Unsolicited advice

A past situation suddenly invaded my brain a few days ago.

I worked at Express for about 9 months several years ago. One night, near closing, two women walked into the store to take a peek at some of the newest addition to our fall line. I was standing next to the counter and one of the women approached me.

I assumed she was going to ask me about an article of clothing or a fitting room. She had something else in mind.

"Have you ever heard of Accutane?"
"Umm...yes."
"Oh okay, well I tried it and...*pauses* You may not believe this but my skin was worse than yours!"
*blank stare*
"What do you use right now?"
*babbling out my skin care regimine while trying to process the situation*
"Well, I mean, you should really consider asking a dermatologist about it."
*comments about the crazy side effects*
"I had the chapped lips and, of course I had to stay out of the sun, but...it's worth it!"

*Dazed and Confused*

I remember driving home to my apartment, utterly disgusted that this broad approached me about something so personal. I switched out my ailment/physical flaw for others to determine if I was overreacting.

*Glo approaching an overweight woman*
"Hi. Have you tried Jenny Craig? You probably won't believe me but, I was as fat as you were about a year ago."

Definitely rude..

How about....

*Glo approaching a person with traction alopecia*
"Hi. Have you ever heard of Dr. Miracle's Temple and Nape Gro Balm? It really works! Just last year, my edges looked as bad as yours. Now look!"

No...still...not...right...

One more shot....

*Glo sees someone with dingy teeth*
"Hi! *toothy smile* Have you ever tried Rembrant Intense Stain Toothpaste? It's really great. My teeth were as yellow as yours just last year, but check me out today!"

I'm sure her heart was in the right place. She found something that worked for her and she wanted to preach the Accutane gospel to all the lost and deprived, but my word!

I told my mother the story and begged her to pay for my visit to the dermatologist (no health insurance). Ever simultaneously love and hate someone? Yeah...I have...that woman. LOL...

Eh...don't know why I shared this. Perhaps it's my effort prolong the eventual abandonment of this blog. I will say that to this day I try not to offer unsolicited advice. Guess I should be thanking that woman for teaching me a life lesson on how to talk to people and consider the feelings of others...#heffa

Dear College Town....I hate you so much right now.

I completely forgot the hell that is trying to find suitable living arrangements in a college town---until today.

Property Management Company A

•  Requires a $50.00 application fee PER PERSON, despite the fact that I'm married for a "credit check." Warren and I are paying from the SAME checking account. We are MARRIEEEEEDDDD!!!!!!!! Duh.
• $50.00 application fee is non refundable, so they could charge me $50.00, rent all three apartments and keep my $50.00---wait, make that $100.00 since Warren is apparently considered my roommate.
• We can't even apply until Friday because Warren is out of town at a conference. Apparently the fact that we're MARRIED and not roommates is irrelavant to them. We both have to fill out their little application.

Property Management Company B

• Has not credit check, but requires a "Parental Guarantor" form.
• Desk attendant couldn't seem to figure out, despite me telling her, that two VERY GROWN, married people are not going to put mommy's financial information on a sheet of paper. Especially not a $450.00 apartment.

So you can rent an apartment and be treated like a child OR you can rent a house and get screwed every month because you KNOW you're being overcharged because everything is priced as if 3-4 unrelated people are living their (i.e., your typical college student living arrangement). OR OR OR...you can try to BUY something and realize the fact that everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING is overpriced. Why the crap do you think your 1,125 sq. ft. home, built in 1974 with floral wall paper, dark wood walls, original carpet and low ceilings is worth $120,000. Kill yourself. Immediately. Only HERE in this good old college town would you have the balls to utter $120,000 as a listing price for that house.

Why is it that property managers can't seem to fathom the idea that there are people who live here who AREN'T college students? Who do they think teaches the courses? Cleans the buildings? Handles administrative issues/duties? People man. Adults. Not college students. The ones who stay and will more than likely make a home here, you screw them. Why is this? ARGHHHHHH!

Vent over.

Paused?

Much ado is being made of the latest victim of Aaron McGruder's Boondocks--Tyler Perry. Don't believe me? Google "Boondocks Tyler Perry" and read the listings. From blogs to newspapers, everyone's talking.

I can blog on this topic from many angles. My poison? The concept that McGruder is mocking Christianity in this episode. I'm actually chuckling right now. Anyone who can watch this episode and see mockery of Christ is missing the point by about a mile and a half.

The truth is this--Tyler Perry throws in a bit of Christianese for his fanbase. This suits him in two ways: 1) His fans think he's keeping it Christ. 2) His casual viewers regard his movies as "positive" because he mentions God. The only problem is that his attempts at being positive by including a few "God is good" lines is that he is mocking God. At least that's the way I see it. Some of his attempts are down right blasphemous. Sorry. Well, no...I'm not sorry.

The episode is on point in so many ways that it's ridiculous. It is what it is.

Other thoughts on Tyler Perry can be found here.
Peep the Atlanta Journal Constitution article here. Be sure to read the 18 pages of comments.

More on TP later.