People and snow

Pretend for a moment that it's 1000 B.C. and you live in sub-Saharan Africa. For some reason, you make a trip north and happen to travel in winter. When you get to the proper latitude, you notice a strange thing: cold, white specks falling from the sky and accumulating on the ground. You've just seen snow for the first time, and it seems like a strange, yet wonderful thing.

Cut to today. It's been snowing every winter at the mid and high latitudes since the dawn of time and yet, every winter, it's the same thing.

People seem to undergo a psychological change when snow starts falling.

Now, I'll admit, this winter has done a poor job of snowing like it always does, especially when you consider where I live, but that does nothing to change the fact that people start exhibiting strange behavioral patterns when the white stuff falls from the sky.

I'll start with attire. When it's cold and snowing, you'd expect everyone to be wearing coats, gloves, hats, and layers, right? When it was snowing this morning, my first thought was that I'd need my winter coat when I walked to class; however, it astounded me to see people dressed in sweatpants and hoodies. Now, sweatpants, I have no problem with, but hoodies? Hoodies aren't designed to be worn in snow; sure, I'll wear one when it gets cold out, but I'd never wear one when it's snowing. Perhaps the funniest thing was that the people I saw wearing the hoodies started complaining about how cold it was as soon as we got out of the building. Seriously? I chalk that up to a lack of common sense.

Next, there are the drivers. You'd think that when snow starts a-fallin', people would be a tad more careful considering wet roads increase braking distance; nope. People drive as they normally do, plowing through the snow whether they own an SUV or not. You know, I think it might be that people think that, just because they have snow tires, they can drive like normal. -shrugs- All I know is that when snow first touches the roads, I'm definitely more careful about walking around outside and crossing the street because people tend not to be careful while driving in snow when pedestrians are present.

Finally...well, I guess there is no finally, unless I come back later and update this blog.

So, I guess I'm stuck laughing at the idiots who didn't dress for the weather and dodging cars that overestimate their car's braking distance.

People who take the Internet too seriously

The Internet. It's a magical thing; I mean, who wouldn't be fascinated by a piece of technology that, with a few clicks, connects you with millions of people and a plethora of information that would take a kajillion years to go through, even with a super fast computer? I know I am. You can talk to people on the other side of the globe, find hilarious jokes, and even post your opinions on blogs like this one for complete strangers to read.

Ah, but the 'Net is a double-edged sword. For every one person who uses the Internet for things like art, music, and porn, there are a hundred thousand other people I've noticed who take it way too seriously.

I mean, it's one thing to post artwork/stories/etc. on sites like deviantART or fanfiction.net for other people to look at and criticize. How does one become a better artist/author/other? By listening to the constructive criticism of other people and learning from one's mistakes. That is perfectly normal, in my opinion.

However, one does run across the person who thinks that everything on the Internet is to be taken seriously and reacts as such. I know this sounds like an extreme case, but it happens. Rather than take everything they read/see on the 'net with a grain of salt, they take everything personally.

Perhaps the biggest example that springs to mind is Internet bullying. Since the advent of social networks like MySpace and Facebook, plus the fact that accessing the Internet is easier than breathing nowadays, we have seen a spike in Internet bullying, but what is it? It's basically what happens on the playgrounds of school, except over the Internet. Insulting messages, inappropriate pictures, all of it is intended to do the same thing as bullying, except a million times faster and seemingly more effective; however, I don't wish to make this blog about Internet bullying.

In this age where Internet access is commonplace, the line between the 'net and reality seems to have blurred. People "fall in love" after meeting in an online community, nerds think they're "ZOLTAR, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE," and two people can have an online grudge against each other simply because of a few foul words that were exchanged between the two.

I call to mind a forum that I frequent. I can't tell you how many times I've seen members take things way too personally (I used to be like that) because they spend a majority of their time there. Hell, I've "gotten into it" with another member there over a thread that I made; he called me "immature" and made a special place in his signature for insulting me (I feel stupid for doing so, but I did take the bait and did the same thing).

Over the last few days, I came to a realization: THE INTERNET ISN'T REAL (of course I know that the Internet isn't real, but I mean as far as this blog goes). While I do enjoy talking to people I meet online, I really shouldn't care if someone thinks I'm stupid or immature, simply because the opinion of that one person doesn't represent the opinion of everyone who uses the Internet.

I think part of the reason that people take the Internet too seriously is that they don't have this objective view of it. I'm not saying that I'm better than anyone on the Internet because I do, but it makes me more able to deal with stupid messages like the one I mentioned earlier on in this blog and the like because I can step back and say, "Hey, it doesn't matter because I can delete the message." I think that, sometimes, people forget that they have a lot of power over what they read/see/hear on the 'net. Delete buttons, search engines, and such are designed to let the user control their content for the most part, and forgetting that one has this power can blur the line between the 'net and reality. Yes, harassment is an issue no matter what form it takes, but places on the 'net where people can be harassed usually have some sort of "authority figure," such as a moderator, to take care of that. That's what they're there for, and usually, they know the appropriate steps to take if harassment occurs.

So, peoples of the Internet, I implore you; stop taking everything the Internet so seriously. It's just the Internet, after all.