Society Sucks: Strangers, Sanity & Sorrow

People on a whole treat each other like crap. It's every man for themselves and unless we're trying to sell them something, we don't give a hoot what's going on between their ears. I hate it. I truly hate it and I especially hate it when I don't even get false politeness when I'm being sold something...which happens all too often in the lower mainland of BC.

So here's a nice little life lesson we can all take away: Start giving a damn about people. If you can't muster that up, then at least respect that everyone has feelings. JUST. LIKE. YOU.

I'll give you an example.

When my brother died, I needed to visit every shopping mall I could drive to. I needed to be around noise, people and movement. I didn't buy anything and didn't want to, but I craved distraction.

Here is a snapshot of what my mental state was like in the mall:
I wanted to scream, tear my hair out, cry and fall to the floor. I wanted to shake someone and yell at them for living while my brother lied on a medical examiner's table. I wanted to knock over every display stand I saw and kick anyone who dared question me. I wanted to feel and experience anything other than the pain that was ripping through my heart.

What did all of this look like to you? A non-descript female flipping through a Photoshop magazine in a bookstore.

What I'm trying to say is you have no idea what people are carrying around with them. A smile really does go a long way and even if the other person doesn't reciprocate, it doesn't hurt to try.

And if you can't manage a smile, at least don't be a friggin' jerk.

The Prude vs. Filthbook

My childhood was rocky. I'm not really ashamed to admit it because I was taught several lessons and avoided potential pain by watching others make those mistakes. I got to see the true effects of alcoholism, drug addiction, loveless relationships, abuse in it's various verbal and physical forms, etc. Yeah, I know...cry me a river.

Anyway, what has it made me? A prude. Yup, and happy to be one. Why? 'Cause I'm alive and I know I have never caused anyone true pain.

Now, when I say prude, I mean I don't do drugs, drink excessively, smoke, cheat, etc. That doesn't mean I have a stick up my butt.

Imagine my surprise when I downloaded the Facebook application "FilthBook". I saw it on a friend's page and assumed all was harmless. Sure, why not? The idea is to answer a series of questions to rate your "perversion and deviance" against your friends. So I think: "Fun!" and "How bad can it really be?". Famous last words really. Here are some sample questions:

• Used cocaine?
• Taken an opiate in any form?
• Taken LSD, peyote, or psilocybin more than twice?
• Had sex while under the influence of Ecstasy/X?
• Drank your own urine?
• Drank human blood?
• Tasted someone else's nasal mucous?
• Willingly defecated on yourself?

Should I go on? Didn't think so. To be fair, there are hundreds of questions and I pulled a few of the more offensive ones. I wasn't about to start listing them all.

Regardless of your answers above, my point is that "demons of your past" are not things to score and be proud of. My brother recently died of drug overdose and I honestly feel that a certain % of peer pressure accounted for his addiction. Sure, let's roll in online peer pressure through Facebook too. After that, let's set up an application for online sex through Facebook. Maybe posting a penis on someone's wall means you've screwed them. Then you can up your Filthbook rating! Awesome.

Why do we need applications like this? Get a job, get a life and clean yourself up.

My brother Jimmy
Died Nov 9, 2007 at 25 yrs old
Addictions: heroin, crack, pain medications, alcohol, people