Again Not Thankful

Here's the 6th annual edition of my Thanksgiving-time list of things for which I am not thankful. You can get to the trail of prior lists here or by using the label Thanksgiving.

As with prior years, this list is in no particular order:

Both a) rioters who disguise themselves as protesters, and b) white privilege.

'Follow the leader' gutless politicians.

Complicated wireless phone plans, and those entities which provide them.

Extreme winter weather in November.  (Basically, a repeat of 2013)

Enabling helicopter parents.

States like Iowa that can't even muster a conversation about medical marijuana legalization, while other states are already legalizing marijuana for recreational usage.

Those who proudly display their debt.

Really big butts, and the pop culture that currently glorifies them.

Social media trolls.

People who want you to think they care, but who really just want your attention.  (This would include anyone who did the ALS ice bucket challenge this year without actually donating money.)

The Pretenders

No, this is not an entry about the 1980s English rock band with hits such as Back On The Chain Gang and Middle Of The Road.  They are not worthy.

This is about people who jump on the bandwagon.

We've all seen this before, in a variety of ways.  In the past couple of weeks, I've witnessed no less than three manifestations of it....

It's the person who doesn't give a damn about a sports team the entire regular season, and then suddenly acts like the team's biggest long-time fan when they get to the championship game.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two of the team's players.

It's the person who claims to not like a certain musician, and then suddenly acts like the artist's biggest fan when they are coming to town for a concert.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two of the artist's songs.

It's the person who claims not to like a certain part of the country, and then suddenly acts as if they should be the tour guide when that place is chosen for a group trip.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two tourist destinations in that region.

The Pretenders don't actually care about the team, or the musician, or the trip.  They care about not being a part of something, even if they couldn't care less about that something.

So to all of the Pretenders out there, stop your phony coat-tailing and go away, and let the people who really care take your place.