What’s the difference between me and you?
Today on Facebook, I saw an image promoting a veggie pride parade, and I got tweaked. Not over there being a veggie pride parade. No, I started feeling pissy because I realized vegans have to organize into support groups because some meat eaters look down on them. Even a relatively simple choice of what to eat becomes a huge deal to people who this has nothing to do with.
That led me to thinking how many so-called sane and rational people can find the dumbest shit to judge others for. “Oh, yeah?” you snap. “Well what are you doing here, Zoe?” It’s probably a fair point on surface examination, but I’m not mad at y’all for your habits and hobbies. I’m not mad at meat eaters for liking meat, cause I loves me a good bacon cheeseburger. I don’t think horror fans worship the devil, cause I like a good scary book every now and then too. What pisses me right the fuck off is this constant whining about the habits and hobbies of others, like your life choices make you any more enlightened or smarter than the next person. I get pissed at the meat eaters for sneering at vegans, and I get pissed at the horror fans for sneering at the romance fans.
I honest to God saw someone on Twitter who snapped, “Readers of Cassandra Claire novels, you deserve everything that happens to you.” Well hey, bitch, you just convinced me to buy a Cassandra Claire book without even checking the blurb, because your petty fucking judgment of others makes me sick. If I hate the book too, I’m gonna rant in a review about why I hate it, but I AM NOT going to wish harm or bad karma on the readers giving it five stars. I’ll rant on why I hate it, and then I’m going to move on and get on with my life. You wishing bad karma of people who like her books is some goddamned sociopathic bullshit on your part, lady. And the part that makes it even more sick is, you act like you’re so much better a person because you aren’t “sick and twisted like those freaks.” You are the pot calling the kettle black, lady.
I’m sick and fucking tired of all the petty snark thrown at different people for NOTHING. I’m sick of sociopathic bastards eavesdropping on the conversations of others and bitching online to their friends about other peoples’ completely normal behavior. I’m sick of petty motherfuckers complaining about the couple next to them being romantic and making goo-goo eyes, like there’s something sick about being in love. If you get ill watching a young couple be all cutesy, then the problem is you, you sociopathic bastard. The problem is your inability to empathize with anyone else. You are the most important human being out of seven billion, and everyone else is just harshing your buzz.
When I go outside to people watch, I love to see people happy. I love to watch kids run around in circles and squeal at the top of their lungs. That’s what kids are supposed to do, be noisy and play. If you think their parents should force them to be silent because you hate kids, YOU’RE the problem here, motherfucker. Not the parents letting their kids play. YOU, for judging kids over something you know you fucking did when you were their age.
When I go outside to people watch, I listen to the samples of music bleeding off their headphones. Hey, it might be an artist I know, or it might be something new that I could get into. I’m not like you fucking music snobs complaining that only one musical genre is worth your time, and everyone else “forcing their crap” on you needs to learn to respect you. You don’t deserve respect, because from the moment you walk outside, you’ve got a fucking chip on your shoulder for petty bullshit. From the moment you wake up, you’re making shitty comments about other people for little nothing issues.
When I go outside to people watch, I love checking out the way they dress, the way they style their hair, or they way they try to fit a certain look to fit in with their cliques. I’m a punk myself, but I LOVE goth styles. I love to see young punks bringing back the mohawk or the studded leather jacket bearing the patches of all their favorite bands. I love it when people sing in public, even if they’re off key. Sometimes, it even inspires me to sing in public too.
What I’m saying is, despite being a life-long victim of bullying, of physical and sexual abuse and of neglect, I still love to go outside and explore my world. I still want to make connections to other people, and I want to learn about them. I want to know what makes them tick, and I want to know what gets them excited or happy. I want to learn about y’all.
Which is not to say I’m always a chipper chica. Sometimes, I’m downright scary because of my mood swings. But when I have those, I tend to pull away from other people, to spare them from my sudden outbursts.
When I get up in the morning, I’m cranky because I usually came out of a nightmare. I slurp my coffee, stroke my puppy, and go on Twitter to start sharing and socializing. And for every joke or comment that amuses me, there’s another snipe or insult for people you don’t know, don’t give a fuck about, and who you shouldn’t be judging simply because they have different tastes than you.
