Some things just don't sit right.

Apparently I'm in a really contrary mood lately. A couple of things that have generally started pissing me off to the extent that I have to rant about them (or at least bitch a bit).

1) It seems to me that our local (city wide) talk station does more stirring up of hatred between races and socio-economic groups in the city than it actually does talking. This is quite a feat for a 24 hour talk radio station, but one that seems to be acheived (at least in this city) with great regularity. This seems to be the argument between C and I - he maintains that the city is full of hate and the radio station reflects it, and I maintain that the city may be full of hate, but the radio station magnifies it, and therefore encourages it.

The last time I listened to this particular station (around December), the host was doing a fabulous job of ripping apart a recently bereaved mother, who had come on as a guest in order to try to bring some solidarity to the city and end violence. The host maintained that since the murder victim was "a thug", it was pointless to encourage people not to murder each other. In fact, in the eyes of the host, the fact that this woman's son had done drugs seemed to totally negate the woman's plight. After a few minutes of this, he unleashed the hounds - the callers waiting to say that it was all the fault of the woman - she had failed as a mother and the death of her son was the price. Would you do that to a mother who has lost a son? Perhaps you'd like to walk up to her funeral and tell her that? It scares me that as many people speak out about Fred Phelps and his funreal picketing, there seems to be a much larger movement that thinks it's OK to blame people for their misfortunes, as long as it's done anonymously.

Maybe I'm oversensitive. Maybe this radio station does reflect the true ideas of those who live here, but I really hope not, because it's scary. It makes C mad becasue he believes it's the truth of the city (insert insensitive if not scarily racist comment here), and it makes me mad because I think any possibility for progress to be made is being shouted down by those in control of the media.

2) We have some magazines lying around at work that are of the "House Beautiful" variety - understandable, seeing as we're sort of in the house beautification market. These also irritate the crap out of me, although it's turned into a sort of obsession lately. I looked through one yesterday, trying to find the cheapest item that I could. It was an issue about throw pillows, and the cheapest throw pillow (cushion) I could find was $125. The most expensive? $495. Other items on their "must have" list? A Tiffany honey-comb, silver handle, wooden comb, for $195 "because don't you get such a rush when you bring something home in a little blue box?", and some baby clothes. The top (a knitted jumper) for $105 and some trousers for $85.

Who are these magazines aimed at? Are there real people who would happily pay $190 of a baby outfit? Babies puke alot. They also grow. What do you see for that $190 a few weeks after you buy it? A too-small, pukey outfit that baby may have worn once. Are there really people who furnish their living rooms with furniture that makes you think $495 for a throw pillow is a bargain? Perhaps I'm just living in a very sheltered world, where making your mortgage payment for the month means we're living well.

I'm not entirely sure that there are many people for whom this magazine serves as a catalog of pretty things to pick up next time we go shopping. Even if I had the money, I'm not sure I could ever justify spending it like that. Ever. Not when $495 would feed quite a few people for a good length of time. Of course, perhaps there are people who think a cushion is more worthy than feeding people, but I like to think they don't exist. Or at least are fairly rare.

What irritates me is that this magazine (and others like it) clearly markets to an audience who aspires to this form of wealth (blech) but won't ever attain it. It's saying "Here are the things you should want and love if you're ever going to be afforded the staus in society that you've been told to aspire to".

OK, bitch time over. I'll admit that I'm wasteful, and desire things that I cannot afford. But I'm working on it.