It sickens me

On Opening Day, a SF Giants fan was critically injured after being beaten by a pair of men who waylay-ed him and his two friends in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium after the game.  The fan had to have a piece of his skull removed to relieve pressure on his brain, and he is currently in a medically induced coma.

The reason why he and his friends were attacked?  Because he dared wear a jersey from the Dodgers' sworn enemies...the San Francisco Giants.  There is nothing about that sentence that doesn't sicken me.  Sports rivalries can and should be fun.  They can absolutely add to one's enjoyment of the game.  Sneaking up on a fan of a rival team in the parking lot, attacking him and kicking him repeatedly in the head just because he was wearing a Giants jersey...that's just stupid and horrifying.

I wore a Yankee jersey and cap to a game at Fenway once, and I never really felt uncomfortable.  One guy came up to me and screamed "Yankees suck!" at me, but it was 1998 and the Yankees clearly didn't suck so I just kind of laughed at him.  So did his friends.  Aside from that, everyone was pretty cordial.  Never in a million years would I think that it could cost me my life.

Then there is John Steigerwald of the Observer-Reporter in Pennsylvania.  A journalist, by name if not by actions.  His response is that at a certain point in one's life, wearing the jersey or colors of your favorite team might be the wrong choice.  That you really aren't being "part of the team", as he believes some fans think.  I never thought that way.  I don't think that wearing my Yankee hat to the grocery store or the library or Fenway Park makes me a "part of the team".  It's just my way of showing that I'm proud of the team that I love to follow.  As a fan.  And to blame the actions of a couple of violent thugs on what the victim was wearing...well, that's too sickening a thought to follow to its sad conclusion.

He doesn't come right out and say that the victim "had it coming".  He doesn't need to.  It's right there in his tone.

And it sickens me.

UPDATE: Here's Steigerwald's response and "apology" to the family of the man who was beaten.  Not about the words that he wrote (which he implicitly states that he never meant that the victim "had it coming"), but he apologizes if the nonsense written about the article by nonsensical bloggers ever reaches their ears.  Well, that's mighty white of him.   His argument is that he in no way felt the victim "deserved" what he got, but maybe was an "unwitting contributor".  It doesn't matter how often Steigerwald states now that he never wrote that the victim deserved it or "had it coming".  Like I said earlier, it was clear from the tone of the original article.  Kudos to him for the semi-apology, and for at least semi-acknowledging the mistake.  But he should have manned up and said something like "I can see now how my words could have been read that way, and I apologize."  Instead, he blames hysterical bloggers.  Way to ensure Round 2 of this particular fight, douchebag.  Go get him, Ken Tremendous.

Self-Serve

I'm a self-serve kinda guy.

Whether it's making my own coffee at the deli (I know how I like it), pumping my own gas* or using an ATM instead of a bank teller.  If the option for self-service is there, I take it.

But I've been reconsidering the self-checkout at the supermarket lately. 

It's not the service itself.  I love it.  Scan my own items, scan my card, bag my groceries...I'm outta there.  Generally a lot faster than having some kid or some semi-retarded handicapped person do it for me.

What I am beginning to hate is the other people who are using self-checkout at the grocery.  Mainly the person in front of me and the person behind me.

The person in front of me is either retarded or it is their first time using this service because they just can't seem to grasp the complexities of scan and pay.  The computer boggles their mind.  They, more often than not, fuck something up and require a "manager" to come over and fix said fuck up.  Then they can't figure out how to pay with their debit or credit card.  The machine tells them EXACTLY what to do...yet they still act as if they are being asked to perform some kind of complex medical procedure.  Slow and steady as they go.  Then they take forever to bag their shit at the end of the conveyor and I don't want my stuff getting their cooties so I have to wait until they figure out the bagging procedures.   Should only take a minute or so, but they clearly aren't in any rush.  They like it at the grocery story, apparently. 

I want to punch the person in front of me in the junk!

But then they finish and I am left to my own resources.  I do my thing...quickly and I go to bag my purchases.  And, once again...more often than not, the person BEHIND me starts scanning stuff and the conveyor starts going and our shit is getting co-mingled.  Is that my mayonaisse or is it theirs?  Who can tell at this point because the asshole behind me couldn't wait 20 seconds for me to finish my bagging.  And I'm not like the retard in FRONT of me.  I get the job done quickly, but give me a minute, y'all!

I want to kick the person behind me in the ass!

So I think I'm going back to the retarded teenage checkout kid.  He/she may have an extra chromosome, but  at least I won't have to deal with the rest of humanity while buying my toilet paper and Doritos.

*I've got to bust on Slyde a little here.  Back in the day he would never pump his own gas.  We'd be out and about and if he was driving there would be times we would need to stop and get gas.  He always would go to the Full Serve pump and wait for the attendent to pump his gas.  Even if they charged more.  He sheepishly would admit that he just didn't want to do anything wrong and look stupid.  Always made me laugh.  I believe he has manned up and started pumping his own gas as this was a while ago, but since I never miss an opportunity to take a jab at the guy I figured I would share it with y'all.  I'm sure he will be none-too-thrilled with me.  Oh well. - Earl

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. I fucking hate people, but I love gatherings.  Ironic, isn't it? Randall knows what I'm talking about.