I was prompted to compose this, out of two things that came up from todays posts.
Stigma, and tradition.
MikeUpNorth asked the question, "What's the big deal with drinking"
sammy777, new, asked, "What of the social stigma, because of not drinking?"
Well, I have yet another one of my famous attitudes on this.
Imagine, walking into a room, and there is 25 people there. Some you know, others you don't. All of them have a hammer on a long chain, hooked to a belt on their waist.
Every so often, one takes the hammer, and hits themselves in the forehead with it. Now some folks have fancy hammers, others have big ugly hammers. Some have ball peen hammers, and some have claw hammers. But they all have their hammers.
You see a nice looking lady, with her dainty tack hammer, giggle just a bit, and she picks up her hammer, in a most refined way, and SMACK!. Bonks herself right in the forehead. More giggling.
You see a big burly fellow, with a 5 pound mini-sledge. He is pontificating about his rough and tough ways, and then he takes his sledge, and BONK! Right in the forehead.
Then you see a young girl and boy. They both are maybe 21, and they have matched hammers, plated with brass. At the same time, WHACK! (like an old episode of Batman TV show, huh?), and they smile at each other through young loving eyes.
You ask, "Why on earth are you all hitting yourselves in the head with these hammers?"
The reply, is that this is a "social" occasion, and it is the thing TO DO. For thousands of years, humans have been bonking themselves in the head with a hammer, because it is a "social" bonding event. Uh,...yea,....right.
One who does not bonk themselves in the head, could rightly be considered uncouth, boorish, or perhaps even ill-mannered. What a load of crap.
It's the tradition they say. Someone yells out, "TOAST!TOAST!", and the room walls echo with sound of dozens of skulls being pummeled with metal implements. It makes perfect sense, and after all, it's the sign of good manners and a sense of human comraderie. What a load of pure horse manure.
So, I ask myself, what is so different than the synchronized ingestion ofa known toxic nerve poison? Perhaps the hammer blows would be less harmful in the long run.
So, I say, step outside of the so-called "box". What is the big deal with these long standing traditions, and social bonding activities? It's a primitive behavior pattern, in my eyes, based on something from a long time ago. This is the 21st century, and there has just got to be a better way. Look here! The internet! Forums! This is a new and better way perhaps.
Ethanol=Social lubrication? Another myth of cosmic proportion. Repressive mechanisms exist in the human psyche for a reason. It's the way we are designed. It's our society that is dysfunctional. You could have an insane society, comprised entirely of sane individuals. OK, enough of that, I could go on for pages, but you get the point.
So, I choose to not smack myself in the forehead with a hammer for purely social appearance and bonding reasons. Maybe I would, just to scramble my brains, but so many things are just nonsense.
Rant over, and off of soapbox.
Be well.
Neil
Stigma, and tradition.
MikeUpNorth asked the question, "What's the big deal with drinking"
sammy777, new, asked, "What of the social stigma, because of not drinking?"
Well, I have yet another one of my famous attitudes on this.
Imagine, walking into a room, and there is 25 people there. Some you know, others you don't. All of them have a hammer on a long chain, hooked to a belt on their waist.
Every so often, one takes the hammer, and hits themselves in the forehead with it. Now some folks have fancy hammers, others have big ugly hammers. Some have ball peen hammers, and some have claw hammers. But they all have their hammers.
You see a nice looking lady, with her dainty tack hammer, giggle just a bit, and she picks up her hammer, in a most refined way, and SMACK!. Bonks herself right in the forehead. More giggling.
You see a big burly fellow, with a 5 pound mini-sledge. He is pontificating about his rough and tough ways, and then he takes his sledge, and BONK! Right in the forehead.
Then you see a young girl and boy. They both are maybe 21, and they have matched hammers, plated with brass. At the same time, WHACK! (like an old episode of Batman TV show, huh?), and they smile at each other through young loving eyes.
You ask, "Why on earth are you all hitting yourselves in the head with these hammers?"
The reply, is that this is a "social" occasion, and it is the thing TO DO. For thousands of years, humans have been bonking themselves in the head with a hammer, because it is a "social" bonding event. Uh,...yea,....right.
One who does not bonk themselves in the head, could rightly be considered uncouth, boorish, or perhaps even ill-mannered. What a load of crap.
It's the tradition they say. Someone yells out, "TOAST!TOAST!", and the room walls echo with sound of dozens of skulls being pummeled with metal implements. It makes perfect sense, and after all, it's the sign of good manners and a sense of human comraderie. What a load of pure horse manure.
So, I ask myself, what is so different than the synchronized ingestion ofa known toxic nerve poison? Perhaps the hammer blows would be less harmful in the long run.
So, I say, step outside of the so-called "box". What is the big deal with these long standing traditions, and social bonding activities? It's a primitive behavior pattern, in my eyes, based on something from a long time ago. This is the 21st century, and there has just got to be a better way. Look here! The internet! Forums! This is a new and better way perhaps.
Ethanol=Social lubrication? Another myth of cosmic proportion. Repressive mechanisms exist in the human psyche for a reason. It's the way we are designed. It's our society that is dysfunctional. You could have an insane society, comprised entirely of sane individuals. OK, enough of that, I could go on for pages, but you get the point.
So, I choose to not smack myself in the forehead with a hammer for purely social appearance and bonding reasons. Maybe I would, just to scramble my brains, but so many things are just nonsense.
Rant over, and off of soapbox.
Be well.
Neil
puts things in perspective
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