The Snarkiest Place on Earth, and Anger Ventilation

Right now, it is 7AM, and I can't even go to work because Comcast is supposed to be here between 7 and 10AM, to bring me internet that I already have, and 7 channels of TV that I don't. Which means I probably won't get to work til at least noon, and I'll have gained barely anything! AWESOME.

Today's post was originally going to be a small and humorous(in theory) tack-on to last night's post, but some extra "research"(read: tooling around on the blogs) brought the bile to the back of my throat, and I couldn't even make jokes anymore.

So, as I pretty much get all my news from the best source of morning information, the Bob & Tom Show, that means I am privy to hear about only the most pertinent current events out there. Naturally, the first thing I heard about yesterday was that Universal was adjusting seats at the new Harry Potter World to accommodate larger guests.


And yes, I know it's "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter", but mine is better, and can be shortened to HPW - the Human Papilloma Wizard.

At first, I thought this was hilarious for many reasons. I was planning to write a blog about how while yes, this was at first funny, it is a good topic for the discussion of American obsession of being able to accommodate one group at the risk of others. (And at this point in my blog, the American diet/obesity problem is already implied.) I wanted to open up a discussion of how the safety of smaller people might be at risk now. Though, for the same price, the slimmer people might get to be fully immersed in HPW with an extra ride - learning how to fly like Harry Potter! Hopefully they can learn real quick, or this game of Impromptu Quidditch is going to be over fast as they plummet to the ground.


SHIT, THIS ISN'T AS COOL AS I EXPECTED!!

While reading through a few blogs on this matter, there was a trove of comments from before the seat adjustment about how people even slightly above average size couldn't fit in the seats (a size 16 woman or a woman with Double D's, for example). A lot of people listed their dimensions, and it seemed a lot of tall or stocky men and a lot of top-heavy women would get ushered off the ride at HPW. But these same people had no problem at any other ride before or after, in any other amusement park. At this point, I felt that maybe the seats really WERE too small, if they are less than the standard size for a coaster ride. So that took the wind out of my fun-poking sails.

My search led me to a new blog, where I found a telling post about the level of rudeness at Disney World towards large or disabled people. I would seriously suggest reading it, it will make you embarrassed to even be a part of this thing called humanity, if you aren't already. I should mention that the rudeness is from customers at Disney World, NOT employees. If you felt the link was TL;DR, I will post the most important part:

"I had my VERY fidgety five-year old perched on my shoulders while waiting to board Small World when the line stopped moving for a few minutes.

At Disney you are going to wait in line and you are probably going to be there for a long time so you need to mentally prepare yourself and let it all go.

It became clear that the ride operators had slowed the speed of the arriving boats to accommodate a woman in a scooter and her husband who were entering on the handicapped ramp. The horrific man behind me actually started HECKLING them, screaming out “I’ve been on line for an hour and that fat ass rolls right up and gets on because they are too lazy to walk the park?!”

Even more nightmarish?

He had people agreeing with him."

My mind was blown as I read this post and the following comments. All I could think was a variation on, "How could you bring that attitude to DISNEY?!" and "Why didn't anyone call his ass out?!" I mean, we've all made fat jokes, but I have never made one to someone's FACE, and certainly not HOLLERED IT in front of like a hundred people. I have been the subject of a fat joke, and it does not feel good. (Though, ironically, I wasn't even fat at the time - just a 10-year-old with some "baby fat" - and some little anorexic bitch who is probably a typical drugged-out, herpes-infested Eastern Shore whore by now decided to pick on me for that. Thanks for ruining my self-esteem for the next 10 years, you C%^&!)

EDIT: At this point I have read all the comments, and I am happy to find that at least the people in front of him told their inquisitive child that those people were mean because they are assholes, and said assholes shut up after that. But none of the other bullshit was called out on, it would seem.

What has this world come to where shitheads can act that way without fear of reprisal? Where idiots like that can displace their anger on others because they probably couldn't afford the vacation anyway (because logic would say that if they could, and waiting in line was that much of a BigFuckin'Deal, they'd have sprung for Super Fast Passes) and are feeling anxiety that they aren't getting enough for their money? How could someone actually shout that type of hatred at someone that they don't even know who is trying to enjoy their own vacation, but now can't. That person may have been (as in one example) recovering from surgery, maybe they lost a foot to diabetes (type 1 isn't caused by being fat, assholes), maybe they're freaking PARALYZED.

What astounds me is that this person was PROBABLY with their own children, or at least surrounded by a fuckton of them, and providing this kind of an example??? At the Happiest Place on Earth!? A place where the outside problems are supposed to melt away and we can all pretend for a moment that we are Mickey's best friend and live in freaking Cinderella's castle!? WHAT THE FUCK!? IT TAKES A VILLAGE, YOU PRICKS!!!!!

Maybe it is the way I was raised, because I can't allow myself to just ignore this sort of bullshit. If my mom and stepdad had taken me to Disney with them back in the day((take that, Mom and Stepdad, I'm still mad about not going!! and now it's public!!), and this happened, that shit would have been corrected. That is certainly a situation in which I'd love to have my stepdad there, because that other guy would probably be crying of embarrassment.

Note: This is probably the first time I've mentioned Stepdad on the blog. He exists! We don't have a whole hell of a lot in common to relate to each other with, nor do we see each other a lot, so I haven't brought him up before. Usually Realdad gets most of the screen time, but he's also a blogger, and 1/5th of my fan base!

Though my stepdad has a tendency to be the loudest, most obnoxious person in the room, there is one thing he doesn't stand for, and that is people getting picked on - ESPECIALLY if they are physically disabled. And unlike the rest of the country, he doesn't have some insurmountable fear that everyone else is probably a gun-toting lunatic who will pop a cap at the drop of a hat, so calling someone out for being a shithead is pretty much common practice. And because he has influenced me to be this way, though to a much lesser extent, I simply cannot fathom those situations happening without someone else being like, "WTF STFU" in so many words.

I can't honestly say for sure what I would have done in the same situation, but at least I know that I've inherited the balls to fight the good fight!