...Why People Sue For The Most Retarded Reasons And Come Up With The Most Absurd Arguments.

We sue people so that we can receive a, usually monetary, compensation for the defamation, libel or what not, which in some way have affected us and what we care about. A person may sue a doctor for neglecting their sick child or an angry husband sues his wife for divorce. Your parents sue your teacher after you tell them that you have been kept in the naughty corner for no reason for nearly three days now and communication directors sue the newspaper for defaming their corresponding political figures. Along with the money, we also gain a sense of pride and social superiority - same as the satisfaction you get when you win an argument about whether a zebra is black with white stripes or white with black stripes.

But, like with most things in life, suing costs money. Depending on the scale of the case, it could range from a few thousands of dollars to numbers much larger than that. It takes time to prepare an argument, it takes time to find and understand evidence and it takes time to make the argument. And sadly, those who are capable of doing all these things charge at an hourly rate. Suing is sort of like gambling - you put your money in the slot and hope to win a lot more back. If you lose, well then you've just chucked a couple of grand down the drain. Most people who sue have a particular motive or know that they are going to have a high chance of winning. I wouldn't risk my money in suing if I thought I'd lose. That's just daft. But it has been brought to my attention that some people sue for the most retarded things.

I heard that this man once sued McDonald's, KFC and Burger King for his obesity. I decided to Google it in order to fill this blog post with some facts. To my surprise, (although I kind of expected it to happen), many other articles on people suing fast food restaurants came up. They claimed that these fast food restaurants were to blame for their weight. But honestly, who are you kidding? No one has forced you to eat McDonald's, KFC or Burger King, nor have they ever been deemed as "healthy" and "nutritious". You made your own choices for your diet and your eating habits. It's like saying "I have bad teeth so I'm going to go sue the chocolate company". I mean, if you're going to do something like this, at least have a logical argument. Amidst these articles I found one about this Brazilian guy who sued McDonald's, and won (even though he isn't that fat). His argument was that because he was a franchisee manager, he was entitled to free lunches from McDonalds. And because of how busy he was and how appealing it all is, he ate a lot of Big Macs and ended up being "fat". His argument makes sense. Bravo.

And while reading Wikipedia about the Lion King (as you do), I saw that there was also a case of hyena scientists suing the people who made the movie for defaming hyenas. Apparently, they were portrayed as evil and vicious when they are not like that at all. It's a cartoon for goodness sake. There's got to be a bad guy in any sort of movie or TV series. Why don't you also sue all the other movies that portray the bad guys as a certain race or type? The evil person in that movie is a woman - it must mean that this movie is defaming woman, let's go sue them! - that's basically the same concept. Would it be just as justified to sue all cartoons for teaching children that animals can speak human languages?

And why Lion King? I'd say Pokemon (no offence) has taught children more "wrong" things in the past. Let's just begin with the elements. Ever since Pokemon, every time I think of a certain common element, such as electric, my brain would tell me WATER: Super Effective! and GRASS: Not Very Effective! But if you really think about it, who would win? A lightning bolt or the shrub it hits? Even if it was a big gigantic tree, it'd set on fire and die. Furthermore, Pokemon has taught us that no matter how evil you are and how much electrocution you endure, you'd just end up being sent into the sky and be still alive after falling like metres and metres down to the ground. I'm not saying that Pokemon was a bad influence or anything (if everything was 100% factual and correct, children wouldn't be able to watch any cartoons) but people suing directors and producers for things like that are just absurd.

Indeed there are certain movies where racism has been identified and people have managed to sue and win, but at least their arguments and reasons made sense. Otherwise you're just wasting time and money. I'm sorry scientists who study hyenas, you'll just have to get over yourselves.

...Why It Seems That Society Approaches Issues The Wrong Way

Murder. Rape. Robbery. Theft. Assassination. We hear or read at least one of these words on the news every day. They happen all around the world and they are things that should ideally be stopped. No one likes to be murdered or assassinated, raped, robbed or stolen from. And we try our best to prevent these things from happening. Notice I used the word "prevent" rather than "stop". To me, there's a fine difference:

"Stop" (institutional protection) would imply that we take action and put a halt to the schemes plotted by all the potential murderers, robbers etc. It is the active solution. We enforce laws about firearms and weaponry. We get them to talk to professionals and we keep an eye on them. We educate them and we may even keep them confined. We tell them that they can start fresh, and whether they choose to follow that path is up to them.

