Observations, Unconnected

It's that time of year.  Prom Season.  What do you associate with Prom?  Romance? Expense? Dancing?  How about sex and guns?  From the look of social media (and even one politician's campaign ad) it's become the norm to meet your daughter's Prom date with a gun.  Far too many people seem to see this as acceptable.  I've even seen this nonsense applied to everyday dating.

Mind you, I'm not talking about the jokers.  Let's get that out of the way.  We all fear our children being hurt and most of us joke about what scares us.  But the joke is lost on a certain demographic.  Some of us still believe a virgin daughter is still a valuable commodity and not a person.  Some of us never teach our daughters about these things and then wonder why they aren't safe.  Some of us even think sex on Prom Night is some kind of obligation.

I would say "And they vote" but they probably don't. They do, obviously, breed.

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If you were born before 1967, you're a senior?  I'm pretty sure 50 qualifies as middle-aged.  Or did the definition of that change, too, like "entitlement" and "white"?  An entitlement is something you're entitled to, that you've earned, or at least it used to be.  I can remember a time when the only white people were those with ancestry in the parts of Europe that didn't touch the Mediterranean.  Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks were a category in and of themselves.  There used to be a distinction between biological sex and "gender".

I understand, and have even argued in defense of, the evolution of language and Common Usage.  Maybe I'm just showing my age (apparently I'm a senior) but those things are supposed to happen slowly.  Day-to-day conversations between people speaking the same language shouldn't require a translator.

Mind you, I really don't care how you label me.  White, old, female, whatever.  I shrug at you.  But stop confusing me!

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And my last unconnected observation for the day: Stop assuming the worst about total strangers and mere acquaintances.  If I see one more person fumbling to explain they meant no offense to someone who won't listen...  Jeez.  Seriously.

Let People Enjoy Things

One thing I really hate about social media, and the Internet in general, is the complete lack of respect some have for the interests of others.  I'm all for civil debate, some would say I thrive on it, but why would anyone make it a point to seek out those they disagree with simply to be rude?

News articles online often have a comment area.  Almost any NFL related post is fated to elicit "I'm boycotting" and "Nobody cares".  Articles about TV Shows not only get "Who cares", they get "This show sucks" and "Should be cancelled".  Let's get one thing out of the way - if you take the time to read and comment on articles, you are not boycotting the subject and you obviously do care. 

I can understand to a point if it's on social media - it came up on your wall.  Plenty of things come up on my wall that I don't care about or that mention a show I don't (or no longer) watch.  I feel no need to inform all my friends who still watch Once Upon A Time that I quit watching several years ago, that the show sucks or should be cancelled.  I don't care about the superhero stuff, but it'd be presumptuous to declare that no one else does.  Contrary to popular belief, I even manage to ignore posts I find mildly offensive. 

Another trend that annoys me, a variation of this theme, is the "real" thing.  I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead and I roll my eyes every time someone asks why Maggie hasn't had her baby yet.  But I don't say "A real fan knows that it's only been a couple months according to the show's timeline". Of course not - there are plenty of franchises I fall short of being a "real" fan of.  I know how I'd feel if I got that kind of response in one of their forums.  "Real" men can wear pink.  "Real" women can fix a flat tire.  As for a "real" Christian...  I'm pretty sure none of us is God and therefore qualified to decide that one.

Let people enjoy things differently than you do.  Let people enjoy things you don't.  Let people enjoy life in general.  They aren't hurting you.  They probably aren't hurting anyone. 


 

Project Mc2 doll

I've been eyeballing these dolls for a while now.  They're aimed at getting girls interested in STEM classes (always something I can get behind) and have joints at knees, hips, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck.  However, they have huge noggins and I've heard not of the best quality.

I found one for $7.50.  A standard Barbie (joints at neck, shoulders, and hips only) generally runs 7-10 bucks.  I've never seen a Mc2 doll with painted eyes.  Usually they have "glass" eyes.  Maybe that was the reason for the low price.  She did still have the giant head, but that wasn't a problem, since she was going to be the body donor for a head swap.

