Social media, learn everything you never wanted to know about anyone you know.

In today's world there are a myriad of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (just to name a few).  Of those listed I personally only use Facebook so I'll be using it as my "poster child" for this particular rant.

Facebook, I've come to the conclusion that I hate it just as much as I love it.  It is the perfect combination of good and evil depending on how you choose to perceive certain things, but let me begin with my explanation of why I feel this way.
(this could be a long and drawn out process and I'll try to combine my thoughts into a less than 500 page thesis)

On my personal Facebook page I have 882 "friends"  We are using the word friend very loosely there.  In actuality I can count my real friends (the people I consider friends) on my fingers, and I have about 30 or so family members.  The rest are people that I'm fond of but don't really hang out with, business contacts or people who think they know me because I served them a drink one night at the bar.  Sorry folks, but me being nice to you because I'm getting paid to be doesn't make us friends, it makes us acquaintances. 

The good

I fully enjoy being able to log in and keep up with my friends and family, look at their pictures and have conversations without ever having to pick up a phone. There is no longer a need for snail mail which I don't miss at all, even though I do miss getting unique "experience the moment" letters from my cousin Mike (to those confused that is kind of inside joke so don't feel badly for not understanding).
 I also use Facebook for business purposes.  On my business page I promote specials, and post pictures of our event nights; it's been an incredible tool to keep us in touch with our customer base.  I've even been known to use it to get in touch with my staff, once again enjoying the perk of not having to make a phone call.
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Some people refer to me as a cynic, I would call myself a realist.  Over the years my faith in humanity has consistently dropped.  Long gone are the days of the naivety of trusting and believing in people as a whole. I used to sincerely feel that the "few" bad apples didn't ruin the bunch (at times I deeply long for that feeling to return) but now I realize that the bad apples out number the good in staggering amounts.


Facebook's impact, the things I want to say here make me feel like I have some form of Tourette's syndrome; ready to cuss and spit and beat myself over the head with a large blunt instrument.   I'll refer to this as the "Dark side".

The bad and ugly "Dark side"


We are all entitled to our own opinions and are free to share them, that is the great thing about this country. What astonishes me are how many "friends" I have that are racist,hate-mongering, close minded, bigots; people I once was quite fond of that I absolutely no longer want to associate with.  Things I would have most likely never learned without Facebook!
 In recent years, for example, with the election and reelection of our first black president and gay marriage rights being in the fore front of debate, I have seen "friends" post pictures and say things that make my stomach turn!  Things that make me seriously wonder how we as a population ever crawled out of the dark ages.  Proof (to me) that as a whole our species maybe evolving technologically but certainly not socially.  I have lost all hope/faith in humans.  Animals > People!

 I will now stray away from that because honestly I could rant about it for days and this is already too long.  I will now spotlight a couple of types of  bad and ugly things that happen all the time on the "Dark side" of Facebook

• "TMI" Airing your personal dirty laundry on a public forum of any nature is not only stupid and a sure sign that you're an attention whore but completely inconsiderate to everyone that reads it.  If your are arguing with your significant other it is a private matter and should be kept that way.  If you are so childish to have the need to publicly drag them through the mud then maybe you shouldn't be in a relationship.  When both parties are involved and it turns into a full blown digital argument, you both should do us all a favor and GROW THE HELL UP ALREADY!!!  

•  "Sharers"~ The people who constantly repost  recent time urban legends, myths and lies, (ex: HIV infected needles in gas pump handles, the government requiring people to get micro-chipped and so on).  There are a few of types of "sharers" some think they are being helpful by spreading the word, some are naive and apparently believe "it's on the internet so it must be true" and then some aren't sure what to believe but share things anyway just in case (and they are just too lazy to do 30 seconds of research).           No matter what type of "sharer" you are,  http://www.snopes.com/ is your friend!!!!!!!!!!! It takes about a minute to look something up to see if it's true or not quit feeding the fire by spreading ignorance all over Facebook.

Moral of this very long story:  Use your brain (that is if you have one) and think before you post!

Gay marriage

Today opening arguments were given to the supreme court in the landmark gay marriage battle.
(warning! this could turn into a very scattered angry rant!)

Anyone that knows me knows that I am all for equality live and let live etc.  I've always thought of it like this: If two consenting adults want to get married, how in the hell is that any of my business?

The two most common opposing arguments:

• Gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage 

WTF?!  Are you fucking kidding me?  I can't recall a time in the history of man that there was "sanctity of marriage". Do I need to pull out charts of this country's divorce rates?  Sure there were times when people weren't allowed to divorce but that law didn't magically turn everyone into good little loving obedient spouses .  Shall we even begin to discuss how many people have died due to their "sanctimonious marriage"; How many wives murdered cheating husbands because they weren't allowed or would be outcasts if they were to leave them?  How many wives died at the hands of husbands anxious to replace them?  (Btw I'm not gender biased both situations can be applied to both genders just as equally) 
-Moral of the story, no matter who you are or whether you're married in a church or not, "Sanctity of Marriage" is a myth.

• It's immoral and goes against God 

If you believe in God, that's great for you.  That is your choice and I'm fine with that as long as you aren't trying to preach to me.
  No matter what you believe God/religion/the church has no place in a federal/state legally binding agreement.  That is what this boils down to plain and simple.  We aren't all debating if gay people should be allowed to run down to the nearest Catholic church and get married by a priest in the eyes of God.  We are debating whether or not the states in this country should give homosexuals the right to sign a legally binding contract.  Why is this so difficult for some of you?  Compare it to any hetero couple that gets married in a court house in front of a JP or at a drive through in Vegas..  That's not some holy ritual that we are all praying at. 
 One of the founding principles of this country was freedom from religious persecution, everyone's freedom of religion or the lack there of.  By forbidding homosexuals from getting married, aren't we in fact religiously persecuting them?  Taking religious beliefs and shoving them down their throats and collectively screaming "My God doesn't like what you're doing so we won't allow you to do it!"? 
  If churches of various faiths refuse to preform marriage ceremonies based on sexual orientation so be it; that is their belief and they have the right to refuse based on THEIR religious beliefs.  However, in this country where both love and justice are blind, we as a people should be blind to someones gender when they are lucky enough to have found someone they are willing to make miserable for the rest of their lives.

So it begins

If you're a closed minded easily offended bigot please turn back now!

I've been threatening for quite a while to start a blog and BOOM! Today seemed like the day to do so. The only purposes of this blog is for me to be able to truly vent/ponder in written form and occasionally share my thoughts on heated topics with my friends.  Most people do the latter on Facebook but since my personal account is associated with my business account I do my best to keep my opinions off of Facebook.

I will rant and rave on various "hot topics", constantly question the general lack of competence in the human race and rage over moronic behavior that I encounter each weekend at work (names will be changed to protect the stupid and guilty)

There will be no format, no schedule, no rhyme, no reason ehh I'm sure you get the point (and if you don't you shouldn't bother to read anything I post in the future because you won't have the ability to comprehend anything I say.  Hell how do you dress yourself in the mornings?).

So, that being said, Hello and welcome to the world of an insane bar owner!