Teenage Girls Baffle Me...

I'm going to share with you a McDonald's advertisement. Not very exciting but bare with me, there's a point to this.

In it, there are a bunch of conversations going on but the only one that bugs me is the one concerning the teenage girl.

She says that a guy texted her back saying, "See you later" and this apparently confuses her as if it's a really cryptic message with a hidden meaning. So what does it mean? IT MEANS HE WILL SEE YOU LATER!

He's probably busy and can't text you anymore at the minute and so instead of not texting you back at all, he says "See you later" as a sort of goodbye message. Or you've arranged to meet up and so he says that as he knows he'll be seeing you again later on that day!

It isn't confusing at all.

What's worse is that there is a longer version of this advert where her friends basically back her up with saying that "See you later" is such an awful thing to text back. Wtf? No wonder so many relationships don't last if girls think that that is such a terrible thing to do. Sigh. 

Like I said, teenage girls baffle me...

Wrong on so many levels...

The other night, I watched a very disturbing programe called talhotblond (Tall Hot Blonde). It told the true life story about a girl and two guys who met online and how their relationship with each other had significant impacts on each others lives.

I missed the first ten minutes of the programe so excuse me if the details are a little sketchy. Though you'll get the gist of it. So here goes:

An 18 year old girl called Jessie starts talking to this young marine called Tommy in an online chatroom. Jessie's username is talhotblond (hence the title of the show). They talk and talk and eventually fall for each other, at one stage Jessie even sends him her underwear. Jessie has an online profile so Tommy is able to see her pictures and knows that she is "real". Unfortunately for Jessie, Tommy is not.

Turns out that Tommy is a retired 46 year old marine who got found out by his wife. She divorced him and contacted Jessie telling her to watch what she does online. She also sent her a picture of the true Tommy, known as Tom. Jessie is distraught and devastated as she truly loved Tommy whilst Tom feels so bad for lying to her. He said that he did truly love her too. They decide to not talk anymore. 

Jessie then starts talking to a guy called Brian who works with the real life Tom but is closer to Jessie's age. She tells him all about Tom and how he pretended to be someone else. Brian is pretty disgusted and confronts him in real life. Jessie pretty much goads him into fighting with him but they don't. Quite confusingly when Tom contacts her to ask her to leave him alone, she starts saying she misses him and wants to be friends! Tom is utterly confused but talks to her anyway because he does genuinely care for her. It didn't take them long to get frisky again.

He gets pissed off however when he finds out that she's still talking to Brian. He's jealous of their relationship, thinking that they are sleeping together. She makes promises to stop talking to Brian but she doesn't. On and on it goes until Tom snaps.

When Brian was leaving work one night, he is shot three times. The police travel to Jessie's home to warn her of the danger and it turns out that Jessie is actually a middle aged woman who was using her daughter's identity!! Tom is later arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison whilst "Jessie" gets off free as she apparently didn't break any laws!

Her husband divorced her and her daughter, whose identity she used, disowned her. What's even more disturbing is that she purposely tried to photograph her daughter in compromising positions in order to send them to men online. She even posted her daughters underwear!!

Ironically she is now currently writing a book on the dangers of the internet. Are you frigging kidding me?!

The Local Pigeon Botherer

On New Year's Eve, Paul and I went out into town and did a bit of shopping before going to a local pub to get some lunch. Whilst waiting to be served, an old lady walked through the door, her eyes completely focused on me. I didn't have a fucking clue who she was and was a little freaked out when she started making her way to our table. Once she got close enough, she started flailing her arms before pointing her finger at me saying, 

"You tell them to leave my boys alone or else I'll send them in after ye!"

WHAT THE LIVING FUCK?

Did I just get threatened by an ole granny?!

Paul and I were utterly flabbergasted! So much so that we just laughed it off as she made her way outside again. Now we just ignored it but a guy at the bar saw the whole thing and told us that she's just a local who feeds the pigeons. And that her little rant was because he usually chases them away.

So her "boys" that she was refering to? Were the pigeons.

Only in Derry guys! Only in Derry...

Student Life: Bystander Intervention

If you saw someone being mugged what would you do? Intervene and help? Or ignore it and pretend you didn't see anything?

I think all of us would say that we would intervene but realistically we probably wouldn't. According to psychologists, in order to intervene, certain factors need to be present. Firstly, the bystander would have to notice the event then interpret it as an emergency before deciding to take personal responsibility to intervene.

What's interesting is that if an event (such as smoke filling a room) occurs in a room full of people and no one says or does anything, then we are more than likely to not say or do anything either. This is known as Diffusion of Responsibility. Simply put, "no one else is doing anything, so why should I?"

Another reason why people don't say or do anything around other people is because we do not want to appear foolish. So if you think about it, we would rather risk our lives before looking like a fool. Isn't that crazy!

One totally unbelievable example of people standing back and doing nothing was the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964. Her screams and cries got the attention of 38 of her neighbours but not one of them helped her. They didn't even call the police until some time after she was dead! 

Obviously there are people out there who would intervene regardless if anyone else was there or not, otherwise there wouldn't be stories of good samaritans etc. So there is some hope for the human race after all!

Common Sense

Why do people put so much energy into hating things?

Surely if somebody enjoys something then people should let them be.

If you don't like reality tv, don't watch it.

If you don't like Twilight, don't read it.

