Leg Room Fiascos

I haven't flown in a while. I actually avoid air travel (and bus travel) and drive wherever it is I'm going. Partly because I despise the security circus as well as the fact that I am over 6 feet and the seats leave someone my height and above with a lot of problems.

If at all possible I will ask for an aisle seat so I can stretch out my legs or volunteer to sit by the door which always has an entire row of legroom available. Yes! I will volunteer to be the emergency door person. Odds are I won't be needed.

The two things that do not mix are entitled mofos and airplanes. Folks feel that since they paid x amount for a seat on a plane they are entitled to fuck up your legs for the entire flight so they can chillax.

The 60-year-old from Paris apparently told the passenger in front of him that her reclined seat was hurting his legs, WCVB reports.

But the woman apparently refused to budge.The disagreement turned into a row, and a flight attendant attempted to intervene. The man allegedly followed the crew member down the aisle and grabbed his arm, according to a federal affidavit.

Let me assume the request did NOT go something like:

Gade bitch, deplase chèz ou moute anvan m 'frape ou Fuck a soti.

You'll want to use Google Translate on that one.

But assuming the convo didn't go like that, why didn't the woman look at this technically elderly man and be a decent person and realize that being 6 foot something on a plane is hard enough as it is and move her seat up? Was it REALLY that serious for this chick to lean back for the flight?

I know, both persons paid for the section with extra space. But from my reading, the guy did so because he has a physique that calls for it. Chick seems to have simply wanted the relative luxury of the extra space. If the airline. I think the attendants should have asked if anyone in the door rows would have been willing to trade places. Or if there was space in a more spacious area of the plane, volunteered to keep a happy customer and moved him there.

But that's what happened when entitled people meet airplanes.

A Second Thought On Robin Williams

It's been bothering me since I heard it so I'm gonna put it out there. Apparently the story is that when Robin's wife went to bed she left him elsewhere. Ok. Not the biggest deal. A lot of couples don't sleep in the same room. But what really bothers me about the situation is that chick did not so much as kiss Robin goodbye. Say goodbye. Attempt to fix the man breakfast or any damn thing. Simply saw him laid out (or sitting there dead, we'll soon find out) and left the house for the day.

That's pretty fucked up.

And really, every report I'm read of late has said that folks could tell that he was going through a rough patch. What was this woman doing? You don't check on the well-being of your depressed husband? Man who had recently done a stint in rehab?

That's pretty fucked up.

Robin Williams was found by his assistant. Not his wife. His pay for help who leaves from somewhere else and who has to be let into the house, but the woman who lives there walked out like there was no thing and didn't even kiss him goodbye.

That's pretty fucked up.

Robin Williams

The recent death of Robin Williams made me think of my favorite Robin Williams movie. While many of the commentaries I've seen on Robin's career have centered on his comedic movies and hits like Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting, for me One Hour Photo was the one that stuck with me. It was the first Robin Williams movie I saw where he was not being funny. His introverted, troubled, in need of love character was the polar opposite of everything I had seen before. Though honestly I didn't really follow Robin like that.

There was something about that sad face Robin could put on his face that was symbolic of deep suffering that stuck with me. I have rarely if ever seen a comedian do such a thing. I didn't know at the time that Robin was dealing with an alcoholism problem and certainly did not expect to hear of a suicide.

The report that it was a suicide made me go right back to One Hour Photo. Maybe what I saw was really the real Robin Williams. It is commonly said that one of the ways that Black folks survived slavery and the like was to develop a sense of humor to laugh through the hard times. It could be that Robin's humor was his own means of dealing with very real deep down issues. Insomnia was another one that struck me for the same reasons as One Hour Photo.

Again, there was Robin Williams playing a murderer. The comic showing a very different side.

You'll probably not hear these movies mentioned when watching or listening to the coverage of Robin Williams, but for me, these are the movies I'll really remember him for.

Media Matters

Twitlight

So I happened upon one of the Twilight movies the other day. I usually turn when it comes on as I'm not the target audience but decided I would give it a go to see why it's so popular. That didn't last long. Apparently there are two groups: Vampires and Wolves. Fine. Then there's this human female. Apparently she's the love interest of both a vampire and a wolf. OK. Female human decides she's going to lay up and get pregnant by the vampire. Ok. Wolf boy decides he's gonna stick around as a “friend”.

WTF?

No seriously. What kind of wussy bullshit is that?

I turn around and this chick is 20 months pregnant with a vampire baby who is apparently sucking the life out of her. She's surrounded by all manner of vampire folks and this lone wolf guy is sulking but present. Why?

Then after the baby literally busts out the mother leaving her dead (and soon to be a vampire) wolf guy not only jumps to her aide but when his fellow wolves come (for reasons I still have not figured out and honestly don't care) he jumps out to defend the vampires.

WTF?

