This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.7
PTR
10.2.6
Beta
QOTD Thread #332- Do you think that people should keep cats outdoors?
Return to board index
Post by
Rankkor
So, to jump back to the Super Bowl; apparently one of the Ram commercials offended an Atheist....and I was lucky enough to get to take his call. I am really tempted to post what happened today on notalwaysright.
What's ram? (I'm assuming you're not speaking about RAM memory :P)
While I saw the conversation when you posted it on the offtopic thread, I didn't quite got the joke.
Post by
MyTie
The Superbowl... if only I had words to describe my disappointment. Not my disappointment in a game, but my disappointment in humanity, for dumping hundreds of millions of dollars, countless man-hours, and idolization, into something so trivial and quickly forgotten, while people are hungry and dying around the world. If the entire Superbowl, and NFL season, had been scrapped, and instead one hungry person had been fed, it would have been a gain. How many children find their "heroes" in these narcissistic athletes, instead of true heroes, ones that have given their lives, or risked their lives toward a more secure future. Or perhaps those unsung intellects who have found scientific breakthroughs that have fed entire communities, or cured diseases. No. Instead who paint our faces and scream out the name of some dude who can run a football fast.
No. I didn't watch it. I was at Church.
Post by
Nathanyal
Dodge Ram, it's a truck. Their commercial wasn't overly religious.
Post by
Adamsm
Commercial in question.
Post by
Noxychu
Oh god what did I start?
Post by
Interest
Commercial in question.
Farmers. ^&*! yeah.
Post by
Rankkor
Oh god what did I start?
World War III Coaster Edition.
Post by
asakawa
@MyTie, I don't think that position holds up. It's very laudable for sure, like making people pause and think of those less fortunate at Christmas, but it's a jaded and bitter view of good people if you really believe it.
From your posts here I know that not
every
cent of your income, after the most basic survival of you and yours, goes to others - I've seen you post about meals you've enjoyed and so on. Clearly you're not extravagant and wasteful, I'm not making any judgement about your convictions, I'm simply saying that everybody puts a bit of what they earn into enjoying something; into recreation; into time, laughing and smiling, with their family and friends. Something like a national sport has a LOT of people putting a little of what they earn into it. This has an effect on the thing in question so perhaps it has ballooned into something you can't enjoy or respect but that doesn't mean that it's an evil thing in its entirety even if aspects of it have become superficial and wasteful.
It seems to me, as an outsider with very little knowledge of American Football, that scorn for the people enjoying it (disappointment in humanity? really?) is misplaced while scorn for the institution might have a real point behind it that is missed and muddied by the scattershot disdain for the whole of humanity.
Just my thoughts on something we don't have here, so maybe I'm misunderstanding due to unfamiliarity.(##RESPBREAK##)16##DELIM##asakawa##DELIM##
Post by
612548
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
gamerunknown
I'm not adverse to using coasters, but I rent a room in a house. The room has no table. There's a communal eating area that I've only ever seen one of my flatmates use, everyone else eats in their own room, including me (I'm asocial at best as it stands). I buy 2L bottles of water and drink them on my bed. Don't mind room temperature drinks - I suppose in countries with a hotter climate I'd prefer them to be chilled though.
Oh and do share the story Adams :>
Post by
ElhonnaDS
#281- Do you think people feel more entitled than they used to?
I can't speak for every culture, but in the US at least there seems to be this movement towards society as a whole feeling that they are "owed" more and more from other people. There are cascades of facebook and twitter posts from kids who "hate" their parents because they didn't buy them a car or an i-pad. People with self-imposed or highly unusual dietary requirements go to private establishments and make huge scenes because they don't have enough vegetarian options at a steak house, or enough gluten free items a a bakery. Parents scream at school officials until they no longer declare a winner at sports events because it could hurt the kids self-esteem. Some people look at every movie that doesn't have a character with a similar background to them, every book that didn't take time out to address their pet political issue when they had a chance or every situation where they can find some sliver of a reason to complain they were excluded or were insulted, so that they can be indignant about it.
