Why Mean People Are Mean

One of the things I like the least in life are mean people.  Mean people exist and thrive on crapping on the attitude, accomplishments,  interests or well being of someone else, with the sole purpose of making themselves feel more powerful or to increase their own self-esteem.  In a word these people are toxic and need to be avoided at all costs. They can leave you feeling worn out, tired, depleted and negative about everything but most importantly about yourself. It seems that they spend all day thinking about how to be mean to people.

Now I understand that most acts that can be considered mean come from people who need to make themselves feel better about whatever is happening in their lives and because they feel a lack of power, self-esteem or everyday ordinary goodness in their own lives.  This makes them feel the need to treat others poorly.   What bothers me is that it takes very little effort to NOT be mean, and perhaps some of the inadequacies they see in themselves would be alleviated if they just tried to be less judgmental and inconsiderate once in awhile.

Why You Gotta Be So Mean?

Negative Choices Can Make You Mean

People’s actions may be done without the intention of being mean to others, but when you gossip, put others down, ridicule, judge or make fun of someone else, you are stepping into the dark side of mean.  So often in our social media society do people make fun of others, it has become an accepted form of expression.  Look no further than Youtube.  You can look at almost any video on there and if you bother to read the comments left, there is always someone who has gone out of their way to leave a not so positive comment, often using foul language and almost always to put down the content of the video or the creator.   I often wonder how bad their lives must be to spend their time to be so negative.  It is really unnecessary, if you don’t like something you see, why don’t people just not watch it?  I guess that to do that would rob them of an opportunity to be a jerk, and being a jerk and getting noticed is better than not getting noticed at all.  On Facebook, people go to all kinds of lengths to make negative pages about people, for the sole purpose of hurting them.  There are numerous cases of cyber-bullying that have even led to suicide.  Why?  I just don’t seem to be able to grasp the concept of being that hurtful to someone else.

Being Mean To Celebrities, Still Makes You Mean

It has become the right of everyone to be negative about everyone who is a celebrity.  We all seem to have a licence to judge them and their situation simply because they are well known.  In reality, we know nothing about the issues facing these people and the facts about their circumstances.  It all comes from jealousy, we as a society, build people up and seem to relish in tearing them down.  Charlie Sheen is a great example.  Does he have issues?  Yeah, he does.  I don’t think that I know enough about him as a person to make a judgement about whether or not he is an addict or mentally unstable.  I have never met him and I don’t know any more about his character or values than I do about someone who cleans windows for a living.  Most people don’t.  That hasn’t stopped our society from judging him and ridiculing his decisions like we are so much better a person than him.  Really we know nothing and a train wreck, real or imagined makes people feel good, because it’s not their train wreck.  Just say the name Snookie and people will immediately let you know their judgments about this person.  I don’t know why people like to judge her so much, but she has gotten rich and famous because of it.  I personally don’t know Snookie and how she chooses to live her life is her business and that of MTV.  I think people criticize her because they see a part of themselves in her that they just don’t like.

In life there are going to be people we deal with that we may not like or appreciate.  It happens, people are different and not everyone is going to get along.  But does that give us a license to be mean to them?  It takes little effort to be courteous and accepting.  If people put in as much effort into being kind and accepting as they did into being mean and judgmental the world would be a much better place.

Here are a few ideas for those of us working on living a positive lifestyle and Stop Being Mean:

Most mean people have a sarcastic edge….arm yourself with a few funny one-liners that you can use when faced with a negative person.

Don’t take what a mean person says personally…it is their problem, definitely not yours!

If you have a friend that has a mean streak and tends to say things that hurt you or others, try saying, “Ouch” out loud and never allow yourself to get sucked into the behavior. Always know it is okay to not continue the friendship.

Don’t go running away scared from a mean person, walk away with a stronger sense of yourself, knowing that you made a good decision not to get sucked into the negativity!

The ultimate victory for us is not to fight back, get even, be vindicated, nor ever to bring the Mean Person to justice. The ultimate victory is to render this person irrelevant.