Her included science project was a plastic volcano and the classic vinegar-and-baking-soda directions.  Her joints are slightly flimsier than in similar dolls, but she didn't fall apart when I undressed her.  (Yes, I've had knock-offs do that.) 

I compared the skin tone to the gals awaiting a head swap and made the switch.  New head promptly fell off.  Her neck was even skinnier than Barbie's!  I have figure out how to keep that head on, but remember seeing that in a DIY blog.   

Then I noticed it.  She was only 10 inches tall.  Lucky for me, the face mold on the doll I used was "less mature".  She is a bit more developed than Skipper and friends, but so are the High School Musical dolls and Alex, so it worked out well.

Not bad for the mark-down price.  Especially considering the lack of articulated 10 inch dolls.  My other young teens are jealous!

Walk Up, Not Out

Like many well-intended people, I was sharing the "Walk Up" notion all over my social media, but some folks for whom I have respect have pointed out a few problems. 

Some of those against "Walk Up" claim there's no proven connection between school shootings and bullying.  There's no proven connection of ANYTHING and school shootings because there's never been a real study made of it.  However, even the shooters "proven" not to be bullied left behind evidence they felt bullied.  I was badly bullied in junior high and, had my mind already had a violent bent, I could have gone there and done that. The connection, although unproven, is possible. 

There's also the possibility of making a kid feel even more singled out than they already do.  Why are you falling all over yourself to be nice to me when yesterday you ignored my very existence or were overtly hostile to me?  Pity?  Fear? If I am violent, you just made yourself more of a target, and if not - well, you just insulted a harmless classmate.

And then there's the perception that this is a Blame The Victim thing.  Go befriend the guy who, yesterday, you were actively bullying?  WTF?  Why not just say it - the murdered students brought it on themselves.  (Look how they were dressed!)

Last of all, there is a small possibility that such overtures will make a dangerous kid latch onto you.  Another bit of anecdotal evidence:  I latched onto a guy because he was nice to me.  God only knows how bad it would have been a few years earlier, during the the worst of it.  As it was, he finally had to be really mean to me and then we talked it out.  But what would have happened, had I been violent?  When I found out he didn't want to marry me and live happily ever after, would I have killed him?

Here's my version of "Walk Up".  Just be a little bit nicer to everyone. As a former pariah, I can tell you - a smile and nod as you pass in the hallway goes a long way.  One of the kindest things a classmate did for me was to tell me she liked me -- and then ask me not to tell anyone because she didn't want to be bullied, also.   Strange but true. 

Even if the connection to bullying doesn't exist, a touch of kindness that singles out no one can't hurt.   

The minds of the young, part 2

I just had an intelligent discussion of gun control with a child.  He is all for it - use both hands!  Okay, seriously, it was actually about how stupid people think teenagers are.  It started with his mentioning WW2 and how young the soldiers were.

Many memes play on the disconnect between how those men were seen and how men of the same age are seen today.  "Boys" stormed the beaches of Normandy.  Today, apparently, those same "boys" would be eating Tide Pods.  What happened?

My considered opinion, and that's really all this is, is this:  If anyone over the age of five (barring medical issues) is unable to think critically, their adults have failed them.  My minions are and were all over the charts on physical, social, and mental development.  Some of them were brighter at 10 than others at 30.  Some of them choose not to think critically, but that isn't the same thing as not being able.

Obviously, humans with still-developing brains are unable to understand things on a certain level.  I never expected them to.  "Don't stick your hand in the campfire" doesn't require a prolonged explanation of third degree burns.  "Those two men are married" doesn't need to include the Kama Sutra.  But I always have and always will respect the thinking abilities they have.

The young man I was talking to today is 13.  In many societies past, present, and probably future, he is considered a man.  He is expected to make adult choices.  But in modern America, he's still a child and therefore his brain is cottage cheese.  Yet he could discuss issues in elementary school.  Because his adults taught him to think.

There have always been Tide-Pod-Eaters.  Even now, they are not the majority.  As the song says, children are the future.  Teach them now and let them lead the way.

Universal Health Care and Gun Control

At the risk of being one of those people who uses a tragedy to push a political agenda, I'm blogging my thoughts on the subject.  One subject, because the two topics are connected.  Hear me out.