"Prevent' (private protection) is simply the passive action. The actions we do in order to stop it happening to us. We own large dogs to guard the house, we lock our doors, we don't go walking down a creepy alley at 3am in the morning. We protect ourselves from imminent danger and we do what we can to keep safe in case something does happen.

There is nothing wrong with taking precautions but it just seems to me that society is focussing more on preventing these issues from happening rather than actually stopping it, focussing on what the victims can do, rather than what the criminal can't do. In New Zealand, I swear a robber has more rights than the person who he or she is robbing. We can't hit them unless they attack us first or something ridiculous like that. When we got robbed, the police told us that the solution is installing an alarm and getting insurance. Like honestly? It makes it seem like it's our fault that these people broke into our house through a locked window and took our stuff.

And it's not just the authorities, it's people in general too. You know, when you're a girl and you try to go out in a mini-skirt at 11pm on a Friday night, your Dad tells you to change because you look like a whore and that you shouldn't wear something that attracts so much attention. If that is the case, why don't we also tell our children before they go out not to rob, to stab or to rape? How is it fair that the potential victims have to do everything to protect themselves when it isn't their fault to begin with? We don't have signs on our head that say "steal from me please" or "attack away". Like I said, no one likes to be murdered or assassinated, raped, robbed or stolen from. Precautions are certainly important, but I just wish that the attention and focus of these problems would shift a little.

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The overall purpose of the blog is to say that I think that there should be just as much attention on "institutional prevention" as there is on "private protection". I know currently both exist in New Zealand, don't get me wrong. But I just want it to be more equal in terms of focus. That is all.

...W@t H@s H@Pp3n3d 2 Da 3nG L@nGU@g3. ROFLMAO LOL KTHXBAI.

I know. I'm sorry. That must have been extremely painful to read - it was just as painful to type out as well. From a quick glance, I don't even know what it says. Sadly, there are people who type and talk like that. Like seriously. Why can't you just write normally?

The first thing I don't get is why people alternate their capital letters and their lower-case letters, for instance (I apologise in advance this time): Yo bRo wAts Up DIs weEknd? Those random big letters just make it so much harder to read. And what do they actually mean? Are we suppose to read it as if you emphasised on every capital letter? You don't talk like that in real life (oh I'm sorry, I mean "irl") so it is completely unnecessary here.

The second thing is what is with the shortcuts and the missing letters (let's just use that previous example because I really can't be bothered (oh I'm sorry again, I mean "cbb") to put myself through that pain again. I mean, yes, it is very convenient to just miss out letters when you're in a hurry to text or whatever but there's no need for you to take out a letter from each word. Misinterpretation might occur - "I love this track, makes me want to groove" turns into "I lv ths trck mks m wnt 2 grv" (you know, the comma disappears since no one cares about those either), which may potentially turn into "I live thus truck mikes my wont 2 grave" (No, it's not meant to make sense). Confusing? I think so. It's like Chinese Whispers. Except not fun and rather infuriating.

And even if you use 3's, @'s and 1's to substitute for e's, a's and i's respectively, what is the point? You spent just as long trying to type those symbols and numbers than you would have if you just used the normal letter. It doesn't look cool. It looks retarded (refer to title of post).

And finally, what is with all these abbreviations and acronyms? I understand that text language is efficient and some of them are quite straight forward, for example "lol" and "brb" (please, do not say these in person, that's just sad). But what the hell are stuff like NIMBY and NSFW? Who the hell goes around saying "Not In My Backyard!" and "Not Safe For Work"? And do they really need to be abbreviated? Have people become that lazy? If everything was like that, TIHNIWTHPATTD. (If you didn't get that acronym, it stood for Then I Have No Idea What The Hell People Are Thinking These Days. Obviously I didn't need to tell you. It must have been really simple to understand.)

And no, there is no need for you to put "lol" in every sentence - "I just had breakfast lol" and "my dog just died lol". Was having breakfast, or even your dog dying, that funny?

...What Has Happened to Manners and Basic Social Customs

I thought about this actually a while ago, but I never really got around to writing it. Nor did I have enough things to talk about to make it worth while. Until the other day. So, without further delay...

