The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

While it's human nature to be more emotionally impacted by a tragedy when it affects an individual personally, I find it progressively more commonplace, and frankly progressively more disturbing, to see large quantities of people not exhibit a shred of empathy, nor sympathy when said horrific occurrence occurs outisde their orbit. If and when I ever inquire how the aforementioned tragedy impacted them, I'm typically met with a shrug of the shoulders and the same sentiment - "It will never happen to me." Yes, I'm more or less referring to the MAGA cult, or, I'll be nice and call it a movement (yes, in line with bowel movements, but I digress). Hard-line members of this...movement firmly believe, no matter what happens to people like Renee Good or Alex Pretti, there's zero chance of a similar fate meeting them. You'll hear them defend the ICE agents, who committed the murders of Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good, as just doing their job; following the rule of law;...

I’ve long been an opponent of the two-party system in this country. The U.S. population is roughly 330 million people, and every 4 years, we’re given two options on who we want to lead our nation. Sure, there are third party possibilities, such as an Independent candidate, a Libertarian, a Green Party nominee, and someone who goes by the name Deez Nutz, but if we’re being honest, there are only two plausible winners: the Republican and the Democrat. A presidential election in this country is actually an example of the false dilemma fallacy, for we’re presented with just two options, when in fact there are more. It’s almost like, every 4 years, we’re forced to choose between cover bands of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, when in fact there are millions of people who don’t even like the genre of rock music, let alone those two specific bands – yet they’re told to vote for one of them as a civic duty.   In addition to this, we often like to brand ourselves as a democracy. For th...

I can't tell you how many times a day I spot a person all over the road, and when I pull up beside them at a traffic stop, I see they're on their cell phones. No matter the hour, it appears as though half of this nation's drivers are drunk, and the chances are high they haven't consumed a drop of alcohol. Studies have actually showcased that drivers' delayed reaction times are similar when on their cell phones as they are when intoxicated. This may be why an increasing number of states are passing laws banning the use of cell phones while driving. As drunk driving is illegal, it wouldn't make much for a similar distraction to be legal. Millions of people around the world would give just about anything to have a vehicle or even just have the opportunity to drive. Such a privilege shouldn't be taken for granted. Not only are we putting our own lives in danger when we focus on our cell phones while driving, we're putting other people's lives in danger...

In light of many far right-wing gun enthusiasts defending gun rights by saying that knives, scissors, ping-pong balls, credit cards, spoons, forks, hammers, baseball bats, and video games are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than guns, I thought I'd have a little fun with their silly comparisons. Situation: Bank robbery with a pair of scissors Jeremiah Cutter: ::enters a bank with a mask on and is holding a pair of scissors:: "Everyone, put 'em up! This is a bank robbery! Everyone, give me their money! All of it!" Lois Wrinkles: "What is that in your hand? I can't see very well anymore." Bruno Waldorf: "It's a pair of scissors! The guy is trying to hold us up with a freaking pair of scissors! On the count of three, everyone charge after him and knock him out cold! Got it?" Cutter: "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Waldorf: "Oh? Why not?" Cutter: "You don't know where these scissors h...

I can't say I understand love, relationships, marriage, etc. I've never been in love. I've been single for a very long time. I've never been married. So, whatever one wants to do with their lives in the world of "love," so be it. Whatever makes them happy, as the saying goes. However, as I haven't a firm grasp on the concept of love, neither do I understand some people's decisions when they claim to be in love. Over the past 6-12 months, I've heard of three such stories which have perplexed me to no end: 1) A woman who was beaten by her boyfriend (multiple times) kept running back to him before she finally realized it was best for she and her daughter (yes, a child was involved) to go elsewhere. 2) A woman whom was raped by her husband (they have two children) kept pondering on if she should go back to him or not. She went back and forth on it for a while, until she decided to leave him. 3) A woman (with two kids) was witness to her boyfrie...

"The Nice Guy Curse" Lacking the mystery, Lacking the adventure, Lacking the risk, Lacking the danger, No challenge is present, No project on which to work, Rarely any drama to be had, It must be too good to be true, To take care of you when sick, Bring you flowers on a rainy day, Have dinner ready by the time you get home, Write you poems to express what I want to say, To clean the house with no qualms, Run errands without mention, Make sure the toilet seat's down, Take care of the kids, pets, laundry and dishes, Open and honest, Loyal to the core, Someone to hold and comfort you, To love you ever more, But I lack the mystery, Lack the adventure, Lack the risk, Lack the danger, A best friend, A counselor, A comedian, But not a lover, Someone who makes you happy, Who makes you smile, Who makes you laugh, But not enough to be mine, I sit here and wonder, Why this never works, Why must I alter who I am? Because of the nice guy cu...