Holiday Rant

(I'm in a ranting kind of mood... and feel like airing my holiday season grievances. Unfortunately, the best forum at the moment is here. Oh well... better to blog than to throw a frozen turkey across the room, right?)

Here they are in nice list form:

1. Shopping... especially in malls or discount places like Wal-Mart. I mean, a person was actually trampled trying to get into Wal-Mart on Black Friday. No thanks. I'll employ the internet and pre-Thanksgiving shopping hours as much as possible to minimize the chance of death/injury by stampede or shopping cart.

2. Bad food. I'm not talking about "bad-for-you food" like cookies, candy, and other tasty Christmas cuisine with way too much fat and sugar. I'm talking about bad food - food that is not well-prepared, is made with poor ingredients, or is leftover from Thanksgiving and served after being frozen for a month. Yuck. Even more than Thanksgiving, I feel like Christmas dinner should be a special meal that took many heart-felt hours to prepare. If a host is unwilling to put forth this effort, or allow others to do it in their stead, then go to a Chinese Restaurant (I can never in good conscience recommend Denny's and Chinese restaurants are typically open on Christmas day.) Better yet, order dinner from the Honey-Baked Ham store... or even Boston Market. If you don't care, be honest and embrace it. Don't make your family members suffer.

3. Drivers. In a way, I mean traffic, but would like to assign the horrendous traffic blame to the responsible parties - drivers who are in a rush to get to the mall, grocery store, work, present wrapping kiosk, Grandma's house, pictures with Santa, whatever. I know everyone is in a rush which causes courtesy to go out the window. However, it shouldn't. That isn't in the spirit of the holidays. And it's dangerous to you and your kin.

4. Making assumptions about other people's schedules. Generally, assume that people are busy. This isn't a bad thing, but don't get upset if someone can't re-arrange their schedule to go to a party or family gathering. Try to be understanding and see if you can maybe get together after the holidays when things calm down a bit.

5. Inappropriately addressed Christmas cards. This is more personal than general, but certainly irks me. I decided to keep my maiden name when I got married - not because I don't love my husband or don't plan to stay married for the rest of my life. I kept my last name because I really love it and it means a lot to me, so I did not feel like I could just get rid of it to take on a name with no significance to me personally. This is not that uncommon these days. Back to the point, some people don't know that I didn't change my name. That's fine, I don't mind having things addressed to "Mrs. ******" when they genuinely don't know any better. However, I do not go by Mrs. Afterall, I am only 25 and am my own person, not simply the "other half" of my husband and certainly not his property. One day if I have children, I will go by Mrs. Not until then. So, why is this a problem with Christmas cards? Because certain people insist on addressing me as Mrs. And not just "Mrs. *****," but actually as "Mrs. [My husband's first and last name.]" ARGH!!!!!!!! This is not 1956. I am an ardent feminist. Certainly family members know this and choose to ignore it which is more maddening than I can even begin to express.

6. Family drama. I could write a lengthy book about this. But, really people... spending time with your loved-ones is one of the fundamental precepts of the Christmas celebration. Don't use the holidays as an excuse to advance a family feud. Or to make a family member feel guilty for not seeing you more often. Or to cause a new rift because aunt so-and-so's ugly Christmas sweater offends you. If you have a problem with someone, by all means have a Festivus party the week before Christmas to air all your grievances and MOVE ON. Or, if you don't feel like having it out with the family that annoys you so, be considerate enough to keep it to yourself and not make passive-aggressive stabs at others because it makes all parties present either angry or at the least incredibly uncomfortable.

Alright, there's my rant. I'm doing my very best to make this Christmas an enjoyable one. If it's not, at least I can honestly say that I tried my best.

What A Rant

I've been working up a rant (big surprise) about the election, American political thought (among the masses, not academics. There's an alarming gap between the two on both sides of the spectrum and they deserve different treatments), and what the hell happened to the conservatives in America? I happen to have a slightly different definition of conservatism than many who call themselves conservatives, but the discussion of that definition is for another day... or at least its own post.

However, my fellow contributor came across P.J. O'Rourke's rant that is featured in The Weekly Standard. After reading this rant, I feel speechless because I honestly am not sure if I'm capable of writing anything that is as angry and dripping with sarcasm as this article. For the most part, I think he's accurate, even if crude. I'm sure over the next 4 years that my frustration will rise to a point that many political/societal rants will be expressed in this blog, yet for this moment O'Rourke's is enough for me. And, I'm sure countless more people listen to him than will even listen to me, so I'll save it for now.

Part of the political idealism I continue to suppress in myself daily rises when I strategize on how to help reform the American political make-up that surely will occur in the coming decade. Then, reality strikes, and I remember that this is no superficial problem. If people's fundamental views of what government is, what its reasonable abilities are, and what they can reasonably expect to receive from a proper constitutional government do not change, then there is no point. And, frankly, I'm much more willing to spend my time improving my career and socking away money so that if the worst case scenario is ushered in with the help of the Dems in 2009, at least I won't have to worry about where my rent is coming from.

I just wish that they [our illustrious government representatives] didn't have so much power at their disposal to enact policies to promote "change." Maybe at the end of the day this is why I am a conservative - I certainly want a kind of change that is positive. For example, I would be incredibly happy if the Dow ceases fluctuating as much in a day as in the past is has in a year. I like change that is stabilizing. But, I don't want it to come from government initiatives that are likely to do more harm than good because the Dems have just been handed their Thanksgiving feast 3 weeks early. Cornucopias never run out, right? This abundance of power may not run out for at least 4 years either, but who knows what will lie in its wake. And, as much as I want to be optimistic, it's hard when I know that these representatives may genuinely care about "fixing America's problems," but do not fundamentally understand the role of American constitutional government or a free market economy. Or, even better, if they do understand them, they reject them. And, that is a philosophical view I will not ever accept.

If I'm ambitious enough, I will post a series of entries on FDR and his policies including the New Deal. These will illustrate my disdain for the impending political actions being discussed by the transition team, including executive orders being ushered out on Obama's inauguration day, and the historical basis that shapes my views. It may not be riveting stuff, but has profoundly affected my views and think it might do the same for others especially in light of the current economic and political shifts that have occurred in America this year.