OK, I'm usually happily out of touch with most of the dumb fads that come and go every few minutes . . . but dune buggies?
Is it 1974 again?
Look, OP, small towns suck, high school sucks, and the combination of both for a bright person who's 17 or 18 can be unbearable.
Take heart, OP. It's almost over. Your real life is about to begin. Start planning your escape. Start getting ready for college or university and make a committment to use that as a fresh start.
DON'T go to college in your town--make sure that you go AWAY somewhere for school, even if it is just down the road here in Halifax. Go even further away if you can.
The important thing is to get AWAY from your family, (just for a while, while you find out who you really are) and most importantly get AWAY from all the dorks who think that high school hilarity hi-jinks is the be all and end all.
There is a whole big gigantic AMAZING world out there, FULL of truly interesting people. They are not always easy to find, however, so the next 2-4 years will be a bit of a "quest" for you while you meet all different kinds of people and start making decisions about who you do and don't want to spend time with, and what you do and don't want to do with your life.
Good luck, OP, your life awaits. In the meantime, start detaching yourself from the world you are currently in; start rising above it. Try looking at all that small-town ridiculousness as "material" for writing the next chapter of your biography.
Hey zZz . . . We're all pals here . . . sorta . . .
Just take a moment to sit down and calmly think things over. I don't mean to sound patronizing, but please, please, just try to find a way to give your brain a rest from all the reeling, even if only for a short while. Sit quietly, focus on your breathing, and know that everything is going to be OK.
Give the Red Bull a rest too—that just speeds everything up, and what you need to do right now is S-L-O-W down for a few minutes.
IT WILL BE OK.
We've ALL made REALLY, REALLY BIG MISTAKES, OK? EVERYONE. It sucks.
And we've ALL had REALLY, REALLY CRAPPY STUFF DONE TO US. Everyone. It sucks.
No one gets to go through life without these two experiences. No one is exempt.
But WE ALL GET THROUGH IT. IT WILL PASS.
Since you've already brought up the topic twice, would it help if you actually explained what happened?
I think some people here might be more sympathetic than you think, since we all kind of "know" you.
Religion, like any other human behavior, is a fair target for questioning, critique, and outright condemnation if and when merited. Again, because we live in Canada, we are free to say whatever we please about any religious belief or practice.
We are also free to criticize those who hold positions of power and authority, especially when they commit crimes. This is called RULE OF LAW and it is intended to be applied equally to everyone, no exceptions, no excuses.
This right to freedom of speech is guaranteed to me by the Constitution. It is the law of the land that I have the right to think, say, or write whatever I want about any religion, in so far as I do not express threat or hate directly towards any actual person or people.
In the current case of the Catholic church, the institution, certain religious leaders (who are supposed to have been in a position of trust) have for decades been physically, emotionally and sexually abusing children in their care, while their superiors (and, it seems, the Pope himself) have minimized, denied, hidden, protected and in some cases encouraged this criminal behaviour to continue.
No one is hating specifically on ordinary Catholics or Christians per se. But any right-thinking person would want to see anyone guilty of these crimes, or guilty of enabling these crimes, face justice. Only an insane person would think that a priest (or anyone else) should be permitted to ruin the lives of innocent children.
Demanding justice from authority figures is not something people should be caned for, Brenda, it is something people should be COMMENDED for. Many, many people have, for years, been going to HEROIC lengths, often risking their lives, livelihood, families and reputations to bring these terrible crimes to light and they should receive the highest commendation for their efforts.
Perhaps you would prefer to live in Saudi Arabia where you can be spared all this tedious personal expression of legitimate opinion, where people live under the threat of caning, mutilation or death for voicing ANYTHING critical about the ruling class. Is that what you are saying? Sure sounds like it.
I didn't actually see the discussion in question—it was taken down before I had a chance to read it.
But I don't see why that discussion should have been "policed" any differently than any other.
Did anyone post statements that actually abused the forum; did they post anything that could have been perceived as genuinely threatening; did they overstep the bounds of what is normally said/accepted/discussed on here?
If people were simply stating things that they had witnessed or experienced, or were presenting genuine counter-arguments, is this in any way an issue for the courts?
I realize one takes a risk if they speak negatively about an employer, but is such a thing illegal? For example, should a person REALLY be fired if they post on here that their boss is a jerk or has body odour? It is an anonymous forum, so I can't see how anyone could necessarily prove that something was about them.
Also, if I read a post about a person who has BO, what kind of person jumps to the conclusion and thinks "Hey that's me!" and files a libel suit? That would be insane.
I wonder if this whole thing might get thrown out of court. I am not sure anything illegal has taken place that the court should bother with at all.
I think the bloom is off the rose that once was the shining, glorious LTWWB.
None of this would have been possible if we weren't allowed to show up to the party "in disguise." Not so cool now to think I may have to take my mask off in front of everyone.
Well everyone, it looks like today will be my last day on here. It has been a lot of fun. I will miss all our little chats. I'll look for all you on another forum.
Those of you moving West, good luck, bon voyage, happy trails, and please pay a visit to WEM for me.
To everyone else, hopefully we'll run into each other at the ol' SS Food Court—my new job will mean I'll be in there all the time now.
