DAY
100

So my friends, another hot sunny summer has gone by, yet another round of the infamous 100 Days of Summer, the tenth round in fact! Which means next year’s eleventh round, each day is the tenth anniversary of the days of the original! These days have a way of being crazy, mysterious, wonderful, and terrible. And today we celebrate completing another hundred of them! So let’s review!

Day 1, okay, got a new algae eater yesterday, a gold one. I’ll call him Aurelius!

Day 3, as usual, NYRA board is being annoyingly quiet about important stuff. Do I really want yet another year of this frustration and silence?

Day 7, we can’t let Hyundai and Allstate get away with running ageist ads, at least not without complaints! Get them! Also, saw Soul Asylum!

Day 8, okay, fine, I’ll run for another year on the damn board.

Day 9, wait, crap, I think our AC is broken.

Day 10, yeah, I’d say so. Outside unit isn’t even running!

Day 12, gaaahhh! AC unit is in my damn room and needs to be replaced, so got all these repairmen trampling through my room taking shit apart in the mech closet. Oh and they used an acetylene torch at one point to put some parts back together afterward, so we had to cover up the two nearby sprinklers with cups so they wouldn’t be set off. Crazy!

Day 15, alright, my toe has been infected and hurting like hell and soaking it hasn’t done shit, I guess I’d better see the podiatrist.

Day 17, podiatrist says toe nail has to come off and I need antibiotics. Sigh. Ouch!!! Stupid paronychia.

Day 18, at work, limping and with only nine and a half toes, got to order some special kind of bacitracin for coworker, found only one company with it, just got to set up account to buy it.

Day 21, board meeting, we have moved the Annual Meeting back to Washington, DC! Okay, that makes things easier. Oh, and I requested my e-mail account be returned to me, since it’d been nearly two years. Alex and Stefan refused, but Keith seconded my motion and it came to a vote. It passed! I got my NYRA e-mail account back. Alright.

Day 24, the first of three runs of #16tovote on the 16th during the 100 Days of Summer! Awesome as usual.

Day 28, gee wiz, people sure are offended that I dared to say Father’s Day is stupid.

Day 35, NYRA-DC meeting! Larry is here to run the chapter! Should be awesome.

Day 37, oh no! At work, supervisor is having nasty diabetic attack! Paramedics had to come. They got some sugar in her and she snapped back to normal.

Day 39, alright, forums are dying and people want to be able to vote in NYRA’s election, so for anyone who makes 50 posts before end of July, I’ll sponsor membership.

Day 40, let out of work early for holiday weekend… there’s some smoke over near that car… FIRE! Some idiot threw a cigarette butt into dry mulch and it ignited. Had to put it out.

Day 41, took little brother to see Toy Story 3. BAWWWWWW!

Day 42, time for patriotic ’splosions! From the middle of the soccer field by my house, can see like six different fireworks displays in the area. Sweet!

Day 44, I think the fucking AC is broken again.

Day 45, oh lovely, turns out after like a month and a half of stalling and bullcrap, only now finding out I can’t order that special bacitracin because we’re not a physician’s office. Fucking hell.

Day 47, repair guy returns, again traipsing through my damn room, but this time not so much ruckus, just refilled the freon. Poor ozone layer!

Day 48, youth-related council hearing in DC with NYRA! And on metro ride home, Alex discussing NYRA’s financial situation and getting me all panicked. Jerk did that on purpose!

Day 49, alright, I’m putting up some NYRA flyers again. Hooked up my printer, printed off a bunch, and late at night, put some up at local bus stops, mailboxes, and a condo complex.

Day 50, the Fifty-Fifty! More flyers, though it was raining. Also, got pizza.

Day 54, there was apparently an earthquake here I totally never felt. Also, the July #16tovote on the 16th! Going great… and got a call from mom that Nigel is still struggling with his severe arthritis and can’t really move anymore…

Day 55, and it’s time to make a fateful trip to the vet… and say goodbye.

Alright, Round 10, you just killed my dog. You owe a lot of awesome shit to even come close to balancing this back out.

Day 56, went to WES, and actually said something in the community response, something pro-youth rights! Also, last NYRA board meeting of the year!

Day 61, NYRA-DC has an online chat to finalize the chapter charter… and it devolves into unspeakable chaos and drama. Oy.

