smells like teen spirit

I don’t believe in telling anyone what they should and shouldn’t do or should and shouldn’t believe in. For instance, vegetarians. They’re nuttier than a box of granola, but I wouldn’t tell them that they shouldn’t believe the silly idea that eating vegetables exclusively is better than a balanced diet including meat. They, vegetarians, should be allowed to believe in whatever it is that stops the voices in their head from screaming. I’m all for that. Besides, so long as there are vegetarians, I’ll always have someone to make fun of.

I think that people should have the right to do whatever they want to do so long as it doesn’t harm others in the process. Like my girlfriend for instance. She likes Gael García Bernal regardless of what he happens to be doing on screen and most times it seems he’s sucking on some other guy’s penis. Not that there is anything wrong with Gael Garcia Bernal wanting to suck on some guy’s penis, even when it is for the sake of art. Well, for that matter, there’s nothing wrong with anyone wanting to suck on some guy’s penis if it makes them happy. I just don’t want to see it, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be allowed to see it if she wants to see it. So, I’ll walk out of the room and leave my girlfriend to watch Gael García Bernal suck a guys penis to her hearts content. It’s her choice, just as it is my choice to walk out of the room the moment Gael García Bernal starts to pucker his lips.

I often find it odd when people put the kibosh on other people’s activities. I have this friend… we’ll call him Jeff… mostly because that’s his name and I don’t mind humiliating him in public, but also because I can’t be bothered to think of an alias for him. Anyway, Jeff is one of those anti-establishment types. Doesn’t subscribe to any recognizable fashion trend, doesn’t eat at McDonald’s, won’t watch TV… you know, a social outcast. Anyway, one day he told me that when he and his fiance finally have children, he wouldn’t let them eat meat, eat at McDonald’s, buy or wear fashionable clothes, or watch television. At all. Ever. I then proceeded to explain to him how his kids would one day either kill him outright or take out a bunch of innocent strangers in a shopping mall with AK-47s… most likely while naked and covered in peanut butter (the kids not the strangers). I explained that by preventing his kids experiencing normal kid stuff, he was ensuring that they would be social outcasts and while he was fine with being an outcast, kids aren’t as easy with the idea of constant ridicule.

I think anytime you tell someone that they shouldn’t do something you’re really just increasing the likelyhood that that’s what they’ll want to do. It’s like banning a book. I can’t count how many times I went out of my way trying to read a book that my school banned. I think that it is better to let people explore their own likes and dislikes. Eventually you figure out on your own what is and isn’t acceptable for your self. Even if that acceptable behavior includes Gael García Bernal sucking on some guy’s penis.