Comments (36)

By kilax, April 3, 2014 5:04 am

The newest issue of SELF magazine was in our mailbox yesterday. When I saw it, I immediately had to open it and read the tutu mention for myself.

Eh. Kind of silly. Were these two lines of text supposed to be funny? No one really thinks a tutu makes them run faster… why publish that? 

It doesn’t matter. SELF did something nasty when they asked the woman in the photo (Monika Allen) for permission to publish it, then wrote something mean – SELF broke the female code.

Heh. I am not taking about the female code of supporting one another in any endeavor (no matter what you wear*) – which we should do.

I’m talking about the female code of keeping gossip behind closed doors. You know, if you don’t have anything nice to say, keep quiet… and tell it to someone else, privately. Later.

This whole situation feels like something out of Mean Girls. It’s like, ooo, the burn book is out and it turns out Regina George thought tutus were “so fug” all along! Sting!

SELF actually let a true, snarky, judgy side show, which is probably part of the reason people feel so upset (uncomfortable?) about it. We’re not supposed to be that way! We’re supposed to play nice! None of us have mean, judgy thoughts, ever! Hmm.

Sigh. We all do. We just keep them to ourselves or… don’t put them in public places. It’s painful to see someone ridiculed in public forum. It doesn’t feel good to be ganged up on, or bullied. And what good does it do?!** Typically, at the individual level, it makes the person saying the “nasty” things feel better about themselves, especially if they can get their friends to agree. But when a magazine does it, well… what? It was just done to be mean. Or maybe funny? Hey, but it got their name out there!

I think SELF actually did us a favor in publishing this – they showed us part of their true self. Or, at the least, part of someone’s true self, on the editorial staff. Actions like this (public ridiculing) really say a lot about who you are. And I don’t know about you, but I appreciate it when the people I know in real life, show their true side like this, rather than hide it. It helps me decide who to spend my time with. 

So, the lesson from SELF – show your true self! Let all those mean thoughts out! And um, see how many friends you are left with. 

*Or how you look, who you love, what you do, what kind of car you drive or don’t drive, whether you have kids or don’t, whether you prefer pancakes or waffles… you get the idea. 
**Apparently, give Allen’s tutu business a lot of press!

Comments (20)

By kilax, April 1, 2014 6:19 am

And why you should remind me if you parked your car in my driveway. 

I don’t recall if I mentioned this here, but on Steven’s birthday in December, we were driving through a parking lot and collided with a moving plow. My car’s in the shop now, having minor front bumper damage repaired. So we’re using a rental car. Tangent: rental cars always feel so odd to me, compared to the ride I’m used to in my car. I’m used to a stiffer ride that puts me in control (twss) and this rental’s so loose (twhs?)! 

Anyway! I have cars/driving on the brain! And with today being April Fools’ Day* I feel a bit cautious, driving. Why? Most car accidents/collisions/whatevers I’ve had, have been on a well known** holiday:

• Election Day (Nov 7, 2000) – a semi lost control of its brakes and hit me, totaling my car. Luckily, I was driving a huge Olds and it just smashed the back of the car in half, otherwise… I’d probably be dead. I called my parents for a ride and still made it to the orchestra concert on time! No comment on the election. Ha.
• New Years Day (Jan 1, 2011) – I slid in to a parked car in an icy/snowy movie theater parking lot. The kicker about this one is that the owner of the other car waited f-o-r-e-v-e-r to make the claim, then lied about additional damage to the car! Since I took photos at the scene (always have a camera, even back then) and had proof of what was actually damaged, no insurance money for the liars (at least that I recall). Ha! Also: this is the day I became vegetarian. Aww. Sorry I didn’t want any turkey, mom. At least I took you to see The Family Man?
• Halloween (Oct 31, 2005) – a drunk driver rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light. Still annoyed about this one. The driver tried to pay me off. I called the cops and the driver fled the scene. I gave the cops his license plate number and they did nada. Grr.
• MLK Day (Jan 15, 2007) – I spun out on icy bridge in Rockford. Luckily, no one hit me, but I did damage my car a bit. A really nice man at a rest stop helped me pull my bumper off so I could make the drive home. 

And now you see why I feel overly cautious when driving on holidays. 

Wait a minute! What is my excuse for what happened on March 1, 2011, when I backed in to a car that I parked in my own driveway***?! Maybe I broke the holiday curse, then! Although, that was my first ever Efit class… so, it marks an anniversary?! Super awwwwww!!! Ha ha. 

Do you tend to give dates special significance? Would you remember crap like this?!

Yeah, in case you can’t tell, I do give dates special significance****. For whatever reason, I have a really good memory about dates, so much that Steven can ask me when we did something, and I will be able to call up the exact day (from memory, usually). Or someone can ask what I was doing on an exact day and I can tell them (again, from memory). Useful tool? Not that often, ha ha! It does help me when I am searching for pictures, since I organize them in folders, by date. 

*So watch out for tricksters online… and in real life!
**”well known” because it seems like most days are made-up holidays now
***Man, so many of these old posts are totally cringe-worthy!
****Luca’s birthday (April 27, 2011) is one of these days for me. It’s the same day I found out I got in to the NYC Marathon, which seemed very appropriate, as he was born in Manhattan. It’s also the day before my maternal grandpa passed away, so… we’ll just say that was an emotional week.