Fast Food versus Sexuality, Orientation

Only in America would a divisive, manufactured 'political issue' come to a head at a fast food chain. I don't use the quotes to say that gay rights aren't an issue, or that marriage equality is jokes bro, but the issue is blown out of all proportion by one or both sides and it's annoying to see what was once a great country turned into a hobbled caricature of itself. Political issues should deal with good governance, any country mouthing anything or pointing fingers about poverty, hate, and human rights should have solved its own problems before sallying forth into other countries. But that's a lost battle, and the USA is far from alone in offending those of us who prefer politics to revolve less around identity, distraction/division, brand; and more around effective, efficient, consistently improving policy. And, oh, I don't know: honesty, transparency, good governance, and other foolish little things that have been largely forgotten and are outsourced to the drudges of bureaucracy.

That digressive aside aside, the whole fried chicken fiasco is about as insane as you'd expect. Dan Cathy openly admitted to having a specific belief in marriage, supposedly Christian, which determines that it can only involve one man and one woman. This has been the de facto form of marriage for something around two thousand years. It has been strictly enforced for maybe one thousand, and it has been a hysterical point of order for the last 40. It's more or less a distraction meant to separate and confuse people. It works really well, as it turns out, at doing that. Dan Cathy isn't the enemy; he's just the enemy's unwitting pawn. He's already purchased a certain existence that he feels is fair to him and those he loves, and how others feel about his overblown comments will not bother him. Was the entire event even heartening to see? Photos and videos suggest there's some kind of super-important event that's worth swarming a franchise restaurant about, like voters in the third world traveling hundreds of miles only to wait in the dust to vote... except:

This mindless wasteful dumb herd is all the satire this divisive issue needs. They have been crafted into satires of themselves. Clearly America is in trouble, and for the smug rest of the world: you're no better and believe in the same fundamental lies. It's in so much trouble that many people can't even walk to a fast food restaurant (priding itself on exceptional quality and service), to make clear how they feel about what other people do, in the privacy of their own lives. This kind of shit causes traffic problems. It will get to the point where the difference between fries, a burger and a shake will mean life or death for thousands. Except, well, it already means financial destitution, factory farming, environmental destruction, and pure unadulterated wastefulness. But those, of course, are small issues compared to the love a homosexual individual may feel towards another homosexual individual.

So burn your gas waiting in line with the AC cranked and your favourite Kid Rock album on the stereo, or sweat in the heat singing hymns with your friends, or stand a few feet from all of that and kiss your sweetheart in protest, or just protest. Wave your flags. Just... don't for a second question your existence and what it's come to, your material or social privilege, and all the myriad things you take for granted in the equation. Never change, America. Never change until it's too late, and the chilling reflection occurs to you that all of that bullshit you thought was so important and worth suffering and fighting and hating for isn't going to mean anything when the cannibals come knocking in the middle of the dark night of hunger. Your leaders will be done pulling you around like puppets, and some of them will even be safe, and don't go asking to join my inclusive non-hate survivalist gang. We were recruiting even when you bought into the fried chicken hysteria of 2012 – you just didn't care. You had bigger chickens to fry.

Fast food politics. Let's not get too afraid of what this means, but let's not forget about this anytime soon. I'll give 5 dollars to the first person willing and able to make a satire about this and I'll pay 50 to the network who broadcasts it.

Nighttime Wasteland City Stroll

It's extremely awkward when one (yes, 'one') is walking down the street in the nighttime entertainment district and meets some friends, but one is on a mission to find a bar to go to, and undertakes that mission on behalf of a picky bunch of Russians, so one cannot go with one's friends. Then one thinks, "Damn it all, I just missed time with my rarely-seen friends only to have these rascals rush away into the night." And you get stuck in a packed bar and it's not really too much fun, but you got a bit of a buzz on so you buy more drinks, and eventually you get shortchanged somehow and hope karma will make an example of the fool who begrudges you 3 dollars in change.

It's a nighttime wasteland, and really the best part is when you're just strolling around talking to people and hooting cigarettes and watching the police move around. Few drunks are really happy, and most are just viciously intent on proving (most likely to themselves) that they are having fun, right at this moment, and are spontaneous. The most spontaneous thing a drunk does is puke, but they're liable to do other things I guess. Maybe you were expecting me to write a poem, or a short story, or an exegesis of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. In time these things may happen... I just want to spread this blog but first it has to amount to something worth hocking.

In other news I'll be apologizing (for the lack of posts yesterday) tomorrow. It was just that Community being back on TV was such a big deal, but then I tried to stream it on a 'regional television website' and got a stuttery, almost unwatchable video. I was dismayed, in truth. The sound was fine but I can't just listen to a television show.