Let me get this out of the way first - if you don't want Universal Health Care because your tax dollars shouldn't support the lazy:  They already are.  The tiny percentage of Welfare people who are truly lazy and the do-nothings in office are already using your tax dollars for their Viagra.  UHC, on the other hand,  would help that couple who are working two jobs each to pay the bills (including student loans), the widow of a soldier who is working her way through college, and the guy with a temporary lapse in employment...  all of whom the Welfare department rule ineligible for benefits.

In the wake of the recent school shooting in Florida, the debate on Gun Control is back in force.  The hard-liners on both sides shout so loudly we shades-of-gray folks get drowned out.  The fact of the matter is simple:  both sides are correct, but only to a point.  Banning AK47s is not going to stop the determined, but it might slow them down.  The Second Amendment does exist, but like most things held sacred, is subject to interpretation.

Here's where I get to the connection.  Lots of Gun Control Advocates like to hold up other countries as a model - Nogunlandia has only had 1 mass shooting in 57 years!  Going by statistics, Nogunlandia likely also has UHC.

Every shooter I've heard of has been mentally ill and not getting proper treatment.  (The anti-prozac folks made sure I heard about that.)

I'm not foolish enough to believe UHC would stop every incident.  There will always be those who won't or can't seek help.  There will be, and probably have been, shooters who are not mentally ill.  However, I believe that proper and timely treatment of mental illness, especially the nascently dangerous, would go a long way toward that goal.

My own experience with mental illness has taught me that the existing system will not help you unless you can pay and/or have commited a crime.  Far too many doctors toss pills at the problem without educating or following up with the patient.  UHC would at least help with the first problem.

It is my considered opinion that Universal Health Care would prevent mass shootings.  No one thing is going to be a cure-all, but it could be a cure-most.

The Fashion Doll Market

Lots of news reports tell us that Mattel is foundering, that their signature doll lines are losing money.  I've been thinking about why that is and what they (and other companies) can or should do about it.  I realize the odds of anyone in power at those companies seeing this are slim.  I just want to get it out there, maybe stir up some conversation about it.

Monster High pushed Barbie off her throne a few years ago.  The first time I saw a Monster High doll, I was intrigued.  The offspring of classic movie monsters as fashion dolls?  And look at the articulation!  The striking hair colors and face paint!  Detailing on the wardrobe!

They lost their appeal for me, though, upon further inspection.  For one thing, I find them way too skinny and their heads are disproportionate.  They look like a lemon balanced on a chopstick.  I've never been a fan of anime eyes on dolls, either.

As I understand it from Monster High fans, the problem with the line is that product quality has fallen.  The Monster High dolls have lost the fantastic detailing.  The face paint is suffering - these formerly dynamic personalities are beginning to suffer from Vapid Face.  Yet Mattel's prices have remained the same, or even gone up.

Barbie doesn't seem to be suffering from a quality assurance problem so much as a customer feedback one.  They introduced different body molds and skin tones and reintroduced the sisters, which gave the line a boost, but then Mattel... sat on their hands.  I've yet to see those new body molds on anything but the Fashionistas and the sisters are stagnating while Mattel pushes 200 dollar dollhouses that can spy on you.

The sisters could be a cash cow. They could bring back the "sharing sisters" sets or even just make the sisters individual fashions.  I've heard that Skipper will be getting some friends, but Stacie has none.  And, oh, the play set potential!  Yet all Mattel gives them is yet another horse or dog.  Those horses really drive the price up, too.

Articulation was and is a big selling point on most doll lines, but your standard Barbie has very little.  The head turns and they move at the hips and shoulders.  Why would a parent pay as much for that as for another doll that can bend the elbow and knee?  Maybe even wrist and ankle?

All of the popular dolls lines are rooted in friendships. Kids are going to buy the "best friend" or "sweetheart" of the doll they already have.  Adult collectors are likely to do the same, for display purposes.  Most of the lines are officially set in a High School.  Teen Drama sells.

The companies need to get back to basics.  Kids want to use their imaginations.  Adult collectors want stunning detail work, and not in a motherboard.  Parents want a good value.  Stop with the amazing technology and just give us, you know, dolls.