Jumping on another bandwagon, because other people have douchenozzles in their life too.

Because I can’t help but jump on every passing bandwagon, I’m jumping on another one. Shocking, I know.  Also? I’m going to jump on said bandwagon with only some of the facts, but with a full blown, probably completely inappropriate opinion, and I’m going to run with it.  Because? Integrity? Not my middle name.

Also? Writing about the douchenozzle-ness of other people keeps me from dwelling on the douchenozzles in my own life.  It’s a nice little vacation for them.

So, I’m sitting in my living room reading blog posts, trying to clear out my Read-it-later list when I come across this little gem by John at John’s Intellectual Gobbledygook. And yes, you’re going to have to go read John’s post because I am lazy and I’m not going to rehash it all here.  Why re-write what is already written, when I can just send y’all over there and wait for you to come back?  AND YOU BETTER COME BACK! Yes, I’m talking to you.

Again.  I don’t know all the facts.  I don’t have any more information that John has provided in his blog post.  Frankly I don’t need all the facts to form an opinion.  Facts? Just get in the way.  So does logic. This has nothing to do with either.  This? Is all about opinion Baby.  And I’ve got plenty of that.

It appears that there was at the very least a reception booked at a fancy schmacy resort. (no I won’t link to it. There are plenty of links in John’s post.  I’m just spouting off opinions. This is not a call to arms. Yet.)  The bride and groom are both military.  He’s stationed in California, she’s in Virginia. (that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. I just can’t imagine being married to someone who is stationed clear across the country.  I mean, sure, I understand separate closets, bathrooms, and possibly separate bedrooms.  But separate states?  That’s, just, wow.  Oh, I get that it’s the military, and that separate states isn’t as bad as separate countries, which could very well happen.  But OMG.  Maybe my relationships would have lasted longer had we tried that.  No, that’s not true. Brian and I lived in separate houses all four years. It didn’t work out.)

Anyway, *ahem* reception (at the very least) booked at resort.  Bride/groom both military. (Yay Military!  Thanks for your service! You guys rock!) *ahem* there is a deployment (leave it to our government and military to screw up a good wedding reception.  Always getting in the way of true love and happiness, but that’s another post altogether. Oh look…a quarter…) there are emails exchanged regarding the cancellation/rescheduling of awesome reception for when the the groom returns from deployment. Provided the bride isn’t at that time deployed herself, which is entirely possible, but that’s not the issue at hand either.

I am not even going to comment on C’s email to Tina.  Again, not the issue.  Also? States facts that have not been entered into evidence yet.  My issue with this?  Tina’s condescending holier-than-thou, shove-it-up-your-ass-sideways attitude.  Way to be professional Tina, you wedding/reception coordinating douchenozzlette.  You need a major mushroom print.  Seriously.

Dear Tina,

I read the email that you sent to C regarding her request to not cancel but reschedule her event with your company.  Kudos to her for at least trying to keep her business with you, and allow you the opportunity to make a profit off of her event even when there was a major upset due to circumstances beyond her control.  The fact that she was considering keeping the reception at your resort regardless of the date, speaks volumes about how much she really liked the venue you offered.  Uh, guess you missed that point.  Yeah.  Might want to keep that in mind next time someone asks to reschedule, vs. just up and cancelling the event.  It’s all about the bottom line sistah, and you? Missed it.

From what I’ve read on John’s blog, and in the comments (and maybe there’s more out there on the internet and I have missed it…which is possible. I can’t keep my thumb on the pulse of every breaking drama in the world.  I’ve got a life too ya know.) nobody is arguing your right to refuse the refund, to uphold your cancellation policy, or refuse to reschedule the event.  What has them (OK most definitely ME) up in arms is your piss poor shoot your mouth off, thinking your are better than everyone else stick it to the bride attitude. Just sayin.

