So This "Blaming the Hero" Trend...

So yes, I have a serious question for all you lovely people.  I realize the title being "Blaming the Hero" may not be the best term to use.  But the people who are getting blamed here are referred to as heroes by many people, even if they do not deem themselves as heroes and merely just defending themselves or others. Now, I may not be the most intelligent person on the planet, but I always at least liked thinking I wasn't a dummy and had some level of common sense and intelligence.  I've always prided myself on thinking outside the box or being able to see things from all sides... to step back and put myself in other people's shoes to understand where they're coming from.  I know I don't have all the answers and realize that hey, maybe someone else does!  But I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around this and make any sense out of it.  What I'm talking about is this.

This isn't the first time an article like this has come up.  Just earlier this month, two people tried to rob a convenience store not too far from my hometown in Pennsylvania, drew their guns on a passerby (who was armed and had a permit), and yet again the family of the dead robbers were crying out for justice.  That particular article doesn't go into as much detail about the families of the robbers cries for justice, but you can easily look it up if you wish.

So here's the situation.  Here we have two instances where people armed with guns (as opposed to unarmed with guns?  The partial redundancy here is not lost on me I can assure you) go into an establishment to commit a robbery.  In the first article I linked you, a passerby seen the suspect with a gun to an employee's head and stepped in to help. In the second, two gunmen robbed a convenience store and upon exiting, an armed legally carrying citizen stopped them and shot both of the gunmen as they drew their weapons on him, defending himself.  And in both of these circumstances the families of the robbers are not objecting to the actions of their robbing gun-wielding loved ones, but blaming the people who stepped in to save someone else's life or defending themselves??

To a point I get it.  Mind you, this is a very small point.  Almost microscopic even.  Their loved ones are either dead or were injured.  I understand mourning that, I do.  But I will tell you one thing right now, if any child of mine ever pulled that shit, the last thing I would be doing is blaming the citizen who stepped in.  Would I be upset and mourning my son/daughter?  Yes I would, very deeply so.  But if my child went in with a loaded gun and threatened the lives of others, and someone defended themselves or someone else and shot my child?  I would not be blaming them.  If I blamed anyone it may be myself.  Perhaps I did everything that a good parent did and my child just got in with the wrong people and it's nothing I could have done differently to change the course of events.  Perhaps somewhere along the line there was something I could have done differently to make sure my child went down a better path.  This all brings up two very important issues with our society today:

1. Enough with the blaming everyone else and taking no responsibility bullshit.  If you're dumb enough to bring a loaded gun with you and point it at someone, if you get shot by someone who is armed trying to defend themselves or save someone else's life, you deserve what you get.  Unless someone renders you unconscious and kidnaps you and brings you into some sort of secret lair where they strap a bomb to your chest and tell you if you don't go into this store and rob people and point a gun at them they're going to blow you the hell up and murder your family, you have a choice.  You chose to bring a gun into an establishment and point it at someone.  You chose to rob that store.  You have no one to blame but yourself, and your family sure as hell shouldn't be blaming anyone but you either.  I'd be willing to bet money that if these young men's situations had been reversed, and it was them with the guns to their heads and they ended up shot, and the families later on found out a passerby with a gun did not stop to help they'd be bitching about that too.  They'd change their tune to "he should have just walked out of the store" to "he should have done something!  If he did something my son would still be alive!"

2.  Guns.  Yes... evil guns.  These are typically the same people who cry about how only police or military should have guns and normal citizens shouldn't have any guns to defend themselves.  Guess what genius?  All the gun control laws you want to be put in place will not keep them out of the hands of criminals.  Why you ask?  Criminals don't follow the fucking law douche canoe.  If they did, they *gasp* wouldn't be criminals!  If some asshat breaks into your home with a gun and shoots your spouse and/or child, I'll bet you'd be wishing you had a gun instead of sitting there helpless waiting for the police to arrive.  Not to mention statistically speaking, areas and countries with higher gun ownership typically have lower crime rates.  Look at Chicago.  Like, no one there has guns but the police and criminals.  Highest crime rate in the country! 

Then you have the "Gun Free Zones".  What do they do exactly?  Does some gun wielding maniac see the "Gun Free Zone" sign and go "oh shit, I wanted to shoot a bunch of people, but that's a gun free zone!!!" and turn around and walk away?  Hell no they don't... easy prey. (That's an entirely different topic, mass murdering douche nozzles typically have a host of mental issues that haven't been addressed largely due to our lack of a mental health care system.)  Guns. Do. Not. Kill. People... People do.

