Some Things Just Need To Go Away in 2010
We Can Only Hope To Change
Ramblings From A Bitchy Woman
Every year at this time our local newspaper publishes their list of what will be In or Out in the coming New Year. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree. Sometimes I wonder how obvious candidates were left off the list, like Heidi Klum and Seal "You're either In or you're out".
As this year ends and we look forward to the next, I am reflecting about 2009. One word sums up 2009 for me: annoying. Many things about 2009 annoyed me. Things like people becoming news stories when they aren't, like the Balloon Boy or Octomom. Words or phrases annoyed me like "under-employed" or a "weather episode".Why do we need to invent new words when the ones we have are perfectly useful? TV shows that are just a waste of air time annoyed me like Dancing with the Stars or America's Got Talent.
If there were an award for years that annoy, 2009 wins the Academy Award of annoying years. There are some things that just need to go away in 2009 and here is my nomination in the category of "These Things Need to Disappear This Year". See if you agree with me and please feel free to add your own list in the comment section below.
Words and other Things we can Do Without in 2010:
Obamacare, Obamanomics, Obamanation- In fact any combination of words used with Obama in front of them. He's President, I get it. Enough already with putting his name in front of EVERYTHING!
Cougars-The human kind not the animal one. The old women who hunt down young guys. Do we really need to see Grandma smooching all over the kid who serves us our Big Mac? Are 35 year old female History teachers who sleep with the kid who sits in the front row of their class cougars or just pedophiles? And to be fair to both genders, this goes for men too. Whatever the male equivalent is of a cougar . If there isn't such a term for men, then maybe we should call it doing a Larry King or being Hef ?
Hottie- I hate that word and equally hate those little skimpy tee shirts with the word "Hottie" written on them, usually worn by women who aren't.
Twitter- The lamest thing ever invented. This is just Instant Messaging or Texting. I really do not need to know every mundane, idiotic thing you are doing at any given moment. Go away Twitter, Twitter Tracker, tweet, tweeting; and all words related to it. Ditto with expressions from tweeters like "I'm just sayin' followed by a cutesy ;)..wink wink. I wish Twitter had a widget that would let me reach out and smack you, you stupid emoticon.
Loan Modifications- This is an urban myth. No one gets their loan modified so the term should just go away.
Recession- It's a D-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N folks,it's just that no one wants to utter that word out loud for whatever reason but for those of us who are unemployed it's no big secret.
Under-employed- Translation : I work for minimum wage and I have a college degree, thus I am under-employed based on my potential.
Bailout--If I'm not getting one, I don't want to hear about it anymore.
Swine Flu- Obvious candidate.
Going Green, Green business, Green Jobs- Stop it. Enough with everything being "green". It really is not a new idea. I've been going green since 1973. We had Earth Day in 1976.
Hybrid Cars- Especially the Prius. Has it really been proven these cars are better for the environment? And, what about the owners of these hybrid cars. I know for a fact the Prius owners are the former yuppie BMW owners. I can tell this by their "War is not the Answer" and "Co-exist" bumper stickers smugly plastered on their rear bumpers that I am forced to read as they cut me off in traffic and give me the finger. To these snobs and their I'm better than you because I drive a hybrid attitute, Fuck Off.
Weather Event or Episode-Okay I live in Los Angeles, so this may be specific to our city, but whenever rain is in the forecast, these overly tan weather people (excuse me Meteorologists another word that needs to go) say "we are in for a weather episode tomorrow" PLEASE, just call it what it is--- RAIN!
TV Shows That Need to Go:
Jon and Kate Plus 8-I don't really need to state why do I?
The Kardashians-Why is this a show? Seinfeld was a show about nothing but it had more substance, talent, originality than the Kardashians could ever hope to achieve. Please someone put this show to sleep.
The Girls Next Door-It's just sad. Hugh can't even walk upright anymore. He falls asleep eating his hard boiled eggs (which is the only thing hard in that house). Truly, are we really suppose to believe these young girls are having sex with Hugh?
Dancing with the Stars. I don't get it. There are no stars on this show so why the name?
Dr. Phil-You do know he's not really a Doctor, don't you? He really pissed me off when he paid the Octo-Mom millions for her interview. Why encourage a person like her?
The View-Especially Joy Behar. Loud mouth windbag. Sheri Shepard, who thinks the world is flat and Baba Walters who blames Paula Dean for childhood obesity. Come on...go away now.
