Well, well, well

The end of the semester is always an eventful time for me. This one seems especially so.

I often wonder how many folks actually skim through this puppy. It's a new blog. And I'm a famous person (yeah, right). I had a lot happen today that I am completely unable to discuss. So, I'm just going to generically say a few things about one main issue. This, I believe, is the biggest problem with the way things are going right now. It's the appeal and the use of bullshit.

Bullshit seems to be appearing more and more frequently these days. Some people use it to beef themselves up. Other folks use it to excuse their errors or poor judgment. Frankly, it shouldn't be used at all.

Let's face it. I could take a real diachronic perspective on bullshit. Back in the days where most people were secure in themselves (if those days ever existed), you could differentiate between the average joe and the bullshitter. The bullshitter would be that guy or gal who would always brag about their dates, their expensive flowers and/or dinner reservations, their knowing so-and-so or bumping into "that" one guy, their catching the biggest and baddest fill-in-the-blank without much effort, etc. We all knew who they were. And we either avoided them like the plague, or we went along with what they were saying but simply nudged each other when they weren't looking. Those were the good old days when you could distinguish most bullshit from the real deal.

Nowadays, it's different. So different. Nowadays, anyone and everyone has been forced at one point to bullshit about something. Like the time you had to embellish your resume. Or that other time you had to excuse your rude behavior and explain it away as diabetes. Or that other time where you had to say that your best friend's best friend died, which was why you missed the most important meeting/class/introduction in the entire world. We've all done it. And, we used to be slightly embarassed or ashamed of our actions. But, now we're not. Now, it seems like we take a lot of pride in what we do.

My friends and I actually coined the "bullshit flag." I'm pretty sure many people have also come up with this metaphorical indicator for when bullshit is beyond belief. I've noticied recently that I've had to "raise" this bullshit flag more often than I ever had before. And I can't imagine what these bullshitters are thinking when they speak their bullshit. Do they believe that we believe? Do they think that we don't know the difference between fantasy and reality? What's the deal here?

Well, the deal is this. We've gained a greater tolerance towards bullshitters. We provide them jobs. We feed and clothe them. We even acknowledge and promote them. We do this because we're bullshitters too. We also do this because of the bad economic situation we've been in. I had a former coworker and friend tell me that he frequently bullshits his way through interviews. He lies about getting a bachelors degree. He lies about applying himself at the next job he'll eventually get laid off from. And he lies about where he enjoys shopping, just so he can get his foot in the door.

We shouldn't condone his behavior. Hell, no! But what's a guy or gal to do when there are no jobs available? You don't really have much of a choice. You just have to suck it up and start vomitting the next set of fancy fables. Otherwise, the guy next to you will provide the same, or more, bullshit to beat you out of a job you barely had a chance with in the first place.

And once you start bullshitting at one thing, what stops you from bullshitting at other things? Nothing. And once that gets going, what do you end up teaching your kids? Well, obviously, if it's okay to get a job and keep up in society with bullshit, it can't really be that bad, can it? Of course, not.

We all need to assess what's going on here. We need to figure out what to do to cut down on this overwhelming onslaught of bullshit material. It's the patriotic thing to do, damnit!

Of course, how much of this commentary is bullshit? One lick, two, three. . . Well, the world may never know!


On a slightly more upbeat note, I got a really great deal off of ebay for two pairs of pink flipflop shoes! When the world seems to crumble at my feet, shopping for shoes is what remains.