Stop the Stupid!

A little something to take us into Shabbat.

A friend of mine was explaining to me the other day how her husband is totally burned out from the pressures of his job and his volunteer work. He has become so emotionally off, that living with him has become a bit of a challenge because he is starting to do and say really dumb things. The other day, she screamed at him to "Stop the Stupid"!!!! I loved this phrase so much that I told her that I was going to use it, but give credit where it was due. (She is taking him away next week so that he can recover from his stupid!!) It got me to thinking about some of the other things in my everyday life where I would love to scream "Stop the Stupid!!" So here we go.

1. The Barack and Michelle Obama "Terrorist Fist Jab". Give me a f@#$ing break. On the night that Senator Obama secured the Democratic party's nomination, he and his wife engaged in a playful fist bump to celebrate the victory, much like ballplayers celebrating a home run. The a-holes at Fox News picked this up and described it in the manner above. Huh? What is worse, other media outlets decided that this was an actual story for upwards of a week. It got worse. White middle aged mid-westerners had to prove how cool and in touch they were, by fist bumping instead of shaking hands. Disturbing doesn't even describe the entire fiasco. When will we learn that all of these things distract from the real story. (an aside to this entire mess is that the anchor at Fox who fabricated this entire non-story was mercifully fired this week!) Please, Stop the Stupid!!

2. Nicknames. I think that we can all do without any more ridiculous nicknames that take the first letter of the celebrity's first name and a piece of their last, a la J-Lo, LiLo, A-Rod, K-Fed. Maybe if these idiots were saddled with a moniker like P-Dawn like I am, they would think better of it!! Stop the Stupid!!

3. The Toronto Maple Leafs. I am a Leaf fan. As such I suffer. I have lived through the Punch Imlach era twice. I survived Harold Ballard and Stafford Smythe. I have watched good and great players and coaches get run out of town. I can't even see my hometown team unless they are out of town, because tickets are so impossible to come by. I don't even remember the last Cup win because I was 3!! Yet, through it all, I have continued my fandom. I think I am almost done. Richard Peddie? I mean who the f@#$ told Richard Peddie that he was a hockey guy? Please, put me out of my misery and Stop the Stupid!!

4. The movie industry is falling all over itself trying to figure out why the Sex and the City movie is such a hit. Duh!!! Maybe it is because of the fact that over half of the population is female and we have been waiting for decades to be properly represented in the movies and not just seen as sex kittens, victims, appendages, wives and mothers. Sex and the City may not be the best movie ever made, but it certainly is proving that women will go to the movies if they feel they are treated as real people. No shit!!!! Stop the Stupid!!

5. Price discrepancies between here and the U.S. The Canadian dollar has been at or near par with the U.S greenback for almost a year now and yet, we have not witnessed significant price reductions on consumer products here in the Great White North. As published yesterday, we Canucks are still paying on average between 10% and 40% higher prices on everything from electronics to diapers to books. There is no explanation for this other than gouging. Believe it or not, it is actually cheaper to buy books from Amazon.com (not .ca) and pay the shipping costs, then it is to shop at our local Heather emporium. Stop the Stupid!!!

In the words of Forrest Gump--"Stupid is as Stupid Does!" There is a lot of stupid in the world and there is new stupid every week. This might become a weekly blog. Send me your Stop the Stupid and I will publish them.

Shabbat Shalom for all the observe and may it be a stupid-free weekend!