Do you think it was always this way, or have things changed? What do you think led to this? How much do you think other people need to cater to you in their everyday lives?(##RESPBREAK##)8##DELIM##ElhonnaDS##DELIM##
Post by
lonewolfe31705
I think kids today act a helluva lot more entitled that they used to. I think the family model changing from adults having kids to kids having kids changed this the most. My sister had children young...she gives them everything they want because we never got anything special unless it was Christmas or our birthday. (Hell, I had to pay fully for my first beater car.)
I don't expect anyone to cater to me, as I was raised to be self reliant. I work 2 jobs, take classes to better myself, pay all my bills, and bust my ass to save up for anything special that I want. That being said, I also know the value of my money. I don't go out and blow $400 on a gaming system because I know that is a weeks worth of work for me at my main job, and that money could be better used elsewhere...(bills, rent, groceries, savings, etc.)
Post by
Interest
To be honest, yes, though I think there's a large reason related to things that have been happening in the last generation's worth of years that probably contributed.
Post by
gnomerdon
i feel people are just people.
Post by
asakawa
I'm with Facesmasher (Never though I'd say that)
People make a lot of that idea that things are getting worse and it's not like the good ol' days. I'm sure that in some cases there's truth to it but largely it seems to me to be reminiscence, mixed with noticing the bad while ignoring the good.
I'm not much a a maker of "scenes" so I don't support any of the sorts of behaviour Elhonna mentions (indignation etc.) but should someone expect a restaurant to cater to their requirements? Sure. They're paying to eat there so they can decide to pay someone else to give them the food they want/need. Should someone expect a book to support their political opinion? Expectations of
all
books is a bit of a weird idea but there's a lot of books and they can choose to read the ones they like and reject those that don't appeal.
There's nothing new about spoiled kids and nothing new about overbearing parents. If this sort of thing is something you care about then vote with your money and with your votes (even on a school board level) or raise the issue yourself when it's not being talked about.
Rolling one's eyes and opining "people these days don't know how good they've got it" seems curmudgeonly and ineffectual.
Post by
Rankkor
Hmm, not really. At least none of the stuff you mention happens in Venezuela (or at least not that I'm aware of). Maybe the better off people are, the more they feel the need to complain about trivial stuff? I mean its harder to complain about something as dumb as "my kid didn't won at sports, so none of the other kids should win either, so mine can feel a little better" when you are starving to death, or you live under the iron grip of an oppressive government, or you simply have to deal with plagues, civil war, ect.
So depending on the social and cultural conditions of where you live, this could be true. The more the situation improves, the more we complain about stuff that isn't really worth all the fuss about. This is specially for the newer generations that didn't had to endure the harsher conditions their progenitors had back when the situation was a lot darker.
I'm with Facesmasher (Never though I'd say that)
That has been happening a lot o_O maybe we should all be afraid. Very Afraid.
People make a lot of that idea that things are getting worse and it's not like the good ol' days. I'm sure that in some cases there's truth to it but largely it seems to me to be reminiscence, mixed with noticing the bad while ignoring the good.
This is also a probable cause. Red colored glasses make any objective observations harder to formulate. I've seen this alot on the gamer population that seems to believe videogames of yore used to be far better than the "crap" we're offered to day. "Ohh shooters in the past didn't guided your hand" "I remember when puzzle games had no guides and truly asked you to use your brain" "Roleplaying games used to require you to formulate complex backstories for days" ect.
I'm not much a a maker of "scenes" so I don't support any of the sorts of behavior Elhonna
I'd frown heavily at anyone who would, as those are laughable complaints when a lot of people are going through so much worse atm.
Rolling one's eyes and opining "people these days don't know how good they've got it" seems curmudgeonly and ineffectual
What's curmudgeonly? I agree its ineffective. "complaining about complainers" so to speak. It doesn't make it any less true. A lot of people (Specially those in first world "privileged" countries) REALLY don't know how good they have it. They've never tasted true despair, and I'm not talking about poverty, cuz that's present everywhere, I'm talking about real despair, famines, diseases, violation of human rights, war, civil or otherwise, (and I mean ACTUAL war, your government bombing countries the other side of the pacific isn't going to show you the real madness of war) or any of the many horrible conditions that plague humanity in less-than-privileged nations.
So since they have nothing better to complain about, they complain about trivial stuff. Such as people glorifying athletes, as demonstrated by Mytie (this isn't a personal attack against you Mytie, for the record I don't approve of athlete glorification and idolization either, I just see it as a small thing to make a fuss about IMO) or schools issuing medals to kids that aren't yours, or restaurants that don't have the particular thing you're after.
