I have a favorite cartoon, but I don't remember the title. It stars
a black and white cat with a red nose (not Sylvester), which leads
me to believe it is a Tex Avery cartoon. It opens with the cat exclaiming,
"I hate people."
Ever since childhood, this has always gotten a huge laugh showing
not only the genius of Tex Avery but the humor in simple observation.
I can't think of a day that has gone by where this simple scene
in a cartoon from the late forties has not entered my mind and brought
a smile to my face. It could possibly be the mechanism that quells
my blinding rage when people do asinine things.
Sure, I fall victim to road rage. But that's where people show
off their complete lack of competence on a regular basis... in their
car. It's the place they pick their nose, live out rockstar fantasies,
and generally forget about the world outside. Of course, this is
just me admitting that I'm just as asinine as anyone else. So, I'm
not going to discuss the police officer that cut me off on the way
home from work today.
Disillusionment
I don't want to mention names here, but recently I asked a famous
author for some advice. I explained to him that his writing was
extremely influential and I wished to send him a copy of He
Kept to Himself, Mostly. I explained that I wanted nothing
from him, no testimonials, no reviews, no criticisms, nothing. As
far as I was concerned, he could pick an address out of the phone
book and I would have been none the wiser.
In hindsight, I'm sure it looked like I was fishing for promotion
and expected no answer whatsoever. Instead, this famous author chose
to go the arrogant route posting a long rant on his site about how he
doesn't have time for everyone to send him stuff. Although this may be
true, a simple "no" would have sufficed.
Here's the kicker. In addition to his I-don't-have-time-for-my-fans spiel,
he included an anecdote about how he did the very same thing when he was
first published with no response from the famous author. My, what a dignified
way his famous author handled things.
Listen here, teabag. I know your job is ever so hard. Between the grueling
schedule of writing books, personal appearances, and awards banquets (which,
to be quite honest, the posts on your site about how many awards you've won and
where they're placed on your mantle is getting boring), you may want to
reconsider how you treat your fans. Obviously, you don't realize just how lucky
you are.
I guess my only consolation is that fame is fleeting.
Side-Rant
I was creeped out today by the glazed-over, perma-grin look on
a born-again Christian's face when the reporter asked her a question
with the word "Jesus" in it. Is that wrong?
I know. I'm going to Hell. |