Day 63, wow, that is a huge mass of red heading our way on the radar… and the lights are out now. Lovely. But holy damn, what a storm! But storm long since finished and sun is back out… and still no electricity. Sigh. Not again.

Day 64, lights are still off, at least they’re back on at work, only to come home later to find they’re still off at home. I hate you, Pepco. I’ll go to the library. Back at 7pm, still no power at home. So back to work, use computer there, watch evil little triangles on Pepco website outage map. Home at 9pm to find lights had just come back on. Another 30-hour outage, just like February.

Day 65, day after ending of long outage, got $218 Pepco bill. I HATE YOU!

Day 69, been thinking to visit state capitals. I’ll start with my own. Annapolis! Saw State House, ate a crab cake, and got a hat. Fun little outing!

Day 71, okay, just ordered some new NYRA bumper stickers! Hope they arrive in time for the Annual Meeting! Want to debut them there!

Day 74, I’d better hurry up and decide who to vote for in this NYRA board election. So many great candidates! So hard to decide! I guess I’ll just flip a coin for that ninth place person. Not that ninth choice matters in Single Transferrable Vote.

Day 75, yes! Stickers arrived just in time! Also, buying lots and lots of meeting food.

Day 76, NYRA ANNUAL MEETING!!!! I live tweet, but better yet, Jeff and Zac got the live streaming working so our online friends who couldn’t attend in person could still watch! And I cut Alex a deal, sort of. I did not hit him with the laser pointer during the annual report… I did it right after it while he was saying something into the live-streaming camera. Hahaha. Also…. STEFAAAAAAAN! He wasn’t reelected.

Day 77, NYRA ANNUAL MEETING!!!! Live tweeting and streaming going again, onto the second day! Got lots of pizza, again from Bertucci’s, and had a sweet strategic planning session. And I made Dave do his trick, where he stands on one leg and puts his other leg behind his head. And when the meeting was over, Alex ran off to church, I hung out with Usi and David SJ, then Jeff and Zac rejoined us, and met back up with Alex at NYRA office. Hal showed up, and we discussed NYRA stuff more. Then we got pizza. And sat there having fun and talking youth rights until the place closed. Fucking win.

Day 82, supervisor had another diabetic attack! Eek! Also, first Redskins preaseason game: squashed the Buffalo Bills. Hahaha!

Day 84, Galen says fuck it and cancels Sniper chats, since Max and I are the only ones who ever go anymore. Oh, well.

Day 85, the third and final #16tovote on the 16th in the 100 Days of Summer! Lots of tweets but not a lot of participants. Oh, well.

Day 88, another NYRA-DC online chat, trying again to finalize charter, bracing self for another explosion… and it was actually rather pleasant and charter was finalized. Nice!

Day 90, meh, constant stereotypes and ignorance of Comedy Central and other stuff is getting on my nerves, think I’ll watch NatGeo Wild for a while. Change of pace.

Day 91, I have got to clean this damn room.

Day 92, what the shit?! The AC is broken AGAIN? You kidding me? Also, finally had first board meeting. With a board that is once again being unresponsive. Sigh. Why am I doing this shit again?

Day 93, and repair guy is back once more to fix the AC, and this time found the leak causing the freon to be running out in the first place. Oh, the poor poor ozone layer!

Day 94, and now the fucking smoke detector is chirping because it needs a new battery. Which one? There’s three… oh, lucky, the third floor one. As in the one that’s waaaay up high on the wall and impossible to reach, and even with the ladder can’t quite get it. So had to get neighbor to help.

Day 97, DC is having dueling rallies! Glenn Beck rally versus Al Sharpton rally! Hal and I went to recruit some NYRA supporters at the Sharpton one. Early morning and under a vicious sun, but lots of fun! And we totally marched holding the NYRA banner.

Day 98, visited family to get mail, spend time with little brother, and… feed them because they’re broke. Sigh.

Day 99, car maintenance! Which took forever and made me super late getting back to work. So when I did get back, almost everyone had already left for the day.

And, finally, at last…

Day 100, today! Pretty much an ordinary work day, not terribly eventful. Sitting here eating a yummy summer salad! It’s got spinach, avocado, assorted nuts, corn, and pepperoni. Yum.

And ten times of these 100 Days of Summer, that makes today the 1000th day total of the 100 Days of Summer with all rounds added together. Kind of neat.

