Having a Bad Day?: Get 'yer Hugs here!!

[Arrae]

My mom says that because I got one B out of six classes, and did nothing else in my first year of high school besides joining a sports team and volunteering throughout last summer, I have "screwed up my life." Compared to other kids of family friends and relatives, I am not a genius and will never go to college (besides a community college), setting me up for some unspecified doom.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

2 minutes ago, Arraenae said:

My mom says that because I got one B out of six classes, and did nothing else in my first year of high school besides joining a sports team and volunteering throughout last summer, I have "screwed up my life." Compared to other kids of family friends and relatives, I am not a genius and will never go to college (besides a community college), setting me up for some unspecified doom.

Tell your mom to stop stealing plays from Twimom's book.  

On another note, don't worry too much about what she says. Throughout most of high school, I got mostly As, but my parents always zeroed in on the one B, and Harmony help me if I brought home a C. I joined very few clubs and activities, being painfully shy and terrified of criticism, which my parents were quick to say would kill me when applying for colleges. 

College time rolls around. I applied at local schools—one public university, one private, and the community college. I'm accepted to all of them, and one of them offers me a scholarship. Since the private university only offers me a partial scholarship and I'd have to live on campus (thus driving the cost up further), I choose the community college, which had offered me basically a free ride. 

Do you know what happened to my academic record when I graduated from community college? 

Absolutely nothing. 

I went to school. I took classes, got good grades, and saved money. When I applied again for the public university, they didn't take one look at my community college degree and laugh me out of the county. They accepted me, offered me some loans, and gave me a degree two years later. And when I applied for a graduate program at a nationally known university a year after that, I was accepted. Where I'd gone to college didn't matter as much as the fact that graduated with a solid GPA and a piece of paper proving that I could be taught. 

Basically: Your mom trying to scare you with community college should be cause for laughter, not terror. Prestige is overrated. (Unless you want to become a Supreme Court justice, in which case you'll almost certainly have to get your law degree from an Ivy League school, but that's another argument entirely.) Colleges aren't looking for prestige; they're looking for proof that you can be taught and that you'll make their school look good. And with mostly As and one B, you'll have no trouble at all getting accepted nearly anywhere. Cost should be your only barrier. 

[Darkness Ascendant]

Eh, had a bad day, mostly for others, not exactly for me.

Started off fine. Woke up for serih, ate. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 12 sick and remembered at the last moment that  I had a soccer game.

Parents couldn't take me but luckily one of my mates was available.

Went there, played, lost 5-1, my mate Lachlan gets hit in the face and his braces cut into his lips

And then in the last moment my mate Marcel gets on the receiving end of a horrendous tackle and got a concussion and is currently in hospital with no memory of what happened today 

Plus the game was a knock-out and we were one match from the grand-final. 

[Mestiv]

We're having another portion of serum, antibiotics and other vitamines. Tobi isn't feeling much better, but he isn't getting worse either! He almost fell asleep during IV while on my fiancee's arms even if physically he's still in bad shape it looks like he has better mood

[WayneSpren]

I'm going to be away from the site for five days. FIVE DAYS!!

...just don't post anything funny while I'm gone okay? Ok.

 

[Ecthelion III]

Bye WayneSpren! I was just gone for 6 days this past week and 4 days the week before that. So, don't worry

Edited July 4, 2016 by Ecthelion III

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Elie Wiesel died today.  

[Orlion Blight]

22 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Elie Wiesel died today.  

Yeah

[Arrae]

23 hours ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Tell your mom to stop stealing plays from Twimom's book.  

On another note, don't worry too much about what she says. Throughout most of high school, I got mostly As, but my parents always zeroed in on the one B, and Harmony help me if I brought home a C. I joined very few clubs and activities, being painfully shy and terrified of criticism, which my parents were quick to say would kill me when applying for colleges. 

College time rolls around. I applied at local schools—one public university, one private, and the community college. I'm accepted to all of them, and one of them offers me a scholarship. Since the private university only offers me a partial scholarship and I'd have to live on campus (thus driving the cost up further), I choose the community college, which had offered me basically a free ride. 

Do you know what happened to my academic record when I graduated from community college? 

Absolutely nothing. 

I went to school. I took classes, got good grades, and saved money. When I applied again for the public university, they didn't take one look at my community college degree and laugh me out of the county. They accepted me, offered me some loans, and gave me a degree two years later. And when I applied for a graduate program at a nationally known university a year after that, I was accepted. Where I'd gone to college didn't matter as much as the fact that graduated with a solid GPA and a piece of paper proving that I could be taught. 