Disclaimer: this isn't a tirade against folks in the US, because truthfully, the US has gone through dark times as well. I'm pretty sure people who grew up during the depression had to endure a lot of crap, whereas their direct descendants, who never really saw the horrors of the depression, grew up with a larger sense of entitlement.
Post by
ElhonnaDS
@Asa- I agree that a restaurant should cater to you with what they have in stock, but there are certain types of restaurants that have themes that revolve around certain ingredients and themes. If a restaurant's entire schtick is that they are a rib and steak place, and that's what they advertise as, then I imagine that very few vegans go there. Should someone go to a restaurant that they know is not designed for the types of food they want to eat and demand they change, or should people go to restaurants that serve the food they want? It is probably better for business for a restaurant to have something on the menu that people who are on a diet or who are vegetarian can eat, but if they don't sell enough salads or tofu to justify keeping it on the menu (because if you offer it you have to have it, and when it doesn't sell the ingredients go bad and have to be tossed) why do people think they have a right to expect them to lose money so that they can eat there? If you want to order a salad that you know has never touched any animal product ever, you probably shouldn't order it in a restaurant with animal heads on the walls.(##RESPBREAK##)8##DELIM##ElhonnaDS##DELIM##
Post by
asakawa
But we spend a massive amount of our effort, as a society, to try and protect future generations from having to experience those sorts of hardships.
Is the issue Elhonna brings up a symptom of a modicum of success in that area? Perhaps but I disagree that it's is a sizeable issue.
I think it's something we each see very rarely in our lives but a lot of TV (Can you believe that "Real housewives of Orange County" is actually broadcast on terrestrial TV here in the UK?) and this skews our view of society as a whole. I wonder if TV skews a lot of how we see our own society by showing us a very narrow slice of it and making us believe it's indicative of something broader...? (Though, maybe this is my own dislike of most TV programming creating a bias)
@El, sorry to be dismissive but "meh". It's up to that individual and the restaurant to work out. My wife is allergic to "alliums" (onions, garlic, leeks etc.). If we want to eat out then we make very sure beforehand that she can be catered for. If a place can't cater for her then they lose our custom and whether that is worth taking into account for them to be profitable is up to them. As I say, turning up to a place and making a scene when one isn't catered for isn't a position I can respect.(##RESPBREAK##)16##DELIM##asakawa##DELIM##
Post by
MyTie
It's difficult to imagine that a teenager of today doesn't expect more than a teenager from 200 years ago. Back then, kids were expected, and really had to work. They simply had to pitch in to make ends meet in families. If you were a teen then, you could expect to work manual labor jobs all day long. Teens today have smart phones. It's an entirely different world. I combat it with my own teenage daughter. All her friends have cell phones. All her friends go to the movies. All her friends go 4 wheeling at the dunes. I work very hard to ensure she understands that just because others have these things, that doesn't mean she gets them. I demonstrate that I don't get what I want, often because I don't have the money. I explain the realities of life, and try to teach her to take the responsible path, instead of the "i want" path.
There was this news article I read about this ad in Florida, about Florida being good for business, and in the ad the "i" in Florida is a necktie. It's business themed. This feminist group was up in arms. Apparently it undid all that they had worked for. I just couldn't imagine people being that entitled to NOT be offended 200 years ago. Stuff like that. All the time. Constantly. People are always looking for ways that they have been wronged, or shorted, or owed something.
Post by
asakawa
As I say though, we work towards a society where kids don't have to work from a young age. We want kids to be able to stay in full time education for as long as possible rather than remaining uneducated and working hard on family farms (etc.) from a young age.
I agree that expectations of luxuries is the responsibility of parents to counter and some are better than others but we should resist the urge to think of the past as "good" and the present as "bad" or even "worse". It's very different and requires a different approach to a lot of things. We just need to adjust.
Regarding the Florida thing, I wouldn't defend that particular case which, to me, is a bit flippant but 200 years ago women wouldn't be voting so while there are (rare) examples of people arguably getting overly sensitive about something, we are in a better place now.
Post Reply
This topic is locked. You cannot post a reply.