Sh!t That Annoys Me Wednesday 11-30-2011

Thanksgiving, the aftermath = big heaping pile of annoy.


1. One of the things you do when pregnant is run out and join pregnancy sites to find other people as miserable as you so you can while with others who know what you're going through. Same thing happens when you get engaged. No matter the type of female you are (and I'm a gaming tomboy who likes to wear hockey jerseys) you all of a sudden have a switch that turns on & you become cognizant of the "WE" channel and spend days watching re-runs of Bridezillas and saying how you'll never be like that.  And now you're all saying "Get to the frakking point about what annoys you" here it is: After missing a few days, or a week on one of my pregnancy boards I come back to see a post with hundreds of replies about someone who was banned from the board over something she said that many found offensive (apparently it wasn't her first offense.) I scrolled through the replies, trying not to go comatose and drool on myself and I see a recurring theme: "Jeez, why was she banned, it's just the Internet." YES it is the Internet, and that doesn't give you the right to be a douche, just because it's online. I know I've ranted about this before and to be frank, or Jerry or Bob, sometimes I post things that push the envelope, but I never forget that people have feelings. I try to approach relationships on the Internet the same way I approach them IRL. That is, I try to be polite, I try to have my intentions clear in my writing, and if I don't have anything nice to say, I come on here and anonymously bitch about it.
The point being, just because it's the Internet does not give people a blank check to be rude and offensive for the sake of being rude and offensive and they cannot expect that their posts will have no repercussions. Yes, there are people that are too sensitive on the net (which is probably why they are on the Internet instead of hanging with people IRL) but there are a lot of just normal well adjusted people out there who also get offended and they have every right to do so. It's the attitude of "it's just the Internet" that excuses bullies. It's a poor justification for rudeness. In fact, there really is no justification for rudeness anywhere.  (Oh and by the way, "Internet" is a proper noun that should be capitalized.)

2. I'm quite pissed off that everyone seems to think they can tell me how I should feel about being pregnant. Apparently I should feel some miraculous transformation and be honored that I'm adding to the already overwhelming world population because others have not been so fortunate. Honestly, anyone who has to spend the holidays with my family would wish that they could drink. But me saying that next year I'll be thankful I can drink at Thanksgiving seemed to offend people. Here's the deal: there isn't enough time for me to express how I feel about being pregnant. And it's not always happy happy joy joy. It's hard to get past the fact that I don't have control over my body, that all my life plans have been shifted to accommodate this new development, they physical aspects, which, are, for the most part, for worse not for better. And I'm still at that point where I barely look pregnant, I just look fat (so I feel the need to tell everyone I'm pregnant so they don't think I'm just fat, though before it never seemed to be an issue) and it's still too early for me to feel movement, so unless I'm hearing a heartbeat or seeing an ultrasound, I just feel fat & sick. Oh and then there is the hormone roller coaster, so it's like having PMS all the time. Stop telling me how I should feel. I know how I feel.

3. After eagerly waiting for a year to get my Star Wars The Old Republic beta testing key I was finally blessed with the holy grail email. Yeah, and guess when my testing weekend was? Yep, the weekend after Thanksgiving. Starting at 10 AM CST on Black Friday I would have weekend access to the game I've been drooling over for at least a year. And my family was here. While I didn't want to ignore my family, this was Star Wars. And you don't monkey with the holy trilogy. I was so pissed. this was the most inconvenient weekend to have beta testing in the US. Really? C'mon people. Of course this didn't prevent all of us Jedi junkies to log in and play as much as we could stand it. At least I don't Black Friday shop.

4. Speaking of Black Friday. I am annoyed that I am unemployed at the holidays. I love this time of year. I love the food, the decorations, the food the gift shopping, the food, the music (pretty odd for a Pagan and all, but we're taking it back.) And I love to spoil people with gifts. This year I have no money and unless I sell a kidney. This brings me to a really odd situation. In order to get a present for my husband, I have to ask for money from my husband to buy him a gift. How did people do this in the 50s?  Maybe I can sell the dog...