Life and Social Media

I have a bunch of random shit rolling around in my brain. Lets see if I can make sense of any of it.

Life. 

A few days ago, I read a Facebook update from a mom seeking advice because her son has only met his dad twice. He was having a bit of a meltdown the day before school and presumably was wishing his dad was around. Following that Facebook update were several comments from moms in the same situation.  The woman who posted the update does have great male role models around her son. But, you know that saying "there's nothing like a mother's love" ...or, fathers. My nieces and nephew have a pretty shit-tastic dad too. Luckily, they have an awesome step-dad and grandfathers in their lives.  Both my parents have always been in my life and I know the positive affect that has had on me. I guess it's just one of life's little mysteries that we'll never understand. Why people choose to have children and then not stick around.  The older I've gotten, the more grateful I have become for having my parents in my life. Definitely, something I am grateful for daily.

Speaking of getting older...

If you're in your 20's, I'd like to be the first to tell you that when you turn 30, you will instantly become boring and your body will take a shit. Instead of going out at 11:00 p.m., you'll be going to bed at 11:00 p.m. That is if you can even wait till 11:00 p.m.  Even the mere thought of getting all dressed up to go out is nothing short of exhausting.  The idea of being around a bunch of people and loud music instantly gives you a headache. You no longer feel obligated to show up for every birthday, baby/wedding shower, or Bar Mitzvah.  What you live for are those nights where you have no obligations and can sit in your sweatpants and binge watch Netflix. Btw, you're wearing sweatpants because that's the only thing that fits now that your metabolism is no longer what it was. Taco Bell and Mountain Dew are no longer considered two of the most important food groups. In fact, if you eat Taco Bell, you are backed up for a week and once you are finally able to take a shit, it's such a monumental moment, that you find yourself texting your BFF with a high five emoji. If you're not married and don't have kids, don't worry your life will be equally as boring because you won't have anyone to hang with because everyone else is married and has kids.  When you finally are able to have a night out with friends, you'll sit and discuss how fun you used to be all while counting down the minutes until you can go home and put your sweats on and watch Netflix. Your bones will crack and your muscles will ache.  WebMD will move to the top of your "Favorites" because you're sure whatever is happening to your body can only result in a slow painful death.

Social Media. 

Don't get me wrong. I love social media. Actually, I prefer to think that I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I hate it, but I can't stay away. I don't know how celebrities put themselves out there only to be judged and ripped apart from head-to-toe. I had to unfollow a few celebrities on Instagram, because I couldn't handle reading the comments. It wasn't even as though I was trying to read them. You're just scrolling through and just happen to read one judgmental comment and the next thing you know, you're reading all 5K comments on Giuliana Rancic's IG page about her being too thin.  If you were a true fan of hers, you would know that she made a public announcement that the medicine she takes now that she's a Cancer survivor makes her not able to gain weight.  What always blows my mind are the people that comment who clearly do not like the particular celebrity. I don't follow Lady Gaga or Katie Couric because I can't stand either one of them and then go to their page and write hurtful comments. It not only is rude, unnecessary, and bulling, but it ruins it for the fans. With all the events that have been going on the world, social media has been in overdrive. Some of my favorites on Facebook are "a dress can get a million likes, can this solider get a million likes?" What?! How are the two even relative? (If you don't know about "the dress," I suggest Googling it. Quite the phenomenon.)  With the lack of transportation of buses here in my city, the schools and news Facebook pages have been getting a lot of backlash. There's always that one asshole though that has to say "I walked two miles to/from school in sleet and rain and survived." Don't get me wrong. I think a lot of kids these days are spoiled and need to be roughed up a bit. But, back in your day, were there cell phones with people texting and not paying attention to the roads while all these kids are having to walk to school with no sidewalks? Back in your day, were people as much in a rush as they are now - not paying attention to the roads and talking on their cell phones? Were parents trying to get their kids to school before going to work an 8 hour day, only to go home, cook dinner, do homework, and put the kids to bed, only to wake up EXHAUSTED and do it all over again the next day? No. Because back then, the women stayed home and managed the house.  Life wasn't as busy. Life was much simpler. My point is that these kids are walking to school with no sidewalks and will shortly be walking in the dark. With being exhausted, and thinking about the next meeting, or, what to cook for dinner, people are now more than ever distracted while driving. It's just simply not safe.  In fact, yesterday, at 7:00 o'clock in the morning, there was a lot of updates about 469 being shut down for an accident. As details were released, a pedestrian had gotten hit on the highway and died. There's speculation that the pedestrian was driving and his car went off the road into a ditch. He climbed over the guardrail and then somehow was struck by a semi and killed. No one is sure yet how exactly this happened. I was reading through all the comments yesterday on Wane TV and 21 Alive and there was a girl and a boy saying that the driver of the semi was their dad. Naturally, they were both defending him. After reading several of the girl's comments, I left a comment for her and told her (in short) that assuming the investigation was ongoing as to what happened, it would be wise to not leave comments on Facebook. I didn't see a comment from her after. In fact, when I went back and looked today, I couldn't find any comments from her. It just seemed odd to me that they were so forthcoming with the details. You just can't trust anyone behind a keyboard these days. Part of me wondered if it was really his kids. If it was, I'm glad she stopped commenting.  I could see this turning into a huge lawsuit. But, that's just the paralegal coming out in me.