Why is wolf guy still around once his “love interest” decided to take up with the vampire? Does he have any amount of self-respect? He reminds me of that guy who shot up the people in california. Stuck on the wrong female(s). If she doesn't want you then move along. Is the creator of this “saga” telling us that no other women, sorry they are under age so, girls, are interested in him? He doesn't have any other females he is interested in? No seriously. It's one thing if he were still hoping to get with her before she got knocked up. But why. The. Fuck is he still around after the vampire put his little one in her?

Wolf man should have been out. Of course this would ruin the fantasy world that the author and audience, which I suspect is mostly female, that has been constructed where not only do they get the prince but a fall back “dependable” mofo to boot.

Look you young ones out there. There is probably a female out there you're gaga about. Fine. All us straight men have been there at some point. Here's the deal. If she decides that she would rather fuck around with Prince charming (not you) or Jock of the Week (not you) or Big Man On Campus (not you) or anybody else, while fully knowing you are desirous of her, then you put your mind to someone else. You don't need to wish her ill will. Wish her good luck and move, the fuck, on. Do not be the fall back guy. Do not be that mofo she calls up and complains to about her man problems. Not your problem. As soon as that shit starts your response is to be “oh wow. Sorry to hear that but I have homework (or anything else) to do. Good luck with that.” and hang up. Whatever you do, do not be wolf guy. You WILL be sorry.

The Strain

So the new stuff on FX is The Strain. One of the sub plots of this show is that the main CDC doctor is going through a divorce and is, as of this writing, dealing with child custody issues. A few notes on this bullshit.

Firstly, this guy works for the CDC and is responsible for protecting the health of the entire US of A. Not exactly a low responsibility job. Apparently he is divorcing because his piece of shit wife thinks that he doesn't spend enough time at home with her and their son. Yes, this piece of shit wife, doesn't appreciate that she is married to a man with the responsibility for the health of the ENTIRE US of A. Rather than make sure he doesn't have to worry about home and the child they had, she decided to get divorced.

WTF.

Am I the only one who thinks she is a total piece of shit for that move? Oh right he did cheat or is cheating (not entirely sure about how that is going on) but I suppose that entire plot twist is a way to justify wife's piece of shittiness.

Anyway. The wife, ex-wife, whatever, has a new “man”. And when I say “man” I mean that in the “sexually mature male” manner. This man is fucking the piece of shit wife in the house made possible by the ex-husband's salary (made by protecting the entire US of A from disease), and who is still paying the mortgage.

WTF.

After a court hearing in which the son has declared he wants to be with mom so that dad can do his important work with the CDC the piece of shit wife tries to shame her ex husband by declaring how the new man is being a “real father” by spending time with their son.

WTF.

No that boyfriend who has brought nothing but his dick to the table is what we call a “disneyland dad”. He's the fun guy with zero responsibilities. He's not paying the mortgage. He didn't make the downpayment on the house. I haven't even seen that mofo WORK. And if he works he doesn't do shit anywhere near as important as keeping the ENTIRE US of A protected from dangerous diseases.

See, back in the day, fathers used to take their son's to work with them. That was when society was largely agriculture based and some people had small artisan type businesses. You taught your son the trade that you had. If you were a blacksmith you taught your son the trade. Mechanic. Same. Plumber? Same. Taylor, welder, whatever. Son's rather than being under the supervision of women for their entire childhood, became apprentices to their father's trade. Thus a situation where “your father is never home” didn't come up because father and son worked together.

The times this did not apply is if the son did not have an interest in the father's trade or the family wanted a “better life” for their kid and sent them off to school. Today though these things generally do not apply. Unless one owns a small business, the son is not made an apprentice to the father. He cannot go to dad's job and learn the trade. This is the situation with the main CDC character. His “trade” does not allow the presence of a small boy. His son may later become a doctor, but that will be far in the future. Knowing this, the piece of shit wife was SUPPOSED to prepare the son for the work that would be involved to take on the father's trade (if he wanted). Instead she gets Disneyland dad and tries to shame the ex with him.

Stephen Smith

Lastly we have this Stephen Smith issue. Lets be clear on the facts.

The most recent large-scale study of domestic violence was conducted by Harvard researchers and published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study, which surveyed 11,000 men and women, found that, according to both men’s and women’s accounts, 50 percent of the violence in their relationships was reciprocal (involving both parties). In those cases, the women were more likely to have been the first to strike. Moreover, when the violence was one-sided, both women and men said women were the perpetrators about 70 percent of the time.

So with this in mind we see that Stephen Smith said nothing wrong. He said nothig that was not factual. Why was Stephen Smith suspended AND why did he take it? We can't even make factual statements anymore?

Stephen Smith should sue his employer for gender based harassment and discrimination. Why? Because Whoopi Goldberg defended Smith by repeating the same thing Smith said. She was not suspended and Disney owns both ESPN and ABC. If simply stating that women ought not put their hands on men (or anyone else for that matter) is a suspending offense, then Goldberg ought not be seeing her seat on the view for the same amount of time as Smith.

Where are the advocates on that? Where's Media Matters? Where's Move On? They send me mail about all kinds of shit but can't be bothered when a person is attacked by an employer for stating the obvious?