Basically: Your mom trying to scare you with community college should be cause for laughter, not terror. Prestige is overrated. (Unless you want to become a Supreme Court justice, in which case you'll almost certainly have to get your law degree from an Ivy League school, but that's another argument entirely.) Colleges aren't looking for prestige; they're looking for proof that you can be taught and that you'll make their school look good. And with mostly As and one B, you'll have no trouble at all getting accepted nearly anywhere. Cost should be your only barrier. 

Thanks. It helps hearing your experiences.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

14 minutes ago, Arraenae said:

Thanks. It helps hearing your experiences.

Hope things get better for you soon. I cannot overstate how much it sucks, being yelled at for tiny errors.  

23 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

Yeah

It's like a light has gone out, a beautiful shining light, and while we're not in the dark partly because of that light, we still notice that it's gone. We feel it, we see it, and I think it'll be a while before we all know how to cope. 

[Kaymyth]

 I will not respond to my brother's offensive Facebook memes...I will not respond to my brother's offensive Facebooks memes...I will not respond...

[Silverblade5]

54 minutes ago, Kaymyth said:

 I will not respond to my brother's offensive Facebook memes...I will not respond to my brother's offensive Facebooks memes...I will not respond...

What did he say?

[Kaymyth]

3 minutes ago, Silverblade5 said:

What did he say?

He posted a meme questioning the masculinity of any man who doesn't own a firearm, thus obliquely (and probably inadvertently) insulting my husband.

It just isn't worth it to argue.  I know this.  But seriously, I have no idea how my brother and I came out of the same mother.

[Mestiv]

1 minute ago, Kaymyth said:

He posted a meme questioning the masculinity of any man who doesn't own a firearm, thus obliquely (and probably inadvertently) insulting my husband.

It just isn't worth it to argue.  I know this.  But seriously, I have no idea how my brother and I came out of the same mother.

It seems there is something wrong with over 90% of men in this world... I feel like I need to compensate by having huge Magnum in my pants

[Silverblade5]

I just spilled a pot of boiling water. It hurts. 

[Delightful]

10 minutes ago, Kaymyth said:

He posted a meme questioning the masculinity of any man who doesn't own a firearm, thus obliquely (and probably inadvertently) insulting my husband.

It just isn't worth it to argue.  I know this.  But seriously, I have no idea how my brother and I came out of the same mother.

One of my favourite language things is that to 'be a man' in English means to be tough, rough and unemotional. Ie "man up!"

Man in Yiddish is mensch. 

To be a mensch is to be polite, dignified, generous and kind. 

Ie "oh wow he's such a mensch I must marry him to my daughter" ()

 

(And I'll be super interested if people want to compare with other languages too). 

 

@Silverblade5 ouch  get whatever hurts under cold running water till it stops burning, it'll draw out the heat. 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2016 by Delightful

[Orlion Blight]

In Spanish, man (hombre) is one letter different from hunger (hambre)

A man needs to be fed! 

[Chaos]

23 minutes ago, Kaymyth said:

He posted a meme questioning the masculinity of any man who doesn't own a firearm, thus obliquely (and probably inadvertently) insulting my husband.

It just isn't worth it to argue.  I know this.  But seriously, I have no idea how my brother and I came out of the same mother.

This is so incredibly offensive to me. Screw macho d-bags like that. Macho masculinity has done so much harm to the world.

Some people shouldn't own firearms. I'm one of them. It is a very bad idea for me to own firearms. Access to firearms in homes increases suicide risk by a lot. But macho men don't understand that suicide is a really huge part of gun violence, presumably because they do not understand how emotions or feelings work.

Also, please, the power fantasy that you're going to defend your home or stop a mass shooting with your gun is irresponsible. Not only is it statistically unlikely for you to ever be in that situation, but when your adrenaline is that high in a situation like that, how good do they think their aim is? Probably not that great. Unless you are ex military or police, you probably have no idea how to shoot straight under insane stress. 

If your brother wants some masculinity I will happily punch him in the face repeatedly. I'm infuriated just hearing this. Screw people like that.

[WayneSpren]

4 hours ago, Ecthelion III said:

Bye WayneSpren! I was just gone for 6 days this past week and 4 days the week before that. So, don't worry

How...how did you survive?

