14.10.11

Ranty McRantalot

Sometimes it does a body good to have a good rant about everything & nothing in particular, so brace yourselves, there is going to be some ranting going down.

I made a choice a few weeks ago to be happy. I really did. I said “You know what? None of the little things I let bother me really matter. I have a good life & a great family. I should bloody well enjoy it!”

And I have been. Does it show?

Because of that, I have been wondering about the validity of one of my favourite hobbies (whinging). If I’m being all sweetness & light, where do all the good old whinging sessions fit in? In the face of the suffering of so many people around the world, what right do I have to grump on about what can only be described as the epitome of “first world problems”? None, that’s what, but you know, having a good whinge/whine/rant/wail is not about what is right. It’s not about world peace, or charity or even common sense, it’s about yelling as loud as you can, letting it all go & throwing a bit of a tanty in such a ridiculous manner that you can’t help but feel better afterwards, & if what’s bothering you IS the suffering of others then you’ll be better placed mentally to get on your white horse & help out after a bit of a ranty release.

Even the happiest people in the world get irked sometimes (I totally just made that up. The truth *may* be, that I still get irked, even when I am making valiant happiness attempts. Other people may just smile through it).

In no particular order, here are, to put it eloquently “Some things that shit me”;

People that chew with their mouths open. I hate you. You are rude & noisy & when I hear you smacking & slurping & crunching away I want to grab the remainder of whatever hillbilly road-kill snack it is you’re chowing on & shove it so far down your throat you won’t have to worry about chewing anymore, mouth agape or not.

Speeding drivers. I know I annoy you because I drive at the speed limit. Where do I think I am? The genteel city streets of some fairy-tale land? Don’t I realise that if the speed limit says 100 kilometres per hour, it isn’t, as I wrongly assumed, that 100 is the maximum speed I should drive at, but a rough guide & a low one at that? I apologise for impeding your life or death mercy dash to Big W & I also apologise for silently (or not so silently) hoping to see you pulled over a couple of K’s down the road by a police officer who is having a particularly bad day.

Second-hand dealers. I’m on to you. EVERYONE is on to you, which is why I am particularly perturbed by your “Oh, all of these are for me!” attitude when stacking 17 vintage coats of varying sizes onto the op-shop counter. I understand that it’s what you do for a living but that doesn’t mean I have to like you breezing into my oppies & snapping up all the gold to sell at an exorbitant price. You make finding “the good stuff” even harder & take the fun out of it, so excuse me if I give you the stink eye when I see you have just snatched up that piece of white vintage luggage I was mulling over. And and AND, DO NOT TRY TO GET A DISCOUNT! It is a charity shop you Bourke!

Supermarket price wars & the “Current affairs” programs that promote them. The winner is not the consumer as you opine but YOU, the multi-million dollar corporation. Someone must be losing when you dramatically cut the price of everyday staples, & it just wouldn’t make good business sense if that loser, long-term, was you. I am not at all looking forward to that day in the future when there is not only no choice when it comes to where we buy our groceries, but no locally produced products to buy either, since it costs too much to support our local growers & cheap imports fly merrily off the shelves, regardless of the cost to our country, community & economy. And to those television shows with the “winning formula” of two diet stories, three worker’s compensations stories, six supermarket price enquiry stories, four miracle bra stories & three ‘How to save thousands on electricity’ stories per week; I hate you less than I hate the fact that I am forced to sit through your drivel, even if I’m doing something else, because SOMEONE in my house thinks it is required viewing.

I think that will do for now, until I get a bee in my bonnet about something else… so… don’t worry…

Be Happy.

(Linking up with FFS Friday, which I didn’t even know was “a thing” until 3 minutes ago when I saw a link on The Twitter & had already posted this… coincidence? Well… yes, actually…)

Dear Baby G

20 comments:

  1. current affairs programs make me sick to my stomach. 100% agree with you there, and I despise the fact that people have been dumbed down enough to believe all the shit that they spiel... But I have to confess that I am a slurper. So I hope that I am never sitting next to you when I am enjoying a cup of tea somewhere...

