It's only the third week and I'm already freaking sick of college.

I have to write papers out the butt for stupid little things, and, oh, be sure to spend all your time researching and prove that you did by giving us 500 links to your sources, because sources are everything, even if you're right, we can't take that for face value, we have to take someone else's knowledge and see that you learned from them. Heaven forbid that you're in these classes to pass them because you already know them, no, we're going to make you learn it all over again at the pace of the rest of the class who are too stupid to read the assignments and write the proper posts and leave you in the dark as to how to respond so you can get your grade, too!

And here I am, in the third semester of this course, if you can even call it that, because not even the instructor seems to know how it works, and this particular set of classes requires that you finish everything on Saturday, not Sunday, nooo... Not Sunday like EVERY single other class I've ever taken. No. Saturday. We're going to rip away a whole day of time that you're used to having for no particular reason, and haha! Look at that, you sent in all your stuff late! You don't get any points for that! So much for your 4.0 GPA, am I right?

I'm sick of school. I just want to move on and do a job for a change. Screw the idea that I already know how to do all this and am failing because the instructions aren't clear and that I'm rushing around because I keep finding out that I have to do more and more junk. I didn't even want to do anything this semester, but I was pressed into doing it when I was already burned out from last semester, and now I'm regretting it and I have FOUR MONTHS TO GO.

And I decided to write this in 5 minutes instead of doing my classes because there's no possible way I can get anything done in 10 minutes before midnight where everything is locked up. You know what I was doing today instead? Oh, wait... I was coming up with questions for a stupid interview I have to do so I can explain to myself what my career choice is! WHAT FUN! I'm going to watch Monk now and hope that maybe I fall into a coma tonight or something happens so that I can wake up in 3 months and say "oh, sorry, extreme unforeseen circumstances prevented me from completing my tasks". On second thought, that's probably a bad idea because Ivy Tech is manned by complete and utter idiots and they'd Fail my classes instead of going "oh, well, since you couldn't tell us you were unable to finish these classes, we'll say you withdrew."

That, and my World of Warcraft guild would wonder where I went.

There's a lot of my explaining about why I left Uru, as much as I want to stop...

For the record, anything I have to say will be included in my original post on the subject. Any comments I leave to further explain my situation, I will add to that post, so people can reference it if they need to without linking to a bunch of other posts. Comments, however, will still be disabled. It's a post meant to read, not to discuss.

Whenever I talk about generalizations, this always comes to mind... Why do people freak out so much, or just not grasp the fundamental idea behind "generalizations"? They get upset and tell you that you're "stereotyping", as if that's a horrible thing to do. I will put here a series of generalizations and ask you what's wrong about them!

Let's start off with something everyone knows.

Generally speaking, men feel the need to show off to impress others.

We all know this is true... All the infamous "hey, watch this" scenarios. Most men feel the need to show off in an effort to prove that they're superior in strength to others. It's just a fact of life. This is a stereotype, and I am in it, because I'm a man. Is this stereotype wrong? No. It's very true. Does that make this stereotype bad because there are some men who don't do this?

Let's try the opposite end of this example:

Generally speaking, women are far more emotional than men.

This is where we start stepping on people's toes. I don't know why, because it's the same thing as the previous example! It's true. Most women have stronger emotions than men. All you have to do is take a look at Hillary Clinton crying on TV to prove this. I honestly don't blame her. She's a woman! She's going to cry when things get rough and stressful. It's their way of dealing with it. This is a stereotype. Is it wrong? No... Because it's true. Does that make this stereotype "bad", or "wrong" or "evil" because there are some women who don't do this? No! Because a stereotype is "generally speaking"... Meaning that "for the most part, women are far more emotional than men." The entire idea of a stereotype is to generalize. Of course there's going to be exceptions, but the very term "stereotype" and "generalization" allows for exceptions.

Let's get a little more intense!

Generally speaking, Windows users aren't very computer literate.

We ALL know this is true. The Windows market caters to people who don't want to mess with a lot of the intricacies of setting up a computer. Yes, it has flaws, what OS doesn't when you look at it through unbiased eyes? But the fact remains that most Windows users won't know how to even check the temperature of their CPU. This... Is a stereotype... A generalization. It's true. Does this make you discriminatory if you use it? No. Because it's true, and the very definition of a "generalization" is to say that there are exceptions, and there ARE exceptions to this stereotype. I am in the stereotype, because I am a Windows users, but I also know quite well how to use Unix-based systems, as well. I am the exception, but I am still in this stereotype.