See you at Ray's . . . and Mama Gratti's . . . and that lovely Korean place . . .
Recent Comments
; )
Is it 1974 again?
Look, OP, small towns suck, high school sucks, and the combination of both for a bright person who's 17 or 18 can be unbearable.
Take heart, OP. It's almost over. Your real life is about to begin. Start planning your escape. Start getting ready for college or university and make a committment to use that as a fresh start.
DON'T go to college in your town--make sure that you go AWAY somewhere for school, even if it is just down the road here in Halifax. Go even further away if you can.
The important thing is to get AWAY from your family, (just for a while, while you find out who you really are) and most importantly get AWAY from all the dorks who think that high school hilarity hi-jinks is the be all and end all.
There is a whole big gigantic AMAZING world out there, FULL of truly interesting people. They are not always easy to find, however, so the next 2-4 years will be a bit of a "quest" for you while you meet all different kinds of people and start making decisions about who you do and don't want to spend time with, and what you do and don't want to do with your life.
Good luck, OP, your life awaits. In the meantime, start detaching yourself from the world you are currently in; start rising above it. Try looking at all that small-town ridiculousness as "material" for writing the next chapter of your biography.
Just take a moment to sit down and calmly think things over. I don't mean to sound patronizing, but please, please, just try to find a way to give your brain a rest from all the reeling, even if only for a short while. Sit quietly, focus on your breathing, and know that everything is going to be OK.
Give the Red Bull a rest too—that just speeds everything up, and what you need to do right now is S-L-O-W down for a few minutes.
IT WILL BE OK.
We've ALL made REALLY, REALLY BIG MISTAKES, OK? EVERYONE. It sucks.
And we've ALL had REALLY, REALLY CRAPPY STUFF DONE TO US. Everyone. It sucks.
No one gets to go through life without these two experiences. No one is exempt.
But WE ALL GET THROUGH IT. IT WILL PASS.
Since you've already brought up the topic twice, would it help if you actually explained what happened?
I think some people here might be more sympathetic than you think, since we all kind of "know" you.
Love 'em!
Religion, like any other human behavior, is a fair target for questioning, critique, and outright condemnation if and when merited. Again, because we live in Canada, we are free to say whatever we please about any religious belief or practice.
We are also free to criticize those who hold positions of power and authority, especially when they commit crimes. This is called RULE OF LAW and it is intended to be applied equally to everyone, no exceptions, no excuses.
This right to freedom of speech is guaranteed to me by the Constitution. It is the law of the land that I have the right to think, say, or write whatever I want about any religion, in so far as I do not express threat or hate directly towards any actual person or people.
In the current case of the Catholic church, the institution, certain religious leaders (who are supposed to have been in a position of trust) have for decades been physically, emotionally and sexually abusing children in their care, while their superiors (and, it seems, the Pope himself) have minimized, denied, hidden, protected and in some cases encouraged this criminal behaviour to continue.
No one is hating specifically on ordinary Catholics or Christians per se. But any right-thinking person would want to see anyone guilty of these crimes, or guilty of enabling these crimes, face justice. Only an insane person would think that a priest (or anyone else) should be permitted to ruin the lives of innocent children.
Demanding justice from authority figures is not something people should be caned for, Brenda, it is something people should be COMMENDED for. Many, many people have, for years, been going to HEROIC lengths, often risking their lives, livelihood, families and reputations to bring these terrible crimes to light and they should receive the highest commendation for their efforts.
Perhaps you would prefer to live in Saudi Arabia where you can be spared all this tedious personal expression of legitimate opinion, where people live under the threat of caning, mutilation or death for voicing ANYTHING critical about the ruling class. Is that what you are saying? Sure sounds like it.
But I don't see why that discussion should have been "policed" any differently than any other.
Did anyone post statements that actually abused the forum; did they post anything that could have been perceived as genuinely threatening; did they overstep the bounds of what is normally said/accepted/discussed on here?
If people were simply stating things that they had witnessed or experienced, or were presenting genuine counter-arguments, is this in any way an issue for the courts?
I realize one takes a risk if they speak negatively about an employer, but is such a thing illegal? For example, should a person REALLY be fired if they post on here that their boss is a jerk or has body odour? It is an anonymous forum, so I can't see how anyone could necessarily prove that something was about them.
Also, if I read a post about a person who has BO, what kind of person jumps to the conclusion and thinks "Hey that's me!" and files a libel suit? That would be insane.
I wonder if this whole thing might get thrown out of court. I am not sure anything illegal has taken place that the court should bother with at all.
None of this would have been possible if we weren't allowed to show up to the party "in disguise." Not so cool now to think I may have to take my mask off in front of everyone.
Well everyone, it looks like today will be my last day on here. It has been a lot of fun. I will miss all our little chats. I'll look for all you on another forum.
Those of you moving West, good luck, bon voyage, happy trails, and please pay a visit to WEM for me.
To everyone else, hopefully we'll run into each other at the ol' SS Food Court—my new job will mean I'll be in there all the time now.
See you at Ray's . . . and Mama Gratti's . . . and that lovely Korean place . . .
You'll know miss Ruby when you see her . . .