We love our villains. In movies, it’s sweet stuff when a hail of bullets riddles a drug kingpin, an abusive mother gets her what-for, or an evil queen evaporates in a fiery plume of green fire. We want pure evil to suffer a painful death. Unfortunately, true villains – completely one-dimensional, evil-to-the-bone, dog-kicking ones – […]
Read More →The whole “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas” debate boils down to one question: Is it OK to say “Merry Christmas” to a non-Christian? Businesses banning “Merry Christmas” don’t do it to insult the speaker – they push “Happy Holidays” to show compassion for the listener. What we have here is a failure to communicate. Okay […]
Read More →People stereotype people all the time. That’s okay. The next step is more important: What do they do with that stereotype? Imagine a party. One thirty-something man wears a blue suit and red tie. An Asian twenty-something woman sports a headband and 1960s bellbottoms. An older white guy wears black leather and carries a motorcycle […]
Read More →When did we become our parents? Not the responsible-and-mature part – the let’s-criticize-the-younger-generation part. Articles about a “self-centered younger generation” have been a staple our entire lives. How can we repeat the same thing without seeing any irony? “The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and […]
Read More →