The opposite?

Generally speaking, Apple users are very elitist.

You knew it was coming. You know it's true, though, don't you. The very company itself promotes elitism in their marketing and in their conventions and in everything they do. It permeates into the community and you get people who are attracted and emulate and are the very same way. All you have to do is get on Slashdot or Digg to see it. Now... This is a generalization and it's true. But, as I've been saying, the very term "generalization" means that there are exceptions, and I know PLENTY of Apple users who aren't elitist fanatics. This is a stereotype and they are in this stereotype, but they are the exception.

One more mirrored example. The hot tamale, so to speak!

Generally speaking, Americans are overweight.

This is also true. All you have to do is go to McDonald's or Wendy's or any other fast food restaurant that caters to the impatient NOW-NOW-NOW attitude of the United States. We're a fat, rich country. That's a fact. I am in this stereotype, but I am the exception, as well. I'm a little fatter than I could be, but I'm not qualified to be overweight, I don't think. I don't care, and it doesn't matter. I'm in this stereotype, you are, too. But you could be the exception. You are the exception to the stereotype, but you are still IN the generalization and stereotype, because a generalization and a stereotype, by definition, means that not everyone is, but they are mostly.

And here's the big one:

Generally speaking, terrorists are usually Muslims.

Oh, hoho. I really dropped the bomb here, didn't I? This is the main generalization that if you dare utter, will get you a smackdown of epic proportions. But it's true, isn't it? Who's blowing themselves up in the streets of Iraq, killing soldiers and innocent civilians? Who are the ones who kill whoever doesn't convert to their religion? All throughout history! Hey, you can't say I'm biased now, because it was in my secular history book for the course I'm taking in college. Generally speaking, terrorists are Muslims. It's true, and it's a generalization. But... Guess what? As with all generalizations, the very definition suggests that there are exceptions. And there ARE exceptions! There are some non-radical Muslims out there who aren't doing anything. (In fact, they're not doing anything so well, that they're not trying to stop their radical brethren, but that's another topic entirely.) But the fact remains that the majority of terrorists are Muslims who are out for blood and will do terrorist activities in order to be at peace with their god. It is not wrong to generalize this, just like it's not wrong with the previous examples, because the very word "general" means "basically" or "mostly"... Meaning there are exceptions! I didn't say all Muslims are terrorists, but, hey! Generally speaking, they ARE.

Hello, my name is GermanShepherd, and I'm a generalizer.

And as a post-script, as food for thought: Why is it bad to profile based on stereotypes? The stereotypes are true, and while there are exceptions, most of them are going to fit the profile. Just another example of how far down the left side of the hill we've managed to slide if we're too scared to act on TRUE generalizations in an effort to protect ourselves.

I have just become aware of the need for contact information. With my departure from old gathering places, I hadn't had to consider something like this before now. Actually, I used to have one long ago on a very old site of mine, where I had posted articles about the evils of rock music, and I had managed to collect a few emails from disgruntled readers from random areas of the world. It was kinda neat having emails like that... I actually responded to them, too, but I would eventually refer them to the fellows at IBLP, but ANYWAY...

There's a link at the top, but you can go here, too, if you're lazy like I am.

Okay... I want to make something crystal clear:

Two of my posts yesterday have been marked as "Comments Off". That means you can't leave comments on those posts... It also means that I don't want you posting comments about those posts on posts that do allow comments. They will be deleted and they will be ignored. When comments are disabled, it means not only do I not want comments on that post, it means I don't want to hear what you have to think about those posts! If you really, really, really want to discuss it, IM me, email me... Something else. But you do so at your own risk, because I'm not one to change my mind, and if you press a matter I'm trying to put behind me, I'm going to bite you.

So please, whenever you see a post with comments disabled? Do not try to comment on it in another way. It's not by accident that I disabled them, and it's not necessarily that I don't want to hear views on it, it's because I don't want to hear anything about it! Supportive, critical, or otherwise. "Comments Off" means NO TALKING ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. You can go make a post in response, sure, but if trackbacks are disabled, too (they usually are), they won't show up either, and I'm not going to go out of my way to see if you made a post in response because, say it with me now:

"Comments Off" means GermanShepherd doesn't want to talk about it.

I know some of my posts yesterday are going to make ripples but, frankly, I don't care, and I don't want to hear about it, because I'm tired of dealing with everyone who's too hostile to sit and listen without dropping a Seal of Judgment on me before I've even started. Enough is enough.