The People of 2009 Who Were a News Story but Never Should Have Been:
Hasslehof
The Balloon Boy
Jon & Kate
Octomom
Gloria Allred
The Obama's Dog
The Run Away Bride ( or was she last year?)
Miscellanous Things We need to say Good Bye To In 2010:
Anyone over the age of 17 having a myspace page. Seriously, if you are 45 years old what are you doing on myspace? Old geezers who post photos of themselves sitting on their Harleys are just pathetic. Ditto to the old broads who post photos of theirselves in semi-nude poses.
Tattoos-If you are not of the current 20 something generation, you are too OLD to get all tatted up. You look stupid. Tattoos are the mark of the 20 something generation. A statement of their time, not yours. You had your time and just because you didn't participate in the fads of your generation doesn't give you license to grab the fad of this generation. Grow the hell up. Look and act your age.
Froyo or Frozen Yogurt. Wasn't this already a fad in the 80's? Frozen yogurt is okay but, we certainly do not need a frozen yogurt concept on every street corner.
Calling someone a racist because they disagree with the President.
The Religious Right
The Fanatical Left
The Recession/Depression
Gas Prices over $3.00
Bailouts to Insurance Companies, banks, car makers--all of whom have not lowered their prices!
That's the first half of my list. What's on your list?
Comments
I love it!
You lost me when you said we were in a depression, and though its off topic generally to your hub, let me explain why even our complaint of the recession is a little off, though I'm not disagreeing with the economic definition certainly being correct that the economy has retracted significantly.
During the Great Depression unemployment nationwide was at 33%, and was 50% in some urban areas. Unemployment, even if you count the real unemployment rate averages around 12% as of this writing. During the Great Depression GDP fell by over 15%. During this period we lost around 6% GDP. During the Great Depression many of the programs we have now to help us deal with such crises were not in place. There was no unemployment insurance, for example. Social security did not exist until 1935, two years after the depression started, so if you didn't have a pension, oh well. People stood in line for a loaf of bread or a cup of soup.
During the recession here's what we saw in actuality. Sales revenue at Wal-mart soared (partly because they WERE the cheapest store in town to be fair). McDonald's Corporation also had record profits throughout, and was one of the best performing stocks of the recession (if you can afford McD's you can't be doing that bad). Even Starbucks, home of the $5 coffee, while they didn't see record sales they didn't go out of business either.
We have clothes on our backs, roofs over our head. We have computers. iPods sold in record numbers. Playstations rolled off the shelves. Big screen TVs dropped in price but didn't drop in sales overall when you count the entire period.
I could go on and on. All I'm saying is that the period we went through and continue to go through is bad. But in no way does it compare to the hardships endured during the depression of 1933.
Again, my apologies for going off topic...you had a great hub other than my little disagreement. :)
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Springboard, My hub was created out of the many annoyances and things that bugged me during 2009, one of which was and continues to be this Depression. I've seen many of my friends, people whom I've known 25, 30 years who have always been upwardly mobile and successful, lose their businesses, lose their homes, and file bankrupcy. People who have Ivy League educations and the motivation to achieve no matter what they set their minds to. The hub is intended to be sarcastically humerous.
I do however feel the current economic situation in this country is more of a moderate Depression than a "recession". We had a "recession" in the late 1980's to 1993, some people lost their jobs and some homes lost their value but people did not lose their homes. It was nothing like it is now. The current crises has caused an overwhelming amount of formerly upper to middle class people to feel more than ever, the impact of the situation.
In November of 2009 there were 1 million bankruptcies filed, that was the total for all of 2008.
Millions of people have lost their jobs, people who have worked for corporations 10, 15, 20 years. Go see the new George Cluney movie "Up in the Air"....things like that are happening all over the country.
There is a huge increase in the middle class applying for food stamps people who formerly held white collar jobs, nice homes and never ever would think they would find themselves waiting in line for their EBT benefits.
I don't think you can compare the Great Depression of the 1930s to the current one because the country is different. Things like population increase, industrialization have cause a paradigm shift and trying to compare the Great Depression of the 1930s to modern day is like comparing apples to oranges they are both fruit but that's where any comparison ends.
I don't think we are past any Recession/Depression as Obama tries to lead us to believe. I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet. I think we could see a global Depression as there's rumor China's wealth is inflated and only on paper.