So I want to post a question/experiment to all the anti-gun lovelies out there.  You probably don't have a gun if you're an anti-gun person... unless you're a hypocrite. So you may have to find a friend or family member who has a gun for this.  Take the gun, and a clip of ammo and sit it near your door.  Sit the clip of ammo right next to the gun, and heck for good measure leave the door open a crack (this is extra effective if you live in the suburbs or where people pass by) and go about your day.  Place a hidden camera if you wish, or even mount a camera on the gun.  At the end of the day please report back to me how many people this gun killed.  And don't give me any of that bullshit about how people don't need guns to defend themselves.  What the fuck are you gonna do if some asshat breaks into your home who HAS a gun (he's a criminal, remember they don't obey the law) while you're in the kitchen making a sandwich or something and points a gun at you?  Try to get close enough to stab him with a knife?  Run for a phone and pray that the cops get there before he shoots your ass or your family?  If you CHOOSE to not own a gun, that's fine.  But do NOT tell me I don't have the right to defend myself.  Mind you, I used to hate guns.  I'd freak out if someone had one out anywhere near me.  But after becoming a survivor of violent crime, I'd wished back then I could have defended myself. 

The ultimate question I have is, why are we blaming the heroes, instead of blaming the criminals?  It's sad we even have to have Good Samaritan laws to begin with.  Why is it even necessary to have laws in place to protect people who are only trying to step up to do the right thing, to render aid or assistance to help others?  We have a choice.  We can choose not to hate. We can choose to help others instead of cause them harm.  It's very sad we live in a world where people are now afraid to help or get involved when someone is in some sort of trouble or distress.

Ten Things I Envy About Men

Ok so I've been sitting here for a bit now thinking about how if I just found a groove, I could do more writing.  But alas, my mind has been so occupied I've been devoid of inspiration.  But I hath found it!  Perhaps if I did more searching...

One of my friends had linked on Facebook an article which lead me to this link called 10 Moments As A Man That Make Me Envious of Women.  I found it to be rather interesting and humorous, and it did remind me of a few reasons I am glad I'm a woman.  I would have added a few to that perhaps, but it wasn't my list.  It did, however, make me think about things I envy about men.  And since I did get a little "Yay I'm a woman!" boost, I figured, why not?!?!  I did enlist some help from my friends on Facebook as I was drawing a blank near the end of my list, but ask anyone that knows me... I suck at lists.  Especially ones where I have to list things like "10 Facts You Didn't Know About Me!" or "Here's 10 Things That Go Through My Brain on a Daily Basis!".  Actually, that last one would be a lot longer.  More like 10 billion things that go through my brain on a daily basis.  But I digress.  Here's some things I envy about you male folk (in no particular order)...

1.  You can go out in public topless and not get arrested.  Yes I'm sure most of you guys are like "But Nikki, I would have zero objections to women walking around topless in public!  And that's cool and all, but we get arrested for indecent exposure or some shit.  It's not fair!  Sometimes a girl just wants to be free, ya know?

2.  You can pee anywhere / while standing / draw your name in the snow.  I'm not sure if you realize exactly just how convenient it is to be like "Oh man, I gotta pee!" and just pull over to the side of the road, hide behind a bush or tree or something and just whip it out, shake it off and just go.  Do you really have any idea how difficult it is for women?  I mean I know there are some women who have mastered the art, and there's even devices to help women do so (no really, there is actually items sold on the market to help women pee standing up).  But otherwise we gotta find somewhere to squat and perform a very delicate balancing act while making sure our clothing is out of the way of the stream, and find something to "dry off" with if no Kleenex or similar items are handy and pray it's not poison ivy or some shit.

3.  Belching and farting are acceptable forms of communication.  Sure there's some people who find anyone belching to be disgusting, but if a group of men engage in a chorus of harmonious aerophagia (excessive burping) and farts no one really bats an eye. If a woman or group of women were to do the same?  "Ugh how un-lady like is that?!?!?  Did you just HEAR HER?!?!  I mean, Oh. My. God!"

4.  Short hair.  Sure there are women who pull off short hair / pixie cuts / shaved heads and totally rock it out.  The number of women who can do so, however, is very very slim.  And I cannot for the life of me tell you exactly how many times I've said "UGH I wish I could just shave my head and be done with it!"  Fabulous hair is a lot of work, and I especially hate this because I am not the type of woman who enjoys spending 2 hours making sure every hair is in exactly the right spot before I leave the house. Plus, think of how much it would save on trips to the salon!  Grab one of those head shavy devices and off you go!  Voila!

