My Rant

I don't rant on this blog very often, so I feel I'm entitled to one free rant now.

My problem is with insensitive people. I don't mean people who don't cry at sad movies, but rather people who don't think about what they're saying and who they're saying it to. Case in point:

I was at a restaurant with a bunch of my friends the other day and much of the conversation centered on Hurricane Rita. About ten minutes into it someone started talking about the news coverage and then it became a sort of feeding frenzy among my friends to see who could come up with the worst story about how horrible news reporters are and what a terrible job they do. Although none of the comments were personally related to me, many of them were directed at me as though they wanted my confirmation and affirmation of the statements they were making. They literally spent the next HOUR bashing the media. At one point I even politely stated that the conversation was making me uncomfortable and asked if we could change the subject, but they refused to take me seriously. I finally got frustrated and decided it was just time to leave.

Now I know that reporters make mistakes and sensationalize things. I know that not all coverage is good coverage. But I also know not all of it is bad and some of it is very important. But my real point is think about how what you're saying may be affecting the person you're talking to. If you're a teacher and I spent an hour talking to you about how horrible the public education system is and what a terrible job teachers are doing you might start to feel a little defensive. If you're a lawyer and I lock you into a conversation about how horrible the profession is and how most lawyers are crooks and have no morals you might start to feel like you're under attack. To quote my friend Steven Murray "Think it through people!"