To call this economic crises a "Recession" makes it sound less serious than it really is. It may not be as Great as THE GREAT Depression but it is atleast a Moderate Depression which has impacted me severely and most of my friends, business associates and customers. I cannot recall anytime in my 55 years where so many have been unemployed, losing their homes, credit, cars and unable to meet just basic day to day needs. For me, this is a Depression.
Now...I have to run. Need to complete my forms for my EBT benefits.
I agree with everything on your list...except for maybe the yogurt thing. I never see a yogurt shop where I live and I would like one. I guess I should be careful what I wish for.
One important thing I think is missing from your list, and I think you would agree. It goes along with the whole green thing that is all the rage now. The green, politically correct, yuppie, hipster, alternative music listening, shaved head, fancy food obsessed, has kids because it's an accessory and they can put concert t-shirts on them, buys things that look vintage for a hell of a lot of money, save the earth no-it-all that is around 35.
I grew up and still listen to alternative music, but why the hell do I have to let everyone know about it? I thought listening to music was for you and not to impress people. Maybe when I was 15 that would fly, but it is a little creepy when your 35...maybe pathetic is a better word. And this goes with everything else...recycling, why do I have to feel compelled to let everyone know that I am "saving the planet". Just do it! Pathetic again. I am person who does wear an occasional concert t-shirt now and again. I have always loved them, but it will be a cold day in hell when I put one on my kid. A kid is supposed to find its own niche in life, right? And if I remember correctly, I was one of those who deeply strived to be something that my parents did force me to be. However, I looked like everyone else trying to too. I guess that is a part of growing up. There is no excuse now though.
Also, the money thing gets me. It is like it is never enough complaining about the state of the economy, but they are totally yuppies that buy high-end things and make poor choices to keep up with the Jones's next door. No matter how hard they try or say that are different from our parents, they are no different they just have a bigger ego and better style.
Thanks
One important thing I think is missing from your list, and I think you would agree. It goes along with the whole green thing that is all the rage now. The green, politically correct, yuppie, hipster, alternative music listening, shaved head, fancy food obsessed, has kids because it's an accessory and they can put concert t-shirts on them, buys things that look vintage for a hell of a lot of money, save the earth no-it-all that is around 35. >>
AMEN!! LOL...Why do things that belong in the Salvation Army but are sold in trendy "vintage clothing" shops have to cost MORE??
I totally agree with you on the people having kids because they are like accessories and they can stick stupid concert T-shirts on them. I would add, giving your kid a stupid name like Sienna or the over used Dakota, Mavrick or Milar, Brittany, Breanna, Jackson,Pax or giving them a traditional name but spelling it in the most idiotic way Jayson, Learic,
Annecia, or naming your kid the same names celebs give their kids, like Shiloh or Apple. You can only get away with stupid names for your kids if you are Agelina, Madonna or Gwenethe.
Equally hate celebs who go to 3rd world countries to adopt kkids. Sorry I don't think it's out of the goodness of their hearts, I tend to think it is for the publicity and to feel better about themselves. There are plenty of children in foster care all over the USA but I guess these children are not as exotic as going to Malawi or Vietnam.
Man, I am ready for almost everything on this list to go. The top of my list is the Kardashians, those chicks get under my skin for some reason.
Ironically though, your local newspaper might be the only things that doesn't make it through 2010. Fun read, thanks.
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TheCreditTruth: LOL you are right on! The Kardasians will survive but my local newspaper will die! Amazing and sad. I wish I would have added to my list that crappy reality show with the Duggars. Have you seen that one? 19 and counting. What a F'd up family that one is. They sort of make the Kardashians look normal. Here is a family that bans TV for their 19 kids BUT makes a reality show? WTF is up with that? Make your living on a TV show but GOD don't watch it, it's the devil! I need to write a hub about that one.
Brilliantly stated!! Could not be more apt for the times.
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conniewordz, thank you. I am so glad you get the humor in this hub and see the truth in it as well. Thank you, thank you
One word or two :: Hilarious & Soo F*king True!!!!!!
Ahahah I'm still laughing!!
Hugh Hef; Obamanation; Going Green, you could be the next David Latterman or Gorge Lopez haha still laughing!
Voting Up Up up!
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NikiiLeeReyes: THANK YOU. I will have a whole new list for 2010!! Stay tuned.
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