5.  Speaking of hair... ya'll have much less to shave.  Buzz your hair or whatever, shave your face (if you even choose to do so) or trim the beard / 'stache. We practically shave half our bodies at least once a week if not more.  Well, probably except for winter time when we're single.  Not like the extra insulation really helps anyway.

6.  Ya'll don't have to worry about that "woman stuff."  For real.  Periods are not fun, and neither is going to the gyno or many forms of birth control.  I understand ya'll have some sort of secret support group for men who's women are "on the rag" where you all can go tell stories about how hormonal and bitchy your women get for that week out of the month.  I get it, I do.  I'm sure you've been bloated before and know how uncomfortable that is.  Now imagine that, and add to it headaches, bleeding and not dying for days straight, and feeling like Mike Tyson used your abdomen and kidneys as punching bags for that period of time, and on top of that you have no reasonable explanation as to why you're crying about the commercial on TV and it's just a cute puppy.  No, not one of those sad ASPCA puppy commercials, just a puppy.  Gyno visits aren't fun either.  I'll spare you the details unless you really want to know.

7.  Public "adjustment" draws much less attention.  Sure some people get put off by a dude adjusting his junk in public, but it typically doesn't draw too much attention.  A lot of times people will just look away. "Oh it's just some dude adjusting himself... adjust on bro!"  But if you're a woman, I'm sure you've felt the need to adjust the girls and you're out in public.  Or worse, the wire from your bra pokes out from the stitching and starts stabbing you in the ribs / under your arm / breastbone.  Suddenly it's like someone summoned a huge, bright light upon you and you're on stage, putting on a show for everyone in town.  *queue heavenly music* "Omg there's a chick playing with her tits man!!" or "Omg can you believe the nerve? How unladylike!!!"

8.  Employment diversity.  Now, before you get your boxers/briefs/thongs/mankinis/boxerbriefs in a bunch I do realize this works both ways... but for some reason it does seem slightly more acceptable for men to do a woman's job than it is for a woman to try to do a man's job.  And sometimes, I do understand the reasoning behind women not being accepted in certain jobs as readily.  Like... firefighting.  There should not be exceptions for women about the amount of dead weight you need to be able to carry... that could mean someone's life.  But what about  being an auto mechanic? Or a garbage lady? Or what if she wants to be one of those muscly body building type persons?!? I mean if she wants to be a female Arnold Swartz-howeveryouspellitI'mtoolazytolookituprightnow-ger... why is it such a big deal compared to if a guy wants to be a flight attendant?

 9.  The more chicks you sleep with, the higher your stud status.  Face it.  A dude sleeps with 100 chicks he's a stud, or "has game" or earns some super manly status above the rest, or "Alpha Status".  If a woman sleeps with 100 men though... she's a slut/whore/ho/tramp.  It's the same thing!!  What's with the double standard?  Why am I any less of a person if I go out and practice the horizontal polka with 50 dudes vs the guy who goes out there and does it with 50 women?

10.  I am NOT the father!  Ya'll can deny that shit.  Hell there's even an entire television show basically dedicated to whether or not someone is "the baby daddy" (If you've read any of my earlier blogs, you know I hate that term but it fits).  Ya'll can stick your penis pretty much anywhere and deny any consequences or it ever even going there. Some brag.  I mean I have a friend who I've known for YEARS who bragged about masturbating via the usage of a vehicular hose of radiating (he fucked a radiator hose to put it more simply, he shall remain anonymous unless he chooses not to be).  But until an actual paternity test is done, you can deny children.  Now, I'm not saying that I actually envy that because I think anyone who doesn't step up when they participated in creating a child is a worthless twat-waffle, but it's the fact that you can actually get away with it (at least for a little while).  Women can't do that.  Either you got pregnant or you didn't.  You either squeezed a watermelon out of your vagina or you didn't.  Unless you vanish for like... a year and start living in the woods with animals and bears who adopt you as one of their own and give birth with only the help of your new animal friends out in the wilderness and drop the baby off anonymously at a church or something while wearing a ninja outfit so no one can make out any identifying features... there is no way you could actually say "I am NOT the mother!" and get away with it.  Again, anyone who would do that is worthless imo, but it's the fact that you can... the principle of the whole thing.

Now don't get me wrong, despite all these things at the end of the day I am still glad I'm a woman and wouldn't change that for the world, but you men do have some spiffy perks!