Rant-y

I like to think that I'm not the type of person who flies off the handle or goes off on a rant. In spite of what I like to think, yesterday I posted the following Facebook status, and I've been thinking about it and the reasons for writing it. I thought I'd share with you today the actual status and try to add some more background and/or more meaningless detail. Possibly some clarity, but I doubt it. Because that's what we do here at "Maturity is a disappointment."

Irene Casarez Palma, yesterday, at 8:35 AM

"Somebody told me once, a long time ago in high school, when I wondered why so-and-so didn't seem to like me very much, that some people thought I was a little snobby. I thought that was pretty funny (band geeks can't really afford to be snobs), so I denied it then.

But...

Maybe I am [no italics in FB but added today so you can see how I heard this in my mind] a snob. I have high expectations.

Why am I thinking about this now? Because the people who spew their stupid opinions all over my office are driving me nuts. Read the paper! Read a BOOK! Educate yourself! Listen to some music! Question things, even your own long-held opinions! Drink a real cup of coffee! We do not know everything.

You. Do not. Know. Everything."

- By saying "we do not know everything," I wanted it to be clear that I include myself in this group of know-nothings. Remember that, because I think it's some pretty good insight into my personality.

I can't remember who the person who I thought didn't like me was. Nor who the "someone" I was talking to about it was. Dude, that was a long time ago! I think it was my friend Rachel, who never spared the truth or my feelings when discussing stuff like this with me. She would be fully comfortable informing me that some people might have mistaken my shyness for snobbery! And, I think that's a pretty standard mistake that people in high school make. The funny thing is, I'm sure I did the same thing, only the people I tended to think were snobby were the kids with more social credit than I ever had.

I really do think it's great that people want to share their opinions. I mean, I work in an open office (we have cubicles but you can literally hear the girl on the opposite side of the office blowing her nose), and the fact that everyone talks to each other could be construed as proof that we are a friendly place. On the other hand, some people are just loud.

Later, in a comment I made in response to something my friend Steve wrote in response to my status (follow that?), I said, "...just because some people are loud and gregarious, that doesn't make them more interesting or worth listening to. Package bullshit in a pretty package and you end up with Sarah Palin."

(One of the things happening that day was, this woman kept asking me to help her with her incredibly basic computer problems. Instead of letting me help her, she kept saying, "But it's not supposed to be that way." Look, I don't work for IT or for Microsoft. I'm not God. I can't make things work the way you think they should work; I lack the necessary computer science knowledge to change things to your specifications. I figured this shit out the same way you could figure it out: by doing it and not whining about it. Do your work and stop trying to manipulate things beyond your comprehension. After awhile, I just stopped helping her. I admitted defeat. I pretended not to know how to solve her problems. At first I felt bad about it: I really try to be helpful. And she even commented on it my lack of answers, which made me even less inclined to help her. At one point I actually said, "Nope, I don't know. I guess today I just suck." This person is the loudest person in my office. The squeaky wheel does not always get the worm.

Wait, what?) 

There are a couple of themes intertwined here, and I'm not a good enough critical thinker and/or writer to untangle them. Basically, I am frequently annoyed by the idiotic statements flying around my office. It wasn't just yesterday... there are many, many, many, many times when this type of thing occurs.

I just wish people (myself included) would think before they speak a little more. I wish that people with strong opinions would recognize that it is not necessary to steamroll the whole room.

And the bit about drinking a real cup of coffee? Okay, fine, that part I cop to. I am totally a coffee snob now. It crept up on me, yeah, and I know I have a lot to learn about it (and I look forward to drinking more coffee!), but you can keep your Keurig K-Cups and your non-dairy, vanilla flavored creamer. What's that stuff even made of? I'd rather drink motor oil. Anything that can be used as a cheap alternative to gasoline on low-budget film sets (for explosions) isn't something I'd like to ingest on a regular basis. Check that out on Wikipedia.