Whoa . . . I get it now.
Suspenderzzz, you’re a loser, right? And the sucky part is, you know it. And when people suggest there might be something worthy or respect in your life, you get pissed because it ony reminds you of how big a loser you are.
Am I on the mark?
Eeesh.
“worthy of respect.”
And “only” usually comes with its very own l.
Guess I’m just a semi-literate loser. 
What world do you live in? If it’s a happy fun thing, it’s not heroic, you dip.
I wouldn’t want to put myself in the shoes of a guy who throws himself on a grenade, either.
The guy that does, to save other people, is a hero.
A loser is someone who makes no effort to make things better for themselves and their family.
A loser is someone who belittles another making that effort.
A loser is someone who has a closed mind and thinks that any opinion, other than their own, is worthless.
Suspenderzzz, you are neither a hero or a survivor.
You’re a loser.
And an idiot.
:rolleyes:
Thanks, I’ll let my little Shelby’s mom know she’s a loser. She’s uneducated. She’s got three kids. She and her husband work 4 jobs (in total) to keep the family going. Her kids are well fed. They’re clean, and well dressed. Shelby takes violin lessons and drama lessons (the latter from me.) Her little sister is starting piano. The little one just started school this year.
Those two parents are busting their asses to give their girls all that THEY never had. They never had the money to go study. They’re both smart people. And now, with three kids, their kids come first. And three brigher, sweeter, more compassionate little girls you’ll NEVER find.
I had to fight with them to take Shelby on pro-bono. I see her twice a month for lessons. Smart, bright, kid with lots of talent. Her parents have been working the extra two jobs and saving money so that the girls will be able to go to university or college when they grow up.
They’re courageous people. They’ve never had things handed to them. Life has NEVER been easy for them. They’re giving their girls the chance THEY never had as kids.
Who the hell are YOU to pass judgement on people like that?
Admired by all, envied by none? That’d also go for a number of heroes I know. Heroes with the qualities you want to see in hero. Would YOU risk your life for another? Would YOU LOSE your life for another? Yeah. Admire the hero. You’re probably too much of a coward to be one yourself.
E.
I guess I struck a serious nerve here. LOL. Never have I seen so many people come unglued over an issue that in the big scheme of things is really small potatoes.
BTW, Angel, you are splitting hairs. Maybe indirectly some incest victims have come to, er, perish, do to what was done to them. The example was imperfect. I think you know what I was trying to say. As someone else pointed out, everything you do can potentially kill you, even take a shower. So, we are all survivors, which, of course, makes the term meaningless.
Yet, we continue to disproportianally apply the term to a certain segment of society, the losers, the underachievers, who somehow get by. That is a new thing that hardly ever was done before 1990 or so. Anyone who is in such a pathetic position in life and has an ounce of awareness, would want to be treated as an equal, as someone who is just doing their job (like the heart surgeon). Anyone with half a brain will sense the insult in disguise in all the gushing.
Thank you for the enlightenment. My mind is now open to new possibilities.
Including that which you might simply be a very misguided individual. I’d given you the benefit of the doubt (kept an open mind)… But hey. Knock yourself out.
E.
elenfair Stop, you are making me sob! Oh, God, my hankies! Where are my hankies? And why do I suddenly hear the music from Little House On The Prairie playing in my head?? You are truly an inspiration <wiping eyes>. And your kid is taking drama lessons? From you? Why, I must say, she has an excellent teacher. <Must collect myself…overcome…>
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
ur2 funneeee!!! roofles!!!
Suspenderzzz, are you capable of addressing criticism of your viewpoint in a mature manner? Your last few posts seems to indicate that you aren’t.
Should anyone here accept anything else you can say? The equivalent of holding your hands over your ears and shouting “I can’t hear you I can’t hear you I can’t hear you” doesn’t exactly endear yourself to even those who would support your arguments.
It is possible to use the terms hero and survivor in a patronising, condescending way, and I understand your frustration with having them applied to you.
But when I see someone who is doing something that I admire, and that I would find extraordinarily difficult or even impossible to do, then I call that person a hero. It doesn’t matter whether that person is doing his or her job, or whether they were forced by necessity or circumstances to do what they did, they’re still a hero in my eyes.
That includes someone like Scott O’Grady, who joined the military (already something that I didn’t have the will or the ability to do), to help protect me and my country (something that I greatly admire), found himself in circumstances that would have terrified me, and survived them.
It also includes someone who makes the choice to do something that I would consider beyond my abilities, or beyond the abilities of many people, such as doing a good job of supporting and caring for a disabled child.
For me, survivor carries with it a sense of dignity and honor. You can survive a devastating experience, even if it was never life-threatening, if you come through it stronger, wiser, and more able to face life.
There is so much nastiness and tragedy in the world, I really can’t see how it hurts to recognize when someone does the right thing, or is able to overcome horrible circumstances. Far from having too many heroes (in my sense of the word), I think we still have too few, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to recognize the ones we do have.
SUSPENDERZZZ –
Actually, yes. In light of that fact – which you obviously acknowledge because you posted it yourself – has it ever occured to you that it’s kind of stupid to cling to definitions from 25 years ago? Language is fluid; that’s why it’s indefinsible for you to claim the only proper definition of these terms is one from a quarter century ago.
“Oprah-fied”? Is there no end to that woman’s nefarious influence? Here, again, you acknowledge that the “‘newer’ meaning has become integral to our language.” But, apparently, you don’t like it. You admit that it’s perfectly correct but you don’t like it. You’re not impressed.
Who died and made you Language King? The definitions you object to are perfectly valid – you admit as much. You just don’t like them. Well, I don’t like Rocky Road ice cream (those little frozen marshmallows, ew), but who gives a shit?
Wouldn’t that depend on whose definition we’re using? Are we using yours, from the age of polyester leisure suits and disco balls? Or are we using the ones the rest of the world uses today? I’m perfectly willing to admit that such a person may not be a hero under your definition – precisely because you define the term in a way that excludes them.
Huh. What a simplistic world view. Let’s take two totally hypothetical Wally-world employees: Lee is a Cambodian refugee who supports his family pushing a Sam Walton-issued broom. He’s got a wife and kids at home plus his own aged mother. He used to be doctor in Cambodia, but here he can’t practice medicine because his degree doesn’t transfer and his English isn’t so good. He has no money because he’s a refugee. He’s too old to start school again and he has too many responsibilities (like feeding and clothing his family). So he works at Walmart to make the bills and at night he washes dishes at a Chinese restaurant to squirrel away money in an education fund he’s started. He wants his sons and daughters to be doctors, like he was, but he wants them to be American doctors, and so he works 18 hours a day, plus three hours on the bus, to make that happen.
Dave is a 19 year old American who lives to party. He’s never had much ambition, though his parents would put him through college if he’d motivate himself. But he’s not interested; he’s interested in sleeping until noon, putting in his shift driving a forklift at the Walmart warehouse, and then hooking up with his buds for a night of wine, weed, and women.
Which of them is the loser?
Ah, grasshopper, the heroics lie not in being in a good position, but in acting with dignity, resolve, and bravery when you’re in a bad one. And – surprise! – that goes for the minimum wage workers of the world as well.
Surely you don’t expect people to believe that you “see things very clearly” when you spout such sad and indefensible little opinions? Because that’s not the impression you’re leaving.
Oh, and in your zeal to contemptuously dismiss ELENFAIR’s post, you of course totally skipped over the point of it, which is that some people work minimum wage jobs because that’s the best they can do with the cards life dealt them. That doesn’t make automatically make them all losers.
What part of this do you not get? I mean, I’m willing to take your word for the fact that you’re an asshole, but is it your intention to convince us you’re dumb as a sack of hammers as well?
I have half a brain, and I too sense this.
My job invloves the saving of trees, trees put oxygen back into the air by using carbon dioxide.
So that means I help the world breath easier.
I make the air that make the whole world breath,
I make the air of love and special things
I make the air that make the young girls heave
I make the air, I make the air.
So you are not my equal, as I am a hero to the entire world.
MUUWAAHAAAHAAAAAA!!!
Bow down before the the great one, yes, you, the feeble minded one with the cushy job.
Bow down and admire, in all his tree loving greatness, the one they call imthjckaz.
For you are not his equal, as he is a Hero, to all that breath.
:rolleyes:
Well . . . he would be a Hero. If he hadn’t just put a #%#$ Manilow song into my head.
heh, sorry.
No you’re not. And you know it. Loser.
Am too sorry.
It’s in my head too.
And I have half a brain, so it echos.
I think this point is important. Sacrafice seems to be a key component of heroism. If this is true, then the job or position is not as important as why the person is doing the job or position or what that person is giving up.
The heart surgeon example alluded to above, could be a hero if the necessary factor of sacrafice is involved. Here is an example of my thinking:
Independantly wealthy individual who does not require surgeon’s salary continues to operate on sick people… working long hours, agonzing over every lost patient and every failed attempt to save a live. It would be easier to live off the interest and dividends, but the surgeon continues to devote time and energy to helping other people in spite of the personal doubts, etc.
The status of hero depends heavily on context, in my estimation of the term. I see no reason why survivor would be any different; trauma can be from many sources and affect different people in different ways.
Perhaps certain segments of American media are apt to jump to assuming one is a hero or survivor (perhaps to sell commericial time?), but the OP’s example shows that there are certainly others who are equally apt to dismiss another’s heroism or survivor(ism?) without considering the sacrafices.