{things that i don't like that others seem to love}

sarah and caitlin got me thinking on this: there are a great many things that other people love that i just can't. CAN'T. tried. can't. these are a few:

1. indoor pets.

i think this is because i grew up with well over 50 outdoor cats which all died of not-that-mysterious causes {my dad shot them or my mom ran over them with the mini-van}, and two outdoor dogs--one of which my dad ran over with the combine {that was an accident; i'm not mad at him}, and one of which was constantly getting fleas or skunk-sprayed or swimming in the lagoon. so i guess i think of pets as dirty, and possibly rabid, and really, really short-lived because your parents are always killing them. and when i see pets inside of houses i think, in short, "YUCK."

2. paying for cable.

we already pay for the internet, and you can watch anything that you'd want to watch on tv, on the internet. including shows that aren't on tv anymore. whenever you want. for no extra charge. you all can pay for your 1000 channels, i'm going to watch sister sister on youtube. for "free".

3. violence in entertainment.

i used to love movies and tv shows that made me jump and scream and shiver and shudder. but i think that was back before i realized that most of those movies and tv shows are a little too close to reality--i mean, some of them are based on reality--who knows, maybe some reality is based on these tv shows and movies? "garbage in, garbage out." you know what i mean?

anyway, i guess it just freaks me out that someone's worst nightmare, something intensely personal and traumatizing, can be someone else's entertainment. it freaks me out that most people can watch certain movies and eat popcorn and laugh during certain scenes and walk out of the theatre pumped about how realistic the blood and guts were and how high the body count was. i saw a woman get hit by a truck a couple years ago, and i remember thinking afterwards how it felt like i was on the set of a movie. which, i think, is a strange thing to think when you're witnessing something so awful.

4. crowds for no good reason.

going to any event on opening night. big parties where i don't know anyone. cities where you're constantly elbow-to-elbow and everyone's glaring at everyone.  music festivals or shows are my exception to this rule. but that's maybe because whenever you're listening to live music, it's kind of like there's only two people, you know: Audience and Band. you think that's cheesy. well shut up.  

5. constant facebook statuses about "how blessed i am".

you know? like when people are all, "i am so thankful for _____! i can't believe how lucky i am to have ______!" every day. again, just my personal opinion. facebook statuses reach a lot of people, people from a lot of different places and stages in life. i have a friend who constantly posts statuses about how "oh! my husband just gave me flowers for no reason AGAIN you guys! what a romantic and thoughtful man i married!" i'm so happy for her, but i've unsubscribed from her newsfeed--and i can think of a bunch of our mutual single friends who probably have as well. don't get me wrong, i'm so happy in my marriage. we're just not the "flowers for no reason" kind of couple, and i doubt it's healthy to compare your relationship to anyone else's--but can you help it when you go to check your messages and there's a page-full of other people's bright shiny love for you to read about? brand new houses and beautiful babies and perfect-looking vacations--i don't care about the odd status, the occasional shout-out, and i love pictures and knowing how my friends are doing--but when i start turning green, the "unsubscribe to this user's status updates" is a wonderful tool, and i use it, even just for a week.


i could go on, but 5 seems like enough. i need to do the dishes. {this is something that i'd put on my list of "things that i like that others don't seem to love".}