Most of us have grown up in households where it is customary to try and be polite to everyone - your narcissistic mother, your lazy father, your shrill sister, your druggie brother, your strict teachers, your evil neighbours, your questionable family friends etc. You greet them with warmth when you see them and you say goodbye with a smile on your face. You say "please" when you want something and you say "thank you" when you receive it. You hold the door open for someone walking behind you and you say "sorry" when you accidentally slam it in their face. You don't point at people across the street and nor should you look down at the ground when talking to someone. These actions however are not set in stone. You are not forced to follow them. It's just social customs.

But just because there is nothing forcing you to do it doesn't mean you shouldn't. I've grown up all my life knowing that "please", "thank you" and "sorry" are very important words. These words do miraculous things (behold!) - "pass the salt" and "bring me my tea" just makes you sound like a demanding bitch but adding a "please" at the end of either of them makes you sound like a nicer person/demanding bitch. Small things like these make a dramatic difference. Maybe you don't believe in the power of these words yourself, but the rest of us do. It doesn't kill you to say them - after a while they just naturally tag along at the end of sentences. By using these sort of words and following basic social customs, people are more willing to do things for you or perceive you as a nicer person (it's something that reciprocates too). Through them, you show gratitude and sincerity. Those words could be what gets you a job at your favourite clothes store, a new car for your birthday or just a cup of freshly made coffee by your mother. Useful words - use them.

What annoys me the most (that has been recently drawn to my attention by a discussion in a car) is when someone doesn't or refuses to talk to another person when they try to make conversation, especially in person. You may not like this person or you may think that there is no need to talk to him or her because you'll never see them again, but it doesn't give you the right to ignore them. They are still human beings, just like you (hopefully). The fact that they are there and trying to engage in a talk with you means that you should at least have the courtesy to say something back. Who cares if they are bragging about how good their grades are or how their boyfriend or girlfriend is so hot. Who cares if they're your mate's date that you'll probably never see them again. You still need to show some respect, even if you don't actually respect or care about them.  There are a few people that I don't particularly like or know that I won't see them again in the future, but I still make an effort to (or at least try) listen to and talk to them. If you really didn't like them that much, you probably shouldn't be hanging out together in the first place.

No one expects you to learn every well-mannered action like it is some chore or task. Just at least use the common ones that you yourself would like people to use with you.

...Why People, Mainly Teenagers, Are Not Close With Their Parents - They Are, After All, Your Own Parents.

Parents. Well, they can be rather annoying can't they? Most of us have one or two, some of us have three and some even have four or more! They're always telling you to do your homework, forcing you to do some manual chores, embarrassing you around your mates and grounding you for not doing as you're told. They keep preaching to you how lucky you are to live in the 21st century, yelling at you when you let the cat inside the house, hog the phone for hours and hours because the insurance company overcharged your family around $2 in the last monthly bill and smashing pots and pans till you wake up at 8am on a Sunday when you're busy dreaming about a nice holiday in Hawaii. One minute you're checking people out on the beach. The next you're awake and there's a ringing noise in your head.

But parents do other things too. Nice things. Like do your washing if you live at home or bring you some homemade lasagna when you're living on your own. They provide for you, they care for you and they "put their best interests at heart" when they tell you off or guide you. They raised you. They watched you grow up. They drove you to all the sports games or the swim meets. They taught you how to do basic maths (since you only knew how to count with apples and when the teacher started using eggs instead, it just became too confusing). They are your parents. Yours and no one else's (apart from siblings).

So why hide from them? Why shun them from your world? Why limit the amount of communication between yourself and them? If you just keep your distance like you are now, the gap is just going to get bigger and bigger and by the time you move out, things become more and more awkward to fix in the future - the longer it takes, the harder it gets. Parents are essential for our own individual growth. They can show you what you want to become in the future and what you don't want to become. If you're living at home, why don't you put in that effort and talk to them? Tell them your stories, your interests and your thoughts. Let them know what you like and what you don't like. They are your parents. They will love you unconditionally (unless you poured acid on Mum's beloved roses or threw rocks at your Dad's Porsche when you were young) and they will listen to your problems. Trust me, you're missing out on a very important relationship.

So unless you're parents are hostile towards you, toxic to your personality, mentally unstable or -insert many other rather unusual, non-typical things that could be wrong with your parents-, you should make use of your time and opportunity and become close with them. I mean, if you were a parent, wouldn't you like to understand your own children? How would it make you feel if you couldn't even name a few things that your son or daughter likes? You don't have to tell them everything - just enough to have some kind of connection that will last when you do move out.