(Must...resist...urge...to...hide...out...by...library...and...use...their...computers...instead...of...going...on...trip)

[Kaymyth]

3 minutes ago, Chaos said:

This is so incredibly offensive to me. Screw macho d-bags like that. Macho masculinity has done so much harm to the world.

Some people shouldn't own firearms. I'm one of them. It is a very bad idea for me to own firearms. Access to firearms in homes increases suicide risk by a lot. But macho men don't understand that suicide is a really huge part of gun violence, presumably because they do not understand how emotions or feelings work.

Also, please, the power fantasy that you're going to defend your home or stop a mass shooting with your gun is irresponsible. Not only is it statistically unlikely for you to ever be in that situation, but when your adrenaline is that high in a situation like that, how good do they think their aim is? Probably not that great. Unless you are ex military or police, you probably have no idea how to shoot straight under insane stress. 

If your brother wants some masculinity I will happily punch him in the face repeatedly. I'm infuriated just hearing this. Screw people like that.

I don't engage because I know exactly what kind of person my brother is - a macho dudebro.  There is literally nothing I could say to him that would evoke any sort of response that didn't make ME want to punch him in the face.  And I can't do that, because he's my brother.  Also he has a spinal cord injury, and punching him in the face could actually cause significant damage if it hits at the wrong angle.  As much as my brother infuriates me, I'd kind of prefer to not actually kill him.

But...yeah.  That.  All of that.  And the power fantasy is even more ridiculous in his case, 'cause while yeah, he has military training, he's also got an injury that pretty much destroyed all of the fine-control dexterity on his dominant side.  He doesn't have the reflexes, reaction time, or fine motor control necessary for even having a prayer of pulling it off.

[Delightful]

21 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

In Spanish, man (hombre) is one letter different from hunger (hambre)

A man needs to be fed! 

Hamburgers!

There is that saying about the way to a man's heart....  

 

@Kaymyth and he's allowed to own a gun? That's insane. 

Is the main reason people want guns for the power fantasy thing? O_o

Edited July 4, 2016 by Delightful

[Zathoth]

I am of the opinion that you are not a real man unless you can kill a bear with your bare hands and skin it with nothing but your teeth.

So that puts the real man count to around two.

Im sure as damnation not one of them.

[Kaymyth]

Just now, Delightful said:

Hamburgers!

There is that saying about the way to a man's heart....  

 

@Kaymyth and he's allowed to own a gun? That's insane. 

If you don't have a criminal record, you're allowed to own a gun.

I think he might actually do some hunting.  But deer hunting involves a lot of sitting in a tree and waiting for a deer to wander along.  Slow movements, lots of waiting, no quick reactions involved at all.  He's perfectly capable of aiming and squeezing a trigger.  He just can't do it quickly, however much he might think he can.

[Delightful]

2 minutes ago, Kaymyth said:

If you don't have a criminal record, you're allowed to own a gun.

I think he might actually do some hunting.  But deer hunting involves a lot of sitting in a tree and waiting for a deer to wander along.  Slow movements, lots of waiting, no quick reactions involved at all.  He's perfectly capable of aiming and squeezing a trigger.  He just can't do it quickly, however much he might think he can.

Does criminal record include parking tickets?

but that's the only qualification? 

Hunting is legal? What do you do with the animal once it's dead? 

........I don't think I'm ever gonna understand America. 

[Chaos]

10 minutes ago, Delightful said:

Hamburgers!

There is that saying about the way to a man's heart....  

 

@Kaymyth and he's allowed to own a gun? That's insane. 

Is the main reason people want guns for the power fantasy thing? O_o

Guns and America are a very strange thing. Some people very much romanticize owning a gun. The issue is also insanely politicized and even the most minor regulations on guns, the NRA says would be a slippery slope on the government taking away their guns, which no one ever suggested in the first place. Total paranoia. This happens on things like universal background checks to buy guns, which are not a thing in the US. It is actually easier to buy a gun than get a driver's license. 

I could go to Walmart and buy a gun probably same day. I am not sure but I don't think my struggles with suicide would appear on any checks to buy it. That's genuinely terrifying.

EDIT: As for hunting, hunters skin and deal with it all. They have to legally carry the carcass and stuff. Hunting is highly regulated. But generally they eat it I live in Montana so hunting is a normal thing. I have no problems with that as I believe you need to do classes to get hunting tags.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Chaos