    ReplyDelete
  2. hahaha "You Bourke". I haven't heard that one before, but I get it and it cracks me up.
    Rants are good sometimes Vic.
    Stay happy.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think having a good rant/whine/winge/yell whatever is good for you its a release and gets all that negativity your feeling (even when trying to be happy) out and leaves more room for you to feel good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh amen to that! Current affairs and supermaket stories. I'm starting to think they are disguised imfomercials. I also notice this "op shop greed". Not nice when you see your local oppies suffering a greedy clear out and then overhear them asking for future things to be put aside for their retro shop. Not a happy op shopper. Stepping off soap box now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am with you on all counts!

    I am sickened to read about the second hand people buying from op shops - oh my gosh...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm with you but get annoyed at people who get annoyed at people who slurp lol. Not keen on the open mouthed chewing though.
    I do buy vintage bits and pieces to resell or re-purpose/craft and sell. Or with the intention to do so. Some things are just too hard to part with so I don't think I will ever be in the big time. But yes, it does irk me, particularly when s premium vintage store sets up right by an op shop. You can't help but think how much was that last week when you picked it up next door? Still, I bet they aren't getting overly rich by doing it. Some people think they are above entering Op-shops but vintage and antique stores are ok. And as such, they deserve to pay more.. the trick is to stay ahead of the dealers game. do you ever think about what the next highly desirable items will be?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I totally agree, there's nothing like a good cleansing rant, vent purge. No one is happy all the time and if they are it's not healthy.
    xo
    PS phew i was beginning to get worried ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. OMG don't get me started.....TOO late!
    Agree & empathise with everything you've 'whinged' about and if it's not one of my children doing it I'll walk away, keep driving, swear under my breathe, thank god I don't have to look at that face every morning BUT the way Op Shops are heading is getting personal.....can feel a Post coming on!

    ReplyDelete
  9. FFS Friday? Hahaha, I hadn't heard of that. Where is the link?

    Lucky for me, no-one in this house watches those hysterical "current affair" type shows.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Haha I love that you can't be all sweetness and light too. Hilarious!! Thanks for linking up to FFS Friday. There has to be one day a week where we can 'validate our love of whinging' :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I would like to rant about the fact that I posted two replies to this rant this morning that have gone MISSING. Curses :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. Also heard of WTF Friday today too :)

    Farmers are the big losers in the price wars. Ironic that they are the bottom of the food chain when they produce the food.

    ReplyDelete
  13. They DID disappear Becky! WTF Friday indeed! *cue spooky music*

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have been known to rant about all of the above :) I am going on a four hour drive to the city this arvo and expect to rant quite a bit about other drivers.... how do people get their licence??

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love a good rant, I think everyone does. I posted my rage about a twee craft magazine we get here, and it got more comments than anything else I've written in months! I agree with all your flashpoints - I find it especially annoying when dealers come into charity shops with a jewellers loupe and think they can get one over on the old dears. I love the sound of FFS Friday - thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My MIL talks with her mouth open and it KILLS ME! I can't even look at her. And all I can do is tell you about it (and make sure my children don't do it!). But now I feel a little bit better.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Psmling! (and the GOM laughed too, even though he was munching loudly in my ear as he did)...

    Something occurred to me reading about the price wars. My household lives on very little and so we are guilty of buying the cheapest in the shop regardless of where it is produce because that is all we can afford. It occurred to me that the Government would support this because then they can keep pensions lower. If prices went up, then they would be forced to increase pensions so those of us well below the poverty line could afford to feed ourselves and our children as well as pay rent and bills.

    Yes, the conspiracy is all around.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your road kill corpse muncher isn't the only offender - i've heard a vegan slurp down a banana so noisily it tore me from my sleep and into a mood so filthy only caffeine and adrenaline could fix it. Said more about me than them though.

    I just wanted to add, you have my sincere sympathy re passive tabloid tv consumption. Surely that's grounds for divorce. But what can you do other than turn up the radio/ipod/children and try to drown out the sensationalist drivel. And tune into Media Watch to hopefully see it dissected.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Happiness is something money cant buy. It can be given by your love ones.

    ReplyDelete

Let's have a chat. And a biscuit. And some tea. And another biscuit.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin