insensitive pricks.

Just got back from grabbing a quick bite downstairs in the dining hall....and I'm struck by how much I hate people here. I don't think I've ever been surrounded by more insensitive people in my life.

Two overheard conversation today were particularly disgusting.

First, I have to explain that last year around the time when Los Angeles was (again) burning, some guy in my Hillel student group said that we shouldn't bother helping people affected by the fires because "Why should we bother helping people who bathe in Perrier?" His argument was that EVERYONE was so fucking rich in LA that it didn't matter if their homes burned down. (Never mind the fact that plenty of not so well-off people were affected.)

I immediately let it be known that, as a native of the city that was burning, i was extremely offended by this guy's insensitive attitude, and the fight got so ugly that the rabbi had to step in.

Anyway, so today at dinner I overheard the same argument. Some guy was blabbering on and on to his friends about how "We shouldn't care that LA's on fire....good riddance, they're only actors."

Cos, yeah, I'm sure a BUNCH of successful actors were living in that mobile home park that got completely burned up. (And, to be clear, LA's only surrounded by fire--it's the outlying areas that are actually burning. Fewer actors there....) Meanwhile, if it's anything like the fires I've been in LA for, there are a lot of refugees, there's ash all over the place, the air is unhealthy, and the sky looks like fucking armaggedon. It's especially creepy when the fire is behind the mountains that surround LA, because then you can see this scary glow coming over.


I wanted to pick a fight with this asshole, but then I decided to just ignore him. But then I hear the voice of a DIFFERENT asshole, cracking jokes about a missing student from our university. Laughing about how there's going to be a vigil for him, how a body was found in the lake that might very well be his...... I have no idea what's funny about that. Maybe I just have a terrible sense of humor, but I don't see what's funny in that. I'm not offended by it on a personal level, since I didn't know the poor guy who has gone missing, but it still struck me as an insensitive thing to say about ANYONE, even if you don't know them, but especially insensitive to say about someone who was a member of your larger university community.

It really made me wonder, "What if I were the one who went missing, or what if one of my closest friends were the one?" These assholes sitting at that table would probably still be cracking jokes.

I'm not saying everyone has to bow their heads and talk in somber tones all the time just because SOMEWHERE in the world SOMEONE is suffering, but I just don't think we should all have the attitude of "Oh, it doesn't affect me, therefore I don't give a shit and am going to voice my opinion about how I should not give a shit in a loud manner so that everyone can hear."

What bothered me most in all this was just how loud both assholes were being. You know what? You can have as many insensitive or offensive opinions as you like--just keep your fucking voice down when you're voicing them.