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Insults confuse me, sometimes.
Take, for example, the cheap t-shirts sold from stands on the sidewalk whenever there's a home game over at UT. (And by "game" I mean "men's football game", because as near as I can tell that's the patriarch of the local sports pantheon, with all others being considered so much lesser as to be nearly inconsequential.) Most of them are printed with various tedious slogans explaining that the day's opponent is deeply inferior and generally incapable of competent ball-handling at all.
...which implies that the team they're cheering on isn't very good, because if your entire premise is that the other team is really, really, bad at playing football, it doesn't really say much about your own team's ability if they beat them, does it? "Our team is so incompetent that we can only beat opponents who are even more incompetent!" But people are very excited to buy t-shirts saying that their primary rival college puts forth only players who can't play the game well, and then will be very excited on winning. Okay, then.
Another example: spray-painted on the sidewalk that I walk on every time I go from home to the Rio Grande campus of ACC, in bright pink ragged printing, is the phrase: "FUCK UT". So... someone is angry at the university, I guess. Angry enough that they wanted to share their anger with the world! (Or at least the small portion of the world that walks across that patch of sidewalk.) But apparently not angry enough to want to actually communicate what they dislike about UT. A problem with the administration? Frustration at not being accepted? Difficulty in classes? Wrath over the emphasis placed on the sports program? That the local coffee shops are always full of loud students? What?
Another example of lack of clarity: in front of the courthouse near the Faulk library, today I passed a man standing on the sidewalk. Not particularly unusual, that, but he was rather attention-getting, in that he was wearing a bright pink (is this the standard attention-getting color of unfocused rage?) pig costume. He was holding a sign that declared "LAWYERS ARE PIGS", which he waved at traffic; the same phrase was printed on the back of his pig suit, so apparently this isn't just a rental costume, but one he owns.
Also carried: a stuffed pig (continuing the pig theme) and a rubber chicken (...beats me). He was rather stalwart about the whole process, valiantly conveying his utterly incomprehensible message to the world around him.
And, look. If you're really so dedicated to your message that you're going to dress up in costume on a day that's humid and definitely not chilly, and then stand out in the sun waving your sign? Try to have a coherent message! "Lawyers Are Pigs" tells me that you don't like lawyers, which is not exactly a wildly controversial opinion. (I like plenty of lawyers, and admire the profession in general. All professions have bad examples within them, and good ones. But lawyer-hate is sadly popular.) Beyond that, "pigs" doesn't tell me anything. Are you upset about the body size of local lawyers? Are you trying to say that they're greedy, because you don't like the rates they charge? What? If the sign said "Lawyers Are Crooks", there'd at least be a coherent thesis statement being made, even if you're not supporting your thesis very well!
People confuse me, sometimes.
Take, for example, the cheap t-shirts sold from stands on the sidewalk whenever there's a home game over at UT. (And by "game" I mean "men's football game", because as near as I can tell that's the patriarch of the local sports pantheon, with all others being considered so much lesser as to be nearly inconsequential.) Most of them are printed with various tedious slogans explaining that the day's opponent is deeply inferior and generally incapable of competent ball-handling at all.
...which implies that the team they're cheering on isn't very good, because if your entire premise is that the other team is really, really, bad at playing football, it doesn't really say much about your own team's ability if they beat them, does it? "Our team is so incompetent that we can only beat opponents who are even more incompetent!" But people are very excited to buy t-shirts saying that their primary rival college puts forth only players who can't play the game well, and then will be very excited on winning. Okay, then.
Another example: spray-painted on the sidewalk that I walk on every time I go from home to the Rio Grande campus of ACC, in bright pink ragged printing, is the phrase: "FUCK UT". So... someone is angry at the university, I guess. Angry enough that they wanted to share their anger with the world! (Or at least the small portion of the world that walks across that patch of sidewalk.) But apparently not angry enough to want to actually communicate what they dislike about UT. A problem with the administration? Frustration at not being accepted? Difficulty in classes? Wrath over the emphasis placed on the sports program? That the local coffee shops are always full of loud students? What?
Another example of lack of clarity: in front of the courthouse near the Faulk library, today I passed a man standing on the sidewalk. Not particularly unusual, that, but he was rather attention-getting, in that he was wearing a bright pink (is this the standard attention-getting color of unfocused rage?) pig costume. He was holding a sign that declared "LAWYERS ARE PIGS", which he waved at traffic; the same phrase was printed on the back of his pig suit, so apparently this isn't just a rental costume, but one he owns.
Also carried: a stuffed pig (continuing the pig theme) and a rubber chicken (...beats me). He was rather stalwart about the whole process, valiantly conveying his utterly incomprehensible message to the world around him.
And, look. If you're really so dedicated to your message that you're going to dress up in costume on a day that's humid and definitely not chilly, and then stand out in the sun waving your sign? Try to have a coherent message! "Lawyers Are Pigs" tells me that you don't like lawyers, which is not exactly a wildly controversial opinion. (I like plenty of lawyers, and admire the profession in general. All professions have bad examples within them, and good ones. But lawyer-hate is sadly popular.) Beyond that, "pigs" doesn't tell me anything. Are you upset about the body size of local lawyers? Are you trying to say that they're greedy, because you don't like the rates they charge? What? If the sign said "Lawyers Are Crooks", there'd at least be a coherent thesis statement being made, even if you're not supporting your thesis very well!
People confuse me, sometimes.
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