And that’s why I lose my shit so often. It isn’t that your choice of music annoys me. I probably like some of the same bands as you. I get pissed because you wish fans of Bieber would die in a fire. I get pissed because you sneer at fans of Dan Brown as mental retards. I get pissed because you have nothing but disdain for vegans, or for Atheists, or if you are Atheist, for people who have any form of spiritual faith. In short, I’m sick of people being so fucking petty to one another and acting like everyone else is trying to ruin your day by existing.
Meat eaters, people being vegan won’t ruin the taste of meat for you any more than gay marriage harms a straight couple’s marriage. Music snobs, Bieber having fans is because they like his music, and your hatred of them or him isn’t valid. Book readers, I know some YA tropes bother you, but if you really don’t like them, alternately don’t read any YA, or commit to write a better YA story that fits your tastes. (That’s what I do, you know, write the kinds of books I wish I could read.) Fans of movies or TV shows, stop spitting on other fandoms for not liking your favorite things. And y’all gamer fanboys attacking each other over Nintendo VS Sony, VS Microsoft…for the love of fuck, people! They’re all just gaming platforms, not important life decisions. If you hate someone else for liking or not liking Nintendo, you fucking need therapy, not validation of your bullshit opinions. Get off the comments sections of the gaming blog and get on the phone to seek professional help.
Y’all may be entitled to an opinion, but you are NOT entitled to attack other people for not agreeing with your particular tastes. And yet, every fucking day, that’s exactly what some of you do. You knock that chip off your own shoulder for the littlest, most petty bullshit. And after watching hundreds of you taking offense over nothing, I just want to send all of you to group therapy for being incapable of feeling or learning empathy.
The thing that drives me nuts about this is, many of you people have been attacked for your choices of hobbies. People who read horror get asked if they worship Satan, or if they want to rape and kill people. People who read romance get told they’re shallow and stupid and incapable of appreciating real love. (A bullshit charge coming from people who sneer at public displays of affection.) Adults who watch My Little Pony get attacked for being immature, and possibly mentally retarded. Yet none of this abuse teaches you a damn thing about empathy, so you’ll turn around and heap shit on someone else just as quickly, and for the same petty reasons.
You all act like you have life SO HARD, and everyone else is trying to fuck with you. You’re victims of persecution complexes, and you don’t have a clue what real persecution is like. Nobody breaks your bones for being a fan of this book genre or that. No gang jumps you and beats you to a bloody pulp for your choice of band… Okay, wait, that’s a partial lie. Some punks, emos, and goths HAVE been beaten to a pulp because their manner of dress identifies their musical preference, and they have been hospitalized for it. But my point is, the vast majority of you carry a chip on your shoulder not for any attacks you’ve suffered. You carry it because “those damn idiots” don’t think the same way you do.
I ain’t like you. I grew up living under your petty judgmental feet. I’ve had gangs jump me just for the way I talk, or walk, or because I skipped instead of running. I’ve had bones broken, and all the time when I was a kid, I was told that this would all change when I became an adult. But nothing has changed. All the people I watch online are still childish and petty. Some of you are violent and bullying to anyone who dares question your sociopathic bullshit. But just because you can find a thousand other assholes who also agree with your opinion of Bieber or his fans, it doesn’t make you right. You’re still an asshole, and you still fucking need therapy.
And because I know someone is asking, “What about you?” I sought therapy. The last time I tried, I was told by the counselor that I was not a threat to myself or to others, and therefore, they could not help me. I don’t think that makes me sane. It just means the state doesn’t consider me evil enough to warrant concern. But the same cannot be said for some of y’all, who daily wish death or harm on strangers. You do it not because other people slighted you, or because they represent a threat to your safety. You just do it because it’s easier to make a list of people to hate than it is to love people and accept their diversity.
I don’t get angry at you for the things you like. I get angry at you for hating other people on petty grounds. Most of you would argue that you’re sane, so why am I, the bonkers chick who talks out loud to the voices in her head, the one with more empathy than you? Why am I in love with the human race despite them almost killing me multiple times, and you sane sheltered people from good homes are almost incapable of loving anyone outside your immediate family? Why, in short, is your humanity so lacking, when you have relatively little hardships to deal with in life? And why if you have been attacked by others for petty shit can you not use that as a lesson toward learning empathy?
So what’s the difference between us? I still give a fuck and want people to learn to love and feel empathy. You don’t give a fuck, only feel empathy in limited doses for people in your clique, and wish harm on other people over nothing. And I wish you’d get help, because some days, you make me want to cry and drink myself to death.