First of all? That first paragraph? That is one long ass run on sentence.  But I’m no English/grammar teacher so what do I know.  So, you’ve worked with soldiers in the past.  Goodie for you.  Then you should be aware of how the military works.  It doesn’t.  Oh and let me state my military credentials for you. I have the same military cred as you.  You’re nephew is shipping out for his 3rd time?  Great. My brother?  18 years in.  I know how the military works.  That is to say… it doesn’t.  They can change plans at the last minute.  They can revoke leave for no reason.  They can put your ass on a plane in 15 minutes and not tell you where you’re going until you are somewhere over Poughkeepsie.  They can tell you to pack for Hawaii, and send you? To Iowa. In December. Not exactly umbrella drinks and sandy beaches kinda weather.

Again.  That? Not the point.  The reception isn’t being held on the scheduled day due to the fact that the groom is unable to attend because oh, I don’t know, his COUNTRY NEEDS HIM?!  Yeah, trumps your little business thing you got going on there.

Back to your email.  You’re pissed off that C booked the date too close to his date of deployment for your comfort and now? It’s being cancelled and you’re losing money and boo fucking hoo.  Whether this deployment was scheduled in August, or January, or even March is unimportant.  Due to your vast work with military soldiers, and a nephew who is serving, you should know that deployments? Are not always scheduled in advance, don’t always stay on schedule, and making plans for anything beyond tomorrow? Could be pointless because the military doesn’t care about your schedule.  Wars? Don’t run around schedules. His deployment could have been schedule in JUNE and *still* have been moved up to March.  Or Schedule in May and his leave cancelled for whatever reason.  THIS? Is not her fault.

All of this “you are using his deployment as a way to take advantage of the vendors” and blah blah blah blah is bullshit.  Guess what? Life fucking happens.  Guess what else?  Your emails? Completely unprofessional.  Way the fuck out of line. The way I see it?  She was explaining a situation to you, and asking you for the opportunity to reschedule the event, AND continue to make a profit on her event.  Baring the ability to reschedule, she was asking if it were possible for a partial refund. Knowing full well, you were within your rights to say NO due to the contract.  But you don’t know if you don’t ask.  And it never hurts to ask.  You? Got up on a high horse and spouted off and insulted her calling her a liar, and called into question her character.  (and also? threatened to tell on her to her commanding officer. What are we 5? Tattle tale) When in fact, your character is now being called into question. No, I take that back. There’s no question about your character.  You have none.

I think you cut off your nose to spite your face there Missy.  You had the opportunity to reschedule the event, and make money from it.  But after the scathing emails you’ve sent? Yeah, I’m willing to bet she doesn’t reschedule her event with your venue, and as you can see? This is getting around the internet.  It’s hard telling how much possible revue you have lost because of it.  Was it really worth it?

Nobody is questioning your right to stand on policy.  Nobody is suggesting you refund any or all of her money. Nobody is suggesting you change your policy for her.  A contract is a contract and in a court of law, that is what is binding. The contract.  The emails, the insults, the insinuations that you fired off? Yeah, that just makes you and your company look bad.  Very bad.

Because I just can't keep my opinions to myself. And I found some new drama to write about.

The one thing I did *not* want this blog to become is a political blog.  There are three things ‘proper’ people don’t discuss; money, sex, and politics.  Since I’ve talked about two of the three on here (much to my mother’s embarrassment) I might as well go for the trifecta.

The problem is, when it comes to politics, I don’t claim one true party.  I usually just pick an issue (or one comes to the forefront) and I start shooting off my mouth, spouting opinions, without much thought behind it all. Politics isn’t my strong suit. Never has been.  And usually when I open my mouth, I prove that point time and time again. And I get in trouble.

But not Juan Williams trouble.

When something this big comes across the air waves (and by this big I mean it’s being covered by MSN, CNN, FOX, NPR, The View, Oprah, and God.. you know the regulars) I itch to jump in with both feet and spout off an opinion.  But first… I always go look up words, get definitions just so I make sure there is some validity to my ranting.

