Daily Prompt – Object Lesson

Sherlock Holmes had his pipe. Dorothy had her red shoes. Batman had his Batmobile. If we asked your friends what object they most immediately associate with you, what would they answer?

HI-TOPS!!

Daily Post – Intense!

Describe the last time you were surprised by the intensity of a feeling you had about something, or were surprised at how strongly you reacted to something you thought wouldn’t be a big deal.

Over the past 2-3 years, I’ve really noticed a change in myself towards supporting causes; signing petitions; watching more documentaries about the environment, or bullying, or endagered species’, and I find that I get a bit too emotionally involved / attached… but I’m not necessarily sure why.

Maybe, it’s because whenever I watch a video, I get so involved and invested in what I’m watching. I could watch a clip on YouTube about an oil spill in the ocean, and the disaster it’s created, and how it’s killing all this marine wildlife. Then I’ll be off looking at various websites, signing online petitions to get the spill cleaned up, or to make the people who are responsible, take responsibility, or I’m donating to a wildlife protection organisation.

-OR-

Maybe, I’m growing and maturing and actually giving a second though to something that I wouldn’t necessarily know (or possibly even care) about. Perhaps I’m becoming more socially responsible?

I’m always supporting various charities on a whim, or because I feel good after doing something positive to help somebody / something else. I’ll donate money for fundraisers at work. I’ll buy something useless like a pen or a wristband or a badge at the supermarket checkout for whatever charity is being promoted that month. I do my part…

…but don’t for one second think that I enjoy being stopped by those people on the street with their lanyards and their clipboards during peak-hour when I’m trying to catch my train / tram, or cross the road. UGH. So annoying. You know the ones, the great big smile on their face, who simply don’t take NO for an answer. Even if I’m wearing my headphones and looking at my phone, they still continue to completely ignore the fact that I’m not really interested nor can I actually hear what they’re saying. I’m not disregarding that what they’re doing isn’t of benefit – I just don’t want to be harrassed about it.

Those skinny, bubbly bitches from the Starlight Foundation. Just stop talking. I don’t care if your name is Stacee (with two ‘E”s). You clearly don’t seem capable of reading body language, nor do you seem to care that I’m rushing to work because I’m late. So when I’m polite enough to say “thankyou, but I’m not interested” that’s your cue to shut up and let me go. Insinuating that I mustn’t want to help kids with cancer because I don’t want to give you my credit card details is quite insulting and a GREAT representation of the incredible organisation that you work for.

To those bastards from UNICEF in your polo’s standing in your group of 5 at the pedestrian crossing waiting like hawks for your next group of prey, I mean, donors, fuck you. You’re just as bad as those Starlight bitches. What part of NO don’t you understand. I don’t want to hear about buying a well, or giving some community a couple of goats, or child sponsorship. Yes, they’re all incredibly important global issues, but I have a social conscience. I may not sponsor a child, but last year for christmas, instead of giving a couple of co-workers some useless crap they don’t need, I bought a few things from Oxfam instead. Just because I didn’t do it through UNICEF doesn’t mean shit. It’s still helping people in need. Stop bothering me.

 

*exhales* now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I think the last thing that I felt really affected by, was the issue of same-sex marriage. It’s an issue that has become so popular, and become so important, it’s really gotten quite a bright spotlight in the media. I remember watching the movie Milk, by myself, propped up in bed and crying. 

sooo. much. crying!!

I think it was at that point I realised how important gay rights really meant. Not necessarily to me, but to countless others who constantly fight for equality, and keep being treated like second-class citizens. Yes, there have been advances in legislation in some countries, but we want equality. Equality should be a basic human right, and yet there’s so many politicians and religious organisations saying that we’re not equal, and denying us a basic human right either because they don’t believe it (or their political party don’t believe in it), or they believe that some religious being tells them it’s immoral.

That whole Religion vs. homosexuality is a can of worms I need to save for another post…

But the other huge issue for me is also bullying. Have you seen the doco bully? I’ve got it, but I haven’t watched it yet. I’ve seen the trailer and just that brought me to tears. As somebody who was bullied all through school, I know what it feels like to be a victim of bullying. I know how hard it is to have to endure that kind of bullshit every. single. day. Driving you to the point where you don’t want to go to school anymore. Leading you to thoughts of self harm. Causing nightmares of seeking various types of revenge to those that bully you. Thoughts and visions that can damage and haunt you.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but name will never hurt me.

Bullshit.

 

 

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