This tenth round, well, majorly sucked. I lost my dog! And if before midnight I receive word that all 50 states have lowered their voting and drinking ages and ruled curfews illegal, that NYRA is given a million dollars, and that It’s Raining Men song comes true (giggity!)… yeah, I think this round might still be a little behind. Seriously, losing a dog sucks.

As these 100 Days of Summer draw to a close, as the final four months of 2010 loom ahead. What’s going on? What’s happening? Last year, I closed Round 9 with the realization that to make things awesome, they must be, well, made awesome, in spite of any out of control circumstances. But I’m not sure what the hell is happening now. If anything. Then again, maybe that’s part of the fun.

And with that, I bid farewell to Round 10 of the 100 Days of Summer! It shall return on May 24, 2011, for Round 11, and whatever crazy crap will be going on then.

This has been Day 100 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

Since this happened…

August 30, 2000 – 6:30pm

I was just outside the cafeteria, watching people go in and out. All of a sudden, I saw him. He looked about my age, a few inches taller. He had short dark brown hair and wore glasses. There was something about him. He stood with a woman I assumed was his mother. Then a grey-haired man came up, his father apparently. I could not stop staring at him. After a while, he and his father left, and the mother sat on a chair beside the cafeteria entrance, waiting for them to return.

I stood around her, still trying to figure out what had happened. Who was he? Why was I now feeling so weird? After a while, the guy and his father came back. Another guy came up and talked to them; he looked about my age, too. But he went away, and the first guy and his parents went into the cafeteria.

I didn’t want to lose sight of them. Remembering there was a second floor balcony in the rotunda that overlooked part of the cafeteria, I raced up the nearby stairway and down a corridor to the circular railing. After a few minutes, the three came out and sat at a table. The guy was eating pasta with marinara, some bread, and a banana. I paced around the balcony, my eyes fixated on them the whole time. Luckily, they didn’t notice me. Not then, at least.

I went back down to the entrance of the cafeteria to await the guy and his parents. Soon I saw them get in the tray return line. Then they exited the cafeteria, walked by me, and went down a nearby stairway. I then ran outside and down the steps to the building’s basement entrance. The three went straight down the hall towards the back entrance of the building. I walked down the hall, too. Suddenly, before they reached the doors, the guy’s father turned his head around and glared at me, frowning. At that point, I slowed down. He said something to his son, who then half-turned his head and looked at me, and I’d swear he was smiling! They went on out the doors to a blue car and got in. Upon driving away, both of the guy’s parents gazed at me, and they weren’t exactly friendly gazes!

“Where are they going?” I asked myself, seeing the blue car drive away. Wait! In front of the cafeteria building, there was a parking lot bustling with families of students moving to the two dorm buildings that were right there. I ran back down the hallway and back out of the building to that parking lot. After a while, they drove in! I saw them get out of the car and walk into one of the dorm buildings. Ah! That’s where he lives! A little later, the two parents left the building, got into their car, and drove out of their parking space. Upon leaving the lot, they spotted me walking back to the cafeteria. They once again stared at me ominously as they drove away. As I ate my dinner, I reflected on all that had happened with sudden regret. That wasn’t a nice thing to do!

The above is copied from a little notebook (that I was somehow able to locate rather quickly just a little while ago!) where I wrote all that down the evening after it happened, with only a few changes in wording.

At a glance, what is this story? What became of the narrating girl and this guy she is suddenly so fixated on? Is this the beginning of a sweet little love story? Would she follow him into the dorm in what would turn out to be a very bad porno? Or no, considering this girl was 17 at the time, that’d be a little Chris Hansen-y. Would this mysterious guy turn out to be a sparkling vampire? Certainly, this must be the beginning of something interesting!

Well, not really. I think I’m the only one who’d find the entire story all that interesting, seeing as I’m of course that girl. Really what followed was nearly two years of obsessive stalking, if we’re to be perfectly honest here, which ended with a story I’ve already told. So a little bittersweet to remember it, the beginning of something that for better or worse shaped my college years dramatically.