Some helpful hints on how NOT to be mean:

• Before doing anything quickly ask yourself: “Will this thought/action/comment make the world a better place for me, or anyone else?” If not – don’t do it and save yourself the repercussions. There’s no point expending effort in making yourself or others unhappy. Ever.
• Tell yourself constantly that you’re a nice person so that your mind begins to accept that you are. Change your behavior accordingly to fit these new standards. Thinking you’re one of the “good people” instead of a “bad person” can really make a difference to how you act. Your mind will react positively.
• Resist judging people if they are not nice to you. You shouldn’t judge people anyway. There is always someone nice inside everybody, even those whose insecurity causes them to be mean to you.
• Like all habits, this one will be hard to stop. With perseverance, however, your defensive meanness will change.
• Smile. A smile will let people know that you are pleasant and inviting. If you smile at someone, look them in the eye.
• Ask people how they are doing. Take the time to ask someone how things are going in their lives, without being nosy or intrusive. If they seem resistant to talking, just let them know that you’re always around to talk to, and that you want them to be alright.
• Be a good listener. Listen when other people are talking to you.
• Be courteous, patient, observant, and considerate. And be positive. Don’t be negative or critical. Keep looking for the positive in any given situation.
• Be humble. The key to being nice is remembering that you are not “better” than someone else. You’re an individual, but everybody has their struggles, and being nice to one another makes life better for everyone.
• Be sincere.  Be nice because you want to look back on your life and know that you were a nice person, no matter what.
• Don’t lie. You will go on to do good things if you refrain from lying.

 

I have never liked clowns and I don’t apologize for it.  When I was a child I went to the circus and saw the clowns there and instantly knew to fear clowns.  I knew they were supposed to make you laugh, but there was just something about a person who would hide behind a mask of make up, doing silly things that made them inherently untrustworthy.  Being a clown is not something that anyone really aspires to become, in fact it is quite a derogotory comment to call someone a clown.  ”Look at that clown over there by the doorway.”

 

Today I am trying to think of a clown who did not terrorize the public.  Today there are not many famous clowns, in the 50′s and 60′s you had your Bozo and Clarabell, but even they were creepy and scary.  It would be fine with me if clowns and all of their clowny activities were banned forever, like Mel Gibson at the Holocaust Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ronald McDonald is the closest thing we have today to a famous clown.  Yes that is who I would

like to hang around with a creepy clown whose best friends with something called a Grimace and a criminal called the Hamburgler.  Well I actually like Grimace and even though he steals, I like  the Hamburgler as well.  Kudos to those advertising execs at McDonald’s.   So I guess Ronald has made a few good decisions in his life, after of course painting his face and shilling unhealthy food to a nation of willing consumers.   So just a note here, I have always been partial to big purple Grimace characters and sneaky Hamburglers, it is the clowns that I don’t like.

Even cartoon clowns like Krusty on The Simpsons are not nice people.  He is portrayed as a cheap, money mulching, fame hoar.  I like The Simpsons and see the development of Krusty over the years to help make some in roads to destroying the creepiness of the clown in general, but even Krusty can’t save this disturbed group of people.

 

A recent study that quizzed 250 children in a pediatric hospital ward found that all 250 of themwere afraid of the various clown imagery that decorated the wing. As though terminal illness wasn’t enough. Penny Curtis, a professor who worked on the study, is quoted as saying “We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable.”

Why So Serious?

So what is it about clowns that is so damn terrifying? We decided to find out. Hence, we’d like to present Best Week Ever‘s Top 10 Things That Make Clowns Scary.  Below is a video of some lady who is Petra-freaquin-fied of clowns. The clown is Mr. Giggles. That’s weird, and she has a stuffed animal, maybe that should be a clue there needs to be an intervention.  

Coulrophobia-Yup, She’s Scared of Clowns

10. Big Feet. You know what they say about men with big feet? They have big tendencies to stab you in the face while you sleep. They also have gigantic snow white penises. Gigantic snow white penises Think about it.

9. All Movies Written About Killer Clowns are Probably Based on True Stories. In all seriousness, there was probably at one time or another a heroin-addicted clown named Shakeswho was also, strangely, Bob Goldthwait. And what else happens in Derry, Maine if not for a child-killing clown named It? But perhaps no movie was more scarring to the reputation of clowns than the 1988 classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, a likely true story about puke-inducing alien clowns with pointy teeth and evil eyes who trap their victims in cotton candy cocoons. If ever a movie scarred my small, child brain at the age of 7, it was KK from OS.

