Er… this isn’t the Pit. I kind of forgot about that. :o
How does a cat killing birds and rabbits differ from someone shooting birds and rabbits with a 12-gauge? :dubious: (aside from the fact one would hope no-one is taking potshots at the wildlife in a residential area…)
Watching the World Cup reminded me of one of mine: people who put their hand on their “heart” when the national anthem is played.
Hmm. Reading this I realize that I’m a pretty tolerant person. I don’t automatically have a problem with people who smoke, own guns, or even those who drive Hummers. (Admittedly, I’m barely aware of what a hummer is.) People who dislike animals can be okay in my book. Speaking of books, a non-reader might rise an eyebrow, but who knows – they might have perfectly legit reasons.
But there’s someone where I work who drives a fancy car (sorry, I’m not a guy who can recognize car makes on sight – feel free to hate me) and feels the need to block FOUR PARKING SPACES every day. FOUR, parked right over the axis. I hate anyone who would do that. I don’t care how much you paid for your car, or how much you don’t want it to get bumped or scratched – you gotta play by the rules like the rest of us.
I wrote this in my notebook last week. I don’t really believe it unreservedly, but on the whole:
I think I’m superior to people who drink Coke.
Ah, yes, that reminds me of my other prejudice - people who keep notebooks in which they record their deepest thoughts.
Oh, you so did not just go there.
Coke drinker-HARDCORE Coke drinker
“Pepsi” is a swear word in my household.
~Tasha
I have a prejudice against anyone who compares a BMW to a Jaguar, Porche or Ferrari. I don’t see BMW as being much different than a Lexus or Mercedes.
I do haev a problem with people who buy a used low-end luxury car when they live at home with their parents just to say they drive a Benz
It’s a matter of scale. Wild animal populations in residential areas aren’t that big to begin with, so introducing predators that will kill indiscriminately (as opposed to only when it’s hungry), like housecats, can wipe out local populations.
I understand the rabbit situation is a bit different in Australia. They’re generally not considered as much of a pest in the States. A lot of suburbanites stateside actually enjoy having wild birds, squirrels and rabbits around their houses.
People here seem to really hate people who don’t read, so I’ll explain why I don’t. Put simply, I think books are boring.
When I was a kid, I read a lot. I read EVERYTHING. I read a lot of really good stuff, and really bad stuff, though I didn’t realise what was good and what was bad until years later, when I developed taste. I’m pretty sure I was hyperlexic because if I saw something with words on it and didn’t get to read it I would get really upset. Also, if something had words on it, it was automatically interesting. My parents were always yelling at me to stop reading and come to dinner/take a shower/go to bed. At school I read under the desk and my teacher mostly pretended not to notice because I was the best student. I also had no friends to detract from my reading time. Despite all this obsessive reading I never really read big people books until eleven or twelve because of a sort of mental barrier between me and that section of the library.
Anyway, I eventually discovered the big-name authors like Orwell and Bradbury and Kafka and Huxley (they were my favourite authors… I think you might be able to make a certain connection between them). They were harder to read than kids’ books and kind of dry but they contained a lot of new ideas that I’d never thought of before and I found that exciting. Thing is, I didn’t think they were particularly well-written until I went back to popular literature and discovered that books I’d have found okay before were suddenly bland, pedestrian and technically horrible. Books I’d thought were moving became cheesy and awkwardly-written. Books I’d thought were deep became shallow, pretentious and self-glorifying. It became hard to read a book without wanting to throw it across the room for being shit. In short, I became jaded several decades before I should have. There were still the classics, which I still enjoyed, but they took a lot more effort to get through and a lot of the time I just couldn’t be arsed. Reading simply wasn’t as much fun as it used to be.
In the meantime, I discovered comics and video games, two mediums which were refreshingly unpretentious AND appealed to the budding artist in me, and comics contained ideas just as interesting and exciting as those from any book. The last novel I willingly read and enjoyed was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, almost two years ago. I’m sure there’s still a ton of books I’d enjoy, but (and this is true of anything) to get to the good stuff, I’d have to wade through [del]the desolate seas of mediocrity[/del] piles of crap. And you know what? I don’t want to. I’d rather be drawing, or playing games, or hanging out with friends now that I actually have them. And that’s why I never read anymore.
PS - despite my weak spot for comics and video games I am actually a huge snob. I immediately think less of people who think The Matrix is the deepest movie they’ve ever seen, or the Da Vinci Code is the most insightful book they’ve ever read, or Nobuo Uematsu is the greatest composer they’ve ever heard. I know it’s all subjective, but it still makes me think they’ve never seen/read/heard anything good.
Because I have an artificial leg and work in the building trades, walking around all day long, I think any able-bodied person that tries to panhandle me or stands with a “will work for food” sign at the freeway overpass (Some of whom I’ve tried to hire for day labor but they always blow me off for no cash up front) is a worthless scumbag.
I know for damn sure it doesn’t apply to all of those people for various reasons but it pisses me off, and I don’t think I will ever get over it. I don’t treat them like shit, but I never give them money.
Texans who brag about being Texans. Texans who brag about Texas. Texans who compare every place in the world to Texas to prove that Texas is best. Texans who won’t shut up about Texas. Texans who defend Tom Delay.
French Canadians.
Male athletes. They tend to have an in-group that if you’re not a part of, you’re not worthy of their time or respect.
Hell, I don’t know. That’s why the thread is about unshakable prejudices. 
But you still understand that books are enjoyable. That’s good.
As for piles of crap, don’t you draw lots of stuff that isn’t as good as you want it to be? Don’t you ever play games that don’t live up to expectations? Don’t you have to meet a hundred icky people before you find one good friend? It’s just life.
My most important reason for hanging around the SDMB is to get book recommendations. I also have my favorite authors, and I never finish a book I’m not enjoying. That cuts way down on the dreck.
Okay, FSM, that was Un-Asked-For Lesson Number One on How to Be More Like Dung Beetle. That one’s a freebie, but the next one’ll cost ya.
FRM, that is. The next lesson will cover making embarrassing mistakes while typing.
:eek: WTF?
A few really bad experiences have left me with a really bad taste.
Then, don’t go around tasting French Canadians!
I think Georgia has a Blue Law about that…
But it’s not an either-or. I don’t draw - I can’t draw worth a damn - but I fill my life, every minute. I spend time with my SO, my friends, sew, bike, garden, play computer games, play video games, am currently working on refreshing my conversational Spanish, work of course, dance daily for exercise, and I read. I can do all that and more. I read much less varied stuff than I did as a child and am more careful with selecting my authors, yes, but I don’t just give up a lifelong hobby like that!