For those of you who don’t know (and maybe don’t care?) Juan Williams was just fired from NPR for something he said on The O’Reilly Factor. O’Reilly got himself into a bit of hot water with Barbara Walters and her gang over at The View last week, over something he said regarding Muslims and 9/11 and was looking for validation and support from Juan when Juan said this:

“I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

I am not going to get into the right or wrong of NPR to fire Mr. Williams.  That’s a whole legal issue regarding contracts and termination and breach of contracts and I don’t have time to find and dust off my law degree from Cracker Jack school of law and marketing.  Besides, what’s done is done, and it’s not going to be undone, and Fox News jumped in and offered Mr. Williams a three year multimillion dollar contract for doing what he was already doing by being on Fox News Sunday and voicing his opinion.

Here’s my two cents worth on this whole topic.   First of all, Bigot is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as

a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

and just for good measure, Dictionary.com defines Stereotype as

a set of inaccurate, simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly

Let me say this.  We all stereotype people.  We profile people.  We all have preconceived notions about groups of people based on characteristics they share, be it color of their skin, color of their hair, size of their boobs, or penis, the clothes they wear, the books they read, the car they drive, the music they listen to.  If we didn’t the advertising world would so be out of business.

He admitted on national television a truth that many of us hold.  And that is, he admitted to feeling nervous when he sees a group of ‘Muslims’ in the airport/on an airplane.  It’s nothing against those people personally.  It’s nothing against Muslims as a whole.  It’s a normal visceral reaction to a group of people who changed our world forever.  When you think of Michael Jackson, (before he died) somewhere in that thought process was ‘child molester’.   When you think of Michael Jackson and young boys… well let’s not go there.

Mr Williams was honest.  In this world of Political Correctness, we are so damned afraid of everything.  Afraid of saying the wrong thing, writing the wrong thing, wearing the wrong thing, because we might, *gasp* offend someone.

Fuck that bullshit.

What would have made Mr. Williams a bigot would be if he had acted on those feelings.  He didn’t run screaming from the airport. He didn’t deplane.  He didn’t cause a scene. He didn’t point at them screaming “TERRORISTS!!!”.  He acknowledged to himself that yes, he has those feelings, he was aware of his surroundings and went on with his day/life business as usual.

Just like most everyone else does.

Would this have been such a big deal if he had said   “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I go to a strip bar, I got to tell you, if I see women who are very skinny, and have big boobs and skimpy clothes, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as strippers , I get horny. I get excited.”?

A Happy New Year indeed

As 2008 draws to a close, I sit here remembering what a roller coaster ride it’s been.  But here I am, survived this year.  With one last thing hanging out there… The girls’ custody.

That is until I went by the house and checked the mail.  There it was.  The letter from the court.  I was sure that when it came I would want Batman by my side when I opened it.  I was convinced I would need him to read it so sure was I that I wouldn’t be able to deal with the news it held.

Standing there tonight, holding that letter, I knew.  I opened the door, I sat on the edge of my bed, and opened the letter.  I scanned the letter, looking for signs of what it held.  When no deamons jumped out at me, I read it slowly, carefully.

After due consideration, Court finds insufficient evidence to conclude that there has been a substantial change in circumstances such as to support a modification of the prior decree.  The Motion to Modify has been denied.”

That means that tomorrow when the girls come home, they will be coming home.  This means that I still have sole custody of the girls, and that he still owes me child support.  Owes me as far back as June.  And he’s unemployed.  I’ll get it somehow. I always do.  That means that I stood before that judge with nothing but the truth, and stood against Slug and his Cunt of a Lawyer, and I won.  Much like David slayed Goliath, I slayed this dragon.

So, I will celebrate tonight, the end of a very long hard year, full of hard to learn lessons, but I’m getting better.  I’m getting it together and now, I can continue to get it together.  There was insufficient evidence to conclude there has been a substantial change in circumstances such as to support a modification.

Batman told me two years ago… When have you ever gone into court against him, and not come out of there with every thing you want?  The answer to that is..never.

Happy New Years!