It’s also interesting because of two uncanny things that occurred. For one, my being so suddenly smitten with someone I’d never seen before in my life. Well, actually, I do know why that happened, and I can’t really explain it too well, but in a nutshell, let’s just say he was in the right place at the right time (or perhaps wrong place at the wrong time, on his end, since he had to put up with me for the following two years, hehe). The other uncanny thing was assuming they were heading back out to the parking lot in front of the cafeteria, and turning out to be absolutely right. In retrospect, how the hell did I know that? I had no real reason to believe they’d go there, and they could have gone a million and one other places, including any of the several other dorms on campus and their lots. For all I knew, maybe he wasn’t a student there at all. But somehow I knew exactly where they’d go. Pretty cool when that happens.

So, ten years later, what do I think? I of course lost any interest in the guy himself long ago. But it’s interesting to think how much I’ve done since that rather course-altering event. Since then graduated from that school, went through over a year of soul-crushing unemployment and stagnation, joined NYRA, finally got work and built up some money, got more involved with NYRA and on the board, attended annual meetings, made some great friends, got a permanent job, finally got my driver’s license and then a car, finally moved out of my grandmother’s house, and last year took an awesome trip to London. I’ve been doing quite well.

Of course, ten years later, how well do I deal with guys now? Is that any better? I must surely know what I should have done differently, right?

Okay, I just depressed myself.

This has been Day 99 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

Well, soon after I wrote that, when visiting the local library on a Saturday, I saw a sign taped to the window saying that starting July 6, they’d be open an extra hour on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, closing at 6pm rather than 5pm. Still closed Sunday, though. I stared at this sign, recalling before when I tried to come right after 5pm one Friday to find it closed. Did I do that? I only said anything on here. Hadn’t said anything to them.

And then I went there again today to read some more of Twilight (you heard me) to find another taped up sign. Saying that as of August 15, the library would be open on Sundays year-round.

My friends…

I am powerful. Make a note of it.

This has been Day 90 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” is really really true!

Alright, everyone, time for a little life advice from the Fortress!

A year ago yesterday, I was walking around my neighborhood, when I passed a man walking his small white dog, when for no reason the stupid dog bit me on the back of my thigh. Ouch! Man didn’t seem to give a shit, and I forgot to get his name or info. So, as I mentioned briefly in last year’s 100 Days of Summer recap, I spent the following week in absolute panic that the dog had given me rabies or something. Yeah, I know, stupid thing to be panicked about, despite everyone and all information I looked up essentially telling me how there was like no chance. Only got out of the panic a week later when I saw the dog being walked again (rabid dogs are dead within a couple of days of symptoms, the only time they can spread it, so this dog had to of course be alright). Didn’t snap out of the panic right away. It took me another couple days to slowly come down from it.

And that week was seriously miserable. Regardless of it being for a stupid reason, I was still panicked, still absolutely filled with fear. And let me tell you something. Fear seriously fucks you UP. You can’t think. You lose your marbles. No amount of logical reasoning showing you not to be scared will snap you out of it. Pretty much just has to go away on its own after a while. Anything I had been thinking about or planning up until that asshole little dog bit me had gone out of my mind. Pretty much all I could think about was this dog bite and my irrational fear of infection.

And that’s why fear itself is a worthwhile thing to be afraid of! I sometimes find there are events or possible events in the future that I think “oh, wow, I’m going to be soooo scared!” For example, if I ever get pregnant. Pregnancy is pretty goddamn scary. Aside from all the crazy shit involved with it even when it’s perfectly normal, if I’m ever pregnant, I would be soooooo terrified! Scared waiting to find out if pregnant. Scared during labor. Scared waiting for labor at any moment. And then of course the most terrifying thing of all for which pregnancy is just the opening, parenthood! Ack!

So I would say, well, don’t be scared, but it can’t be helped. That’s another reason to fear it, since it’s hard to avoid. Education may help, in that fear preys on ignorance, since not knowing what to do in a given situation only increases the fear, while knowing what to do keeps it somewhat at bay, usually.

And your brain is on your side anyway. It gets bored with fear after a while, provided the fear brings nothing new to be fearful about, and logical reasoning grows back. So while you can’t avoid being fearful, because, well, shit happens, you can at least be ready for it and knock it out quickly. Or at least manage until it passes.

Happy Fifty-Fifty!

This has been Day 50 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

Ooooh, tropical!

Looks cold. But what a view!


On the other hand, this place looks HOT! And DRY! I want a cold beverage just looking at it.

Pretty waterfalls. I’ve heard they shouldn’t be chased.

Flat grassland is flaaaaaaaaat.

