Metalsucks has a new post entitled, "Metalheads Are Honest; Also, Cops Like Donuts." The post concerns an ad about honesty. I would have posted the ad here so you can see for yourselves what it's about but it's not embedable so you'll have to watch in on YouTube if you want to see it. Having never seen it before I'm actually glad that Metalsucks posted the link. So, I really don't have a problem with the post itself (Vince makes a good point), what I deplore is some of the comments made by people on the site. The whole concept of the ad is ignored  in favor of stupid, juvenile comments that suggest that it's somehow wrong for people (at least people in the Metal community) to be honest. I don't care if they were being sarcastic, their sarcasm fails to mask the underlying negative attitude, and only one person bothered to say something good about it.

Why is being honest wrong? Even for a Metalhead?

Something else this week has been making me crazy, too; some recent criticism of people who've been convicted of crimes. It never ceases to amaze me how perfectly close-minded people can be. It would only take one simple mistake to make anyone on this planet a "convict" and yet so many people go out of their way to villify others for their mistakes. Let me point out to you: you are not perfect. You make mistakes. You'd better hope that when you make a serious one that there are more open-minded people than you around or your life is going to be Hell.

And yes, if it was an intentional thing then that's a bit different. But maybe you should stop and ask why someone would do whatever it was in the first place. There are underlying issue that prompt people to do things that we might consider wrong. But maybe society would be better served by getting these people the help they need rather than throwing invective at them.

Someone I was in a class with years ago made a comment that shows just how little most people understand about how the world works. She said that her best friend had been raped and murdered and that everyone who is now, has ever been, or ever will be in prison is personally responsible for her friends' death. What?! Are you kidding me? People with that attitude are part of what's wrong with society. To believe that "law-abiding citizens" bear no fault in the ills of society is beyond ridiculous. There are not words to describe how stupid that is.

No man is an island. We are all in this together. Everything you do, from the time you choose to get up in the morning, to what you choose to have for lunch, to what you watch on TV affects someone, somewhere, at some time, in some way. Yes, it does. Yeah, you're scratching your head trying to think what getting up in the morning has to do with anybody else. Well let me tell you.

If you get up late for work and you can't have breakfast or your morning coffee are you cranky? What happens if you're late for work because you slept through the alarm? How many people have you just affected? What did you have for lunch? Did you buy it from a store? How many people are you affecting by your choice of food?

Seriously, I could go on. But the point is, we really need to stop thinking that we're living in a vacuum. If you want consideration then you need to give it. When you are prejudice against some group then you move closer to becoming what you think they are; it's not them that has the problem, it's you.