Last night, I had the opportunity to help out an angel. Being Halloween weekend, most of the students on the college campus were a) drunk and b) dressed up and going out to various costume parties. I was on the elevator in my dorm room, preparing to go to work, when it stops at the second floor. I'm preparing to get indignant with the person who feels the need to use the elevator from the second floor (which should not be done unless the person uses a wheelchair or is on crutches), when the door opens up to an angel.
Now, it's about 40 F outside, made even more miserable with the rain. This girl is wearing white fishnet stockings and a garter belt, and what I can only describe as a corset with a mini-skirt attached to it. She's pretty well endowed in the chestal-area, which is very noticeable since she's popping out the top of her "dress". She even has wings and a halo, both of which are very skewed. And did I mention she's obviously inebriated? She can barely stand up, which probably wasn't helped by the fact that she was wearing high heels. So when she got on the elevator, I didn't give her a hard time like I normally do--I mean really, if I was wearing shoes like that there is no way I would make it down the stairs without falling on my ass.
This angel was so drunk, it took her three tries to find her way out the elevator. I asked her wear she was going, and she told me that she was meeting her friends at outside one of the freshman dorms so they could got out to a party. I figured that if this girl had trouble with elevator doors, there was absolutely no way she was going to make it the two blocks down the street to meet her friends. Those stairs can be tricky. So I walked her down the street to the other dorm. Turns out her friends were standing outside panicking because they couldn't find her. So I returned the angel to her friends and went on to work, feeling just a little better about myself.
It took a little while for the irony of the whole situation to hit me. Now I just think it was kinda funny.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Messages in Chalk
I've decided that I hate election season. I hate the useless campaign ads that bash candidates without actually saying one word about the views of the other party. I hate the lame gimmicks--the blowpops and candy bars with VOTE BLAH BLAH BLAH on them, the concerts aimed at college students. And I really hate the people who go around writing stupid things on sidewalks in hopes that it's actually going to change someone's mind about what they're going to vote on Election Day.
That's what has me more than anything right now. I'm walking back home from the library and I find the ground under my feet littered with chalk messages about all the reasons to vote democrat this election season. They read things like "It's Iraq stupid" and "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention". There's nothing about how the Democrats are going to make things better if they get elected to office. Their slurs all basically amount to the same message--Vote Democrat because it's not Republican. If that's the best they can come up with, we're totally screwed.
In a two-party system, the political parties can't deviate too far from the middle line, where the majority of voters reside. That doesn't mean that there aren't some controversial issues in the two parties platforms. Favorites this year seem to include gay rights and the abortion issue. So why can't the GW College Democrats write more messages like that on the sidewalks? You really think your chalking is going to make any difference to the people who don't know what they're going to vote come election day? You really think that by reminding people that there is a war in Iraq they're going to think to themselves, "Oh yeah. Man I forgot about that Iraq thing. I wonder how that's going to influence my vote?" Fuck no they aren't. They're going to think "Oh yeah. War in Iraq. I'm glad I'm voting for so and so." The majority of people who stop to read these dumb little messages aren't going to get anything out of them anyway.
I've been a self-proclaimed liberal since I was old enough to understand the difference between liberal and conservative . Contrary to what most people think, this DOES NOT make me a Democrat. In fact, more and more recently I've found myself agreeing with a more conservative view of international affairs--even some domestic issues. This DOES NOT make me a conservative. But the best part is, it doesn't really matter. I can think what ever I want about whatever I want. I can vote any way I please (which I just did by mail a few days ago) and I don't have to pretend to be influenced by the stupid signs people write on the sidewalks reminding people that the Democrats exist. It would really be more effective on a college campus to just write signs reminding people to vote, because I think that voter turnout is by far the larger problem to whether or not you reminded someone that the war in Iraq exists. Believe me, no one has forgotten.
That's what has me more than anything right now. I'm walking back home from the library and I find the ground under my feet littered with chalk messages about all the reasons to vote democrat this election season. They read things like "It's Iraq stupid" and "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention". There's nothing about how the Democrats are going to make things better if they get elected to office. Their slurs all basically amount to the same message--Vote Democrat because it's not Republican. If that's the best they can come up with, we're totally screwed.
In a two-party system, the political parties can't deviate too far from the middle line, where the majority of voters reside. That doesn't mean that there aren't some controversial issues in the two parties platforms. Favorites this year seem to include gay rights and the abortion issue. So why can't the GW College Democrats write more messages like that on the sidewalks? You really think your chalking is going to make any difference to the people who don't know what they're going to vote come election day? You really think that by reminding people that there is a war in Iraq they're going to think to themselves, "Oh yeah. Man I forgot about that Iraq thing. I wonder how that's going to influence my vote?" Fuck no they aren't. They're going to think "Oh yeah. War in Iraq. I'm glad I'm voting for so and so." The majority of people who stop to read these dumb little messages aren't going to get anything out of them anyway.
I've been a self-proclaimed liberal since I was old enough to understand the difference between liberal and conservative . Contrary to what most people think, this DOES NOT make me a Democrat. In fact, more and more recently I've found myself agreeing with a more conservative view of international affairs--even some domestic issues. This DOES NOT make me a conservative. But the best part is, it doesn't really matter. I can think what ever I want about whatever I want. I can vote any way I please (which I just did by mail a few days ago) and I don't have to pretend to be influenced by the stupid signs people write on the sidewalks reminding people that the Democrats exist. It would really be more effective on a college campus to just write signs reminding people to vote, because I think that voter turnout is by far the larger problem to whether or not you reminded someone that the war in Iraq exists. Believe me, no one has forgotten.
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