Lighthouse.

Wow! Mangrove swamp. Might be gators.

Ah, a pretty sunset over a lake.

Big tall trees are biiiiig and taaaaaaall!

Go ahead. Try to breathe. That’s right. You can’t. You lost the ability when you saw this picture!

Mmmmm, pointy.

Woods and a little waterfall. Nice.

Okay, just posted 12 pretty pictures. What for?

Here’s the thing. The locations of those pictures? Respectively, they are…

Hawaii
Alaska
California
Maryland
Kansas
Maine
Florida
Minnesota
California… again
Colorado
Arizona
Virginia

Yup. Bunch of very different climates, geographies, topographies, landscapes, people, cultures, etc.

And they’re all still part of the United States of America!

Happy Independence Day!

(yes, this was corny, I know)

This has been Day 42 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

True, baseball and hockey are also guilty of low scoring games and long periods of nothing really happening. But hockey is on ice and baseball involves bats. That gives them the edge.

Soccer… eh.

But in any case, the USA still better fucking win!

This has been Day 34 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

Tried to go to my local one today after work, only to find it had closed at 5pm. Normally, this one stays open until 9pm Monday through Thursday but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, only until 5pm. Or rather, Sunday is only open until 5pm during the school year, and is closed in the summer. These hours are long compared to those of some other local libraries, which close at 5pm every weekday and are closed weekends.

You know, not sure what universe these libraries think they’re in, but most people are at work during those hours. Libraries like to complain they may be dying because of Borders and Barnes and Noble being there, but the thing is, Barnes and Noble is open until 11pm. It closes six whole hours after the regular workday ends. That’s actually convenient for people. Libraries can’t be open only during hours where very few people can come and complain that hardly anybody is coming to the library.

And the thing about reduced hours in the summer? I’d assume it’s because they’d want to keep later hours during the school year for students who need it for studying and work. That makes sense. But the thing is, even students can’t do the before-5pm thing. Depending on age, might need their parents to take them if it’s far enough, and parents get off at work at 5pm. Also, may be stuck in after school activities or summer camps.

Library should also be there for students who want to do non-school related studying. It’s supposed to be an autodidactic playground. But inconvenient hours make that difficult.

I know, I know. Elephant in the room here is that, well, there’s the internet now and you can find more information on it than in any library. Hell, Wikipedia alone could replace half the Dewey Decimal System! Of course, that’s assuming the people wanting the library for info actually have access, or at least free enough access, to a functional computer with internet access. Even this day and age, not everyone does, either because of low income or low age. Or high age and still thinking computers are the devil’s playthings.

Or in the case of novels, being unwilling or unable to pay for them yet also unwilling and unable to find an illegal online copy somewhere. Or too recent to be free on Google Books.

And libraries have free WiFi anyway.

So there’s free books and free information. Just sucky hours.

This has been Day 33 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!

I’m so fucking sick of hearing about childhood obesity everywhere I look. It’s all “oh noes, kids are fat, kids are unhealthy, aaahhh!”

Alright, some of them might be above a healthy weight. So what do you do about it? Maybe they go play in the park a little longer. Maybe they eat some healthier foods. In any case, maybe the adults so involved with these kids’ lives should give the kids healthier options if they aren’t already. Maybe help them (and set an example by doing it themselves) develop healthier habits in general.

Of course, since when do adults actually take personal responsibility for helping young people do better? In ways other than finger pointing and berating the youth, that is. That’s right, they don’t, so they blame everything else they can. So the blame gets put on what mascots fast food chains are using or even, stupidly enough, whether the cartoons they’re watching depict fat characters! (Not to mention the slimming down of Santas I mentioned a couple years ago.)

Now there are so many ways to go here. One could be, as Matt so awesomely pointed out a couple weeks ago, rapidly diminishing activities available for kids, on top of too short lunch breaks to eat disgusting food, and, as Alex mentioned in the comments there, the cutting back or elimination of recess. So, basically, adults are doing everything they can to keep kids in a lifestyle that makes them unhealthy, and they blame THEM for it!

Or they make this yet another opportunity to attack kids’ choices of entertainment, constantly picking on the characters they like or the video games they play. As if a character having the tiniest bit of potbelly is as bad as the character is smoking. Hey, idiotic adult “logic” says kids will want to smoke if a cartoon is doing it, so it totally means a kid will want to get fat if a cartoon is doing it, right? Because being fat is totally a specific activity as opposed to just how your body looks.

