Greg's Blurty

Rant Du Jour
Spoiler Alert: This one contains a sneak preview of my next Top Ten Favorite Writers' List update. Why does it reference an update that hasn't been written yet? I would love to tell you but you can't handle the truth, because it would scare the pants off you, so do yourself a favor and just write it off to being an ordinary, average, everyday time slip and if that is even too scary for you, let's just say it was swamp gas.

So, if you would rather wait and just be surprised when the time stream catches up to you or the swamp gas goes down and the update is written and published, stop reading right now.

You're feeling pretty brave tonight, huh? OK, keep reading then but be careful because I might also reveal that the chick in The Crying Game is really a guy.

You've been warned. Proceed at your own peril.

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The next to latest addition to my Top Ten Favorite Local Writers' List has done it again. In a couple of short sentences, or maybe it was just one sentence, I don't remember now...anyway, John Marx has summed up most of what's wrong with this country. In his column today, which was just a collection of separate thoughts and observations, he said---I don't remember the exact quote and I can't find it on the Argus web site---and that leads me to ask, WHO IS RUNNING THAT WEB SITE???? AND WHY DO THEY KEEP DOING THINGS LIKE THIS TO ME???---but the gist of it is this: Do people who speed through school zones ever stop and think about the little kids who might forget that there are cars going through there?

And the reason that it sums up most of what's wrong with this country is that we are all running around like idiots shouting about things like drunk driving and seat belts when this (Speeding and just generally driving like a moron) is the real problem and it gets ignored. The feeling is that if you hit a kid (Or anyone else for that matter because even adults have a right to not get hit by cars, in and out of school zones) because you had to be somewhere two minutes sooner, it's a tragedy but if you were sober at the time, it's really OK.

But the thing is that it's not OK at all. It's not even a little bit OK. And we can pass all the laws we want and lock up all the people we want and play all the insipid PSA's from washed up rock stars we want but none of that matters and if we really cared about safety, we would slow down and stop driving like maniacs.

And stop trying to make people like me feel bad for going 20 (Or less) in school zones. And if all that doesn't do it for you, imagine one of those kids you're speeding past darting out in front of you (Kids are unpredictable like that) and then seeing his or her lifeless body laying in front of your car and ask yourself, "Was it worth the extra two minutes I was saving by speeding?"

If you really care about safety, shut up about things like seat belts and drunk driving and just drive safely. And if you have to keep driving like a maniac, fine, that's between you and the cops (The one or two that aren't busy writing seat belt tickets)...and the ghost of anyone that you happen to kill..., but I do have one small request, if it's not too much trouble: Please shut up and stop treating people who obey the speed limits like idiots who are preventing you from getting to whatever vitally important thing you have to do a minute sooner because you are the only person on this planet who matters. Admit that you are a murderer waiting to happen. Maybe you'll even get lucky and go your entire life without killing someone.

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: Coast To Coast AM----Tuesday June 17th, 2008