8. Grown Men with Freckles Painted on Their Face is Inherently Terrifying. Enough said.

7. Most Clowns Are Alcoholics and Urinate Everywhere. Tell-tale sign number one that most to all clowns are alkies? They have humongous flame red bulbous noses. Tell-tale sign number two that most clowns are probably hitting the sauce with a green-gloved fist? Wouldn’t you bathe in apple-tinis if your entire life was based around living a paint-faced lie? And as far as urinating everywhere is concerned, I’m pretty sure circuses don’t have working toilets for a reason. Luckily, because clowns sh*t cotton candy, going number 2 behind a Chevy Pick-up is never really much of a problem.

6. Hyuk Hyuk Laughter. Who the f**k laughs like that? Seriously, have you ever heard a normal, mentally sane person emit a laugh that sounds like their starting the engine of a Model T car? No, really, other than Goofy – who is a 6 foot tall animated Disney Dog who wears pants — I’m pretty sure no human being “Hyuk Hyuk”‘s their way through an episode of Seinfeld, you read me?

5. They Wear Onesies. What sort of baby-ass infantile diaper-fetish craziness is that all about?

4. Clowns Molest People. If you weren’t aware that clowns molest people, do yourself a favor and add the creepumentaryCapturing the Friedmans to you Netflix queue.

 

3. They Can’t Afford More Than 1 Car.Judging by the clowns mode of transportation — a Volkswagen Bug or Serbian-style two-seater that magically fits the driver and 8,000 of his rainbow-colored pals — it appears that clowns don’t actually earn a real living. They can’t even afford the kind of car homeless stoners drive! Meaning that clowns, for whatever reason, choose to do the devil’s work for pittance. Pittance! Which might go to explain why clowns eat their dinner directly out of the can of baked beans instead of a bowl, and why they sometimes use their hands instead of the classier “wooden spoon”.

2. That Red Paint Around Their Lips? The blood of the elderly. That, or fire-engine red lipstick. Either way, creepskies!

1. John Wayne Gacy, or Clowns Will Kill You and Bury You Under Their House. Killer Klowns from Outer Space aside, John Wayne Gacy is, gigantic inflatable hands down, the scariest thing to ever happen within the clown community. Gacy murdered 33 teenagers in his town and buried 31 of those bodies under his house. And, according to Gacy’s wiki page (Warning: Do not read after 5 PM), “He said he used his clown act as an alter ego, once sardonically saying that ‘A clown can get away with murder.’” (throat clear) A CLOWN CAN GET AWAY WITH MURDER!!!

 

Bonus Reason:  They use the devil’s magic to twist perfectly normal balloons into grotesque, creepy animal shapes.

After watching the video of  Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams from Texas, beating his daughter repeatedly with a belt.  I have to give thanks for all of the sane parents out there who manage tense, situations with  much more positive actions.

When I first heard about this video, the first thing that jumps into your mind is that it is just a kid who was angry they were punished.  Let’s face it, people who are my age in their forties, faced a different kind of discipline growing up than they did today.  ”Getting the belt”, was a not so rare occurance in our house.   I don’t condone it, but it didn’t really work to deter me from bad behavior.

So it is from that framework that I started to watch this video.  Then it quickly becomes clear that whatever line there is to cross between discipline and child abuse it is crossed by Texas Judge William Adams.  Not only is he seemingly relishing the violence he is perpetrating on his daughter, he is continually verbally abusive throughout the entire incident.  His wife, Hillary steps in  and takes the belt from Adams at one point, but that only makes him leave to go get another belt!  This is insane.  He returns and inflicts another round of violent terror on his daughter continually telling her how worthless she is.  The more you watch the more horrified you become.  He was mad because she downloaded something illegally off of the internet, but I think you would have a hard time justifying that kind of treatment for anyone.

There is no way you can dress this up and say, “he just needs counceling.” Which clearly he does, the deeper question is, will every case he has ever handled be reopened?  I mean if this is how he acts at home, you have to wonder what went through his mind while he was on the bench, dealing with any case involving children.

I am sure that daughter Hillary Adams is no saint, but is there any wonder why?  The claim that the video was released as retribution because she was recently cut off, even if true, does not justify the kind of child abuse shown in this video.  Every member of this  family clearly needs counseling  either for perpetrating or being a victim of  this act.  He has stated to the media that he doesn’t feel that he did anything wrong.   Saying that he apologized for doing it.  Hate to break it to him but as we have seen with the Penn State incidences, nobody is going to ignore or justify child abuse in any form.