If you don't like Justin Beiber, don't listen to his music.

Pretty simple, no?

Then why do people give each other such a hard time? 

Wanna know a pet hate of mine? Book snobs.

I hate how some people sit there and spout off how crap a certain book is. Fair enough if you don't like a book for whatever reason, that's your opinion, but don't slag other people off if they like it! To me, reading is about enjoying yourself and enjoying what you're reading. I've read plenty of books that are critically acclaimed and hated them. An example of this is Of Mice and Men. Sure it's "well written" but I would never pick it up again.

I've always been embarrassed to admit that I enjoy YA books more than anything else because of book snobs but you know what? I do and I don't care anymore. I can't help what I like and I'd rather read something I enjoy like Twilight than be bored senseless.

Because surely it's better for people to read whatever they enjoy than to not read at all?

Know your limits!

All very cool and sophiscated isn't it? But here's what the advertisers failed to include...

Men brawling with each other, bouncers or even policemen because they think they're invincible

Vulnerable drunk women

Passing out in disgusting places

Demeaning one night stands

Horrendous hangovers the following day

And my personal fav, the inevitable drunken Facebook pictures that will probably get you fired

Star Quality

What do you have to do to become a celebrity?

I'm asking, not because I wish to become one, but because lately in this day and age, everyone can become one despite not having any talent whatsoever.

I think this is wrong. In my eyes, only those who have a respectable talent should be considered as a celebrity. I hate how lately, spouses are claiming to be celebrities just because they are or were married or dating a celebrity. How does dating a celebrity make you a celebrity? It's crazy! 

To me, you should only have celebrity status if you are an actor/actress, movie director, singer/musician, comedian, sports star or author. These people have respectable talents and deserve to be known as celebrities.

Examples include Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Rihanna, Peter Kay, David Beckham and JK Rowling. All these people have brought us things we love and enjoy - movies, songs, laughter, sport and a magical world. Surely, only those who can match this standard of talent should be called celebrities too?

I refuse to consider reality stars, models, daughters of businessmen or spouses of celebrities as celebrities! So following that logic, the likes of Amy Childs, Kate Moss, Paris Hilton and Alex Reid are not celebrities.

• Amy Childs is a pretty but thick as two planks reality star over here in Britain. She's quickly becoming the nations new sweetheart. And what is she "famous" for? For taking part in a reality show where she sticks jewels on ladies private parts. Yeah. Exactly.

• Kate Moss may be famous but what for? All she does is wear clothes for a living or pose half nekkid. Anybody could do that! Plus, models these days are airbrushed within an inch of their lives so you don't even have to be remotely attractive anymore.

• Paris Hilton is famous because she has a rich daddy. Therefore she gets to shop all day and party all night. She's unemployed but that doesn't sound as good as "socialite".

• And Alex Reid was a nobody until he started dating Katie Price. But he is now a full blown "celebrity" for reasons unbeknownst to me. I wouldn't even consider Katie Price a celebrity either...

Now I'm not attacking these people's personalities, I'm sure most of them are actually really lovely. It's just... they're not in the same league as the likes of Elton John or Angelina Jolie. If anything, I'd want these sort of people to be classified under something other than the term "celebrity". 

How about, "fame sharks" or "desperate wannabe's"? I know they're not as catchy but they're more realistic. It would also be nice if we didn't put these sort of people on pedestals or consider them decent role models for children. Surely it would be better for children to aspire to be like Kate Winslet instead of Kim Kardashian?

Does anybody else feel the same way about this or am I the only one?

Love, Hazel

Down with the Kidz...

Long ago, I escaped from the clutches of Bebo and Myspace into the realm of Facebook. At first, no one I knew had Facebook and I tried unsuccessfully to convert them. Over time though, I realised how much of a blessing that was. I could write what I wanted without causing offense or being teased and I didn't need to worry about who had me in their Top 16 or who would be my "other half" anymore either.

Being a part of Facebook made me feel incredibly grown-up. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to not get friend requests from Myspace bands anymore. Remember them? So annoying...

Over time though, my love for it started to fade which incidentally coincided with its popularity increasing tenfold. It didn't feel exclusive anymore. It wasn't so bad that my classmates started getting it but most of my family were starting to get it too.

At the start, this was just weird but now more and more of the older generation have got it and it just makes me hate using it. Don't get me wrong, they're entitled to use it too - it just doesn't feel "cool" anymore. Especially when the majority of my friends are aunts and uncles I've never even spoken to or cousins I've never even met.

I was inspired to write this as only today I got another friend request from an uncle of mine who resembles Elvis so much its uncanny. What I think annoys me the most though is that I know I'm being used i.e. I'm only "talked to" when one of them wants me to pass on messages...

"Tell Helen that my phone isn't working so she isn't to worry if she can't get through when she rings me today"

"Say happy birthday to your dad from me, his big sister"

"What's your uncle up to these days?"

Although I will happily pass these sort of messages on, I guess I just want it back the way it was a few years ago - exclusive. Unlike now where I have to censor everything I write in case my aunt sees and tells my gran who will then tell my mum. I'm sure I'm not the only person to feel this way.

I've also come to the conclusion that I should probably just make my parents a Facebook page and have done with it. Years ago that would have been considered embarrassing whereas now, its just inevitable. And because of that, Facebook is no longer cool.

Love, Hazel