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I know just how many people are going to be upset about this one, but hey, no one forces you to read these blogs and if you have a sense of humor, then continue. If not, then leave…fast, before you hurt yourself!

I have wondered about folks that just don’t seem to get it. I mean, seriously, if you go through a drive-through and tell the young lady you don’t eat pork and ask as to whether or not they have alternatives, why on earth would the conversation wind up like this?

Me: Your breakfast burrito, can it be made without pork sausage, my son doesn’t eat pork.

She: It is prepacked that way, I’m sorry ma’am.

Me: That’s fine, but do you have chicken perhaps, as an alternative to the pork? What I’m asking is do you have anything else besides pork sausage or pork products on the biscuits?

She: Well, how about ham?We have ham biscuits. Or maybe bacon?

HUH??? So ham and bacon do not come from a pig?

Drive-through guest requests a BLT sandwich. She receives the sandwich and refuses to take it.

She: I’m sorry, but this bacon is not crispy enough.

Employee: Ok ma’am, we’ll remake the sandwich for you. They remake the BLT and hand out a new one for the customer.

She:I’m sorry, but this bacon is not crispy enough. I need it crispier.

Employee: Ok ma’am, we’ll remake the sandwich for you again, I’m so sorry we did it wrong. They remake the BLT AGAIN and hand out a new one for the customer. By now, 2 wasted BLTs.

She: (no joke, this really happened) I’m sorry, but this bacon is not crispy enough. I need it much crispier. Can’t you just fry it out?  I can’t digest fat the right way so if you would just fry out the fat for me?

Now let me get this right. The chick goes to a fast food place, known for it’s extremely lean food ( a bit of sarcasm there), orders a BLT sandwich and wants the employee to DEEP FRY the bacon because she cannot digest fat. Is it me, or did she puff the magic dragon?

I cannot deal with ignorant folks. Mainly because my perception of ignorance is when an individual is not willing to put forth the effort to learn and understand something.This doesn’t mean that someone just hasn’t learned something yet, or just doens’t know, it means they don’t want to know but THINK they know it all. That, in my eyes, is ignorance. The mere fact that they ignore reality and refuse to learn other opinions or the truth makes them ignorant people. Then again, there are those that can’t help themselves, they’re just plain stupid.

Rink Shenkman of AlterNet.org phrased it so eloquently when he explained the five defining characteristics of stupidty.

First, is sheer ignorance: Ignorance of critical facts about important events in the news, and ignorance of how our government functions and who’s in charge. Second, is negligence: The disinclination to seek reliable sources of information about important news events. Third, is wooden-headedness, as the historian Barbara Tuchman defined it: The inclination to believe what we want to believe regardless of the facts. Fourth, is shortsightedness: The support of public policies that are mutually contradictory, or contrary to the country’s long-term interests. Fifth, and finally, is a broad category I call bone-headedness, for want of a better name: The susceptibility to meaningless phrases, stereotypes, irrational biases, and simplistic diagnoses and solutions that play on our hopes and fears (alternet.org).

When arguing topics such as homosexuality, abortion, and physical punishment (just to name a few) the majority of people will use religion as a valid source of information why some things are wrong and others are not. Science does not count as a credible and valid source of information, which I am not saying is not the right of each individual; to believe that they want to., yet to refuse to accept the opinion of anyone else as being a possibility is a major display of ignorance. These people believe that only their opinion counts and their beliefs are correct, any other viewpoint is disregarded with disrespect and a huge portion of intolerance. Not to disrespect the religious viewpoints of so many people, but if religion is based upon belief and not knowledge, yet knowledge is based upon facts which can be proven, should not the intelligent individual at least acknowledge what can be proven, just as the knowledgeable individual respects the beliefs of the other? Did I lose you?

I accept the opinions of others. I do not have to conform to them, nor do I have to indulge in having them preached to me as the holy grail, yet I am a humanist and a quite understanding as well as compassionate individual…to each their own as long as it harms no other. I have strong beliefs, but I definitely also am aware of the many things that can be explained with facts. Scientifically proven. Does that make me smarter than others? Heck no, it doesn’t, but it definitely gives me an edge on those that can’t see the forest for the trees.

If you don’t want to learn something, then as my daughter would say,”go ahead, be that way.” Just don’t complain if you feel left out or others know more than you do. There is no excuse for ignorance or stupidity. Everything in life can be turned into a lesson, getting something out of every lesson is what counts. Make the most of your life by opening your mind and asking questions. Learn something new daily…a word, a phrase, work on a new craft, hone your talents, broaden your horizon (I think I say that a lot) and educate yourself. Do not be ashamed to ask others to teach you something new. My children are by far the best teachers I have ever encountered, I am constantly learning new things from them.

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”
– Charles H. Spurgeon

Smile, it’s all good!

D