Or there’s the thing about wanting to ban Ronald McDonald or stop airing fast food ads early in the day. Because this makes kids want unhealthy food. You know, if the kids are young enough for something like Ronald McDonald to appeal to them, then they’re young enough that they aren’t exactly going out and buying the Happy Meals themselves. Instead, some ADULT is buying it for them. People are worried about advertising these things to kids, but kids aren’t even the ones making the purchase. Take away the ads, and they’ll still wind up with a Happy Meal because their parents got a craving for Big Macs. And McDonalds is sort of everywhere (I can think of at least five within a couple miles of me), so it’s not like kids would be unaware it exists even if the ads went away.

Not to mention that whether the ads or clown are there, that does nothing about the parents that feed fast food to their kids on a daily basis, whether or not they themselves eat it. Why? Because they’re so afraid if they give kids anything else, they won’t eat. Which ends up a self-fulfilling prophecy, because when that’s all the kids are given, it will be all they’ll eat, since anything else would be foreign to them. Part of the stupid fucking myth that burgers, fries, hot dogs, and pizza are all kids will eat, that they’d rather die than eat a vegetable. Which, if I may go on a tangent for a moment, I always found insulting when I was a kid. The TV shows and ads had kid characters who hated or complained about vegetables, usually broccoli or brussels sprouts, as if this was supposed to appeal to me. It didn’t. I’ve always liked vegetables. And I resented these adult-created media aimed at kids always deciding for me that, as a kid, these are the foods I’m supposed to like and not like.

In fact, that’s part of this, too. Many McDonalds ads aimed at kids. Certain cereals aimed at kids. Kids’ menus containing only unhealthy options. Adults have created an unhealthy culinary culture for kids, telling them that, as kids, these are the sort of foods that are for them. I mean, just stroll down the cereal aisle. The less healthy more sugary cereals are the ones advertised for kids, and the healthier, ultra fortified ones are aimed at adults. Local grocery store used to even label the different sections of the aisle “Kids Cereals” and “Adult Cereals”. Which doesn’t make a lick of sense. Until Crispix comes with a free bottle of Jack Daniels and a Hustler, then you can tell me it’s an adult cereal, but lacking that, I think it’s just food. So, basically, in the ever so pointless division of which foods are for adults and which are for kids, it is kids that get left with and encouraged to eat exclusively the ultra sugary high fat crap. And the adults are blaming the fucking kids for it!

I’m not saying any foods need to be hidden or banned. Well beside the point. But when you give someone a powdered donut, and they eat the donut, don’t call them a pig for eating a donut.

And, of course, there’s one more interesting question here. Why this? Why the concern over childhood obesity at all? I mean, for one, adults have waaaay higher obesity rates than kids. And even some of the people of all ages who get called fat or obese really aren’t all that big. Yet why is kids’ body image suddenly everyone’s concern? Well, there’s of course the fact of an ageist society that kids are considered public property. But there are so many other things out there harming kids. Diabetes. Muscular dystrophy. Cancer. Hell, even tooth decay, which would give insecure adults yet another reason to attack kids’ eating habits (their diet consisting entirely of foods those adults gave them, of course). Why obesity? Well, answer is obvious. You can see it. Literally. Obesity means kids’ appearances aren’t what adults think they should be. So, really, while there are still the health concerns, sure, this all still comes down to child objectification. Fat kids aren’t pleasing to the public eye, so they must be ridiculed and shamed, all under the guise of encouraging good health. Yeah, that’s totally how you make people healthy. Not through assistance with creating a healthier lifestyle, or anything that’s actually respectful. Instead, insult the hell out of them and make them hate themselves. And wonder why they develop eating disorders later. I want to punch you assholes in the face so much.

And, honestly, any adult who thinks kids should be eye candy should instead be expecting an invitation from Chris Hansen to have a seat.

This has been Day 29 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

My dad is an asshole and so is yours.

Alright, maaaybe there are some who aren’t assholes, but that’s a pretty big leap of faith.

I’ve made a total of three anti-Mother’s Day entries yet no anti-Father’s Day ones. The main reason for it has been laziness, that when it rolled around I never got around to getting an entry put together. One might think it’s because I hate Mother’s Day more, but that’s not the case at all.

