
People also tend to forget that when good ol' Dubya was in office, Everyone seemed to accept his word that "gas prices aren't under the control of the President". They even held a hearing when oil companies posted record earnings. But now, no matter what it going on in the world, it's all the President's fault and he should do something (even though they keep saying the government should say out of business).
Know how to get oil prices to go down? Buy less. If we all cut our gas usage by 10%, prices would fall almost by half.
Ok, rant over.