There’s an important difference between the days, and therefore in my view of them. I mentioned Mother’s Day has this idea that it is still 1955, that motherhood consists entirely of endless housework and being annoyingly overemotional, and that we should be celebrating this idea. That it’s mom who deals with every little thing about the kids and knows everything about them.

Father’s Day, and the traditional view of fatherhood, however, goes totally a different direction. Dads aren’t supposed to be involved with or to know anything about their kids at all. What’s their job? Grilling steaks. Maybe fixing cars. Oh, and if you’re a boy, teaching you to shave.

In my experience, yeah, dad was the one who did the grilling and the car stuff. But actual interaction with him has pretty much always ever been superficial, mostly quoting The Simpsons or comiserating about the Redskins. Beyond that, well, I grew up terrified of my dad. He had a major temper and drank all the damn time. He’s still like that. He always insulted us and had no real interest in anything about us. In general, he’s a spineless weakling when it comes to dealing with people, and as such gets walked on by everyone, never sticks up for himself, and sure enough, my sister and I had to suffer for it, since, well, that’s what happens when you’re unfortunate enough to be the ones someone like that actually does have authority over.

I could go on, but I don’t want to write it any more than you want to read it. This is far from the sort of stuff that I’d want to sit here today and act like is so wonderful. Yet at the same time, what I went through was fairly mild compared to very very many. I know a girl who was treated brutally by her dad. She’s well into her 20’s now, and what’s her relationship with her dad? Does she speak to him? Uh, yes, yes she does. She sees him. They do stuff. As if there was never anything bad beforehand at all. And that’s even with her knowing full well she was abused, as opposed to the sickening many who refuse to see what their parents did to them as abusive at all.

While obviously I don’t know what all she did to maybe resolve these issues, I find the readiness to forgive parents for mistreatment to be very bothersome. Is there anybody else who could physically assault you for nearly two decades of your life, that you would readily forgive and decide that having a good relationship with them is more important than acknowledging that they had no respect for your bodily autonomy? That it’s always excused with “that’s how they were taught children were raised”. Which is the lamest, stupidest fucking excuse ever.

And that’s another little traditional stereotypical thing about dads. That when the kids are misbehaving (which usually just means having more fun than adults are comfortable with), it’s the dads that must come in with the force, the coercion, the booming yelling. Because apparently, part of being a man is attacking people a quarter of your size. And that, along with grilling some chicken, changing the oil, and building a bookcase, is what Father’s Day is all about celebrating.

Now for the dads who don’t follow that stereotype, who actually are involved with the kids on a more real personal level, have patience, have trust, hey, that’s good. You aren’t the aforementioned asshole dads.

Yet Father’s Day, like Mother’s Day, doesn’t really care whether any specific parents have truly earned that title, whether they’ve used that position for good or evil. Just celebrates all of them. Which, honestly, is irresponsible and dangerous. Don’t tell me I have to honor my dad today. If you want to honor your own dad, that’s your business. But my dad’s an asshole, I’m not calling or visiting him today, and I’m certainly not interested in your judgmental gasping at this, thinking this makes me a bad person. Fuck him and fuck you too.

This has been Day 28 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.

So here’s my letter to them. Enjoy!

Dear Allstate,

Recently, I was shopping around for car insurance. I checked several companies, but Allstate was not one of them. Why? Because Allstate feels the need to run magazine ads spreading disgusting lies about teenagers missing parts of their brains. I will not do business with a company like that. As a youth rights advocate, these sort of ad campaigns work against everything my colleagues and I are giving our lives to work for. Spreading these negative stereotypes about teenagers not only doesn’t make your insurance policies or your company look any more appealing even to a neutral observer, but these widespread beliefs cause real harm to young people. Telling people that teenagers can’t think for themselves not only causes teens to be mistrusted and prevented from gaining experience they’ll need to have in adulthood, but also it contributes to them being mentally and physically abused. When you spread the idea that a group of people are mentally inferior, people will treat them that way. By running these “teen brain” ads, Allstate is stating they are fine with teenagers being treated as less than human. As such, as long as the company chooses to promote itself this way and without an apology, I will never buy an Allstate insurance policy and will do all I can to persuade others not to.

Sincerely,
Katrina Moncure
National Youth Rights Association

Do the same. Go here.

This has been Day 7 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.