"Bitterness Is Reserved For Stupid People"

T'was a busy day. After work, I managed to get a ticket to the Wallflowers concert ordered. Then I went and filled up the car with gas (which had gone from $1.88 to $1.95, unfortunately).

My next stop was a computer repair store, where I bought a new power supply for only $35. I figured I'd install it myself, but I didn't count on two things: first, that I can't figure out for the life of me how to get the power supply out of my damn computer. I just can't figure it out. Second, the power supply is the wrong shape and size. Won't fix in my tower (one of those slimline Dell 4500S models. Damn things require a different size of power supply, apparently). So that means I have to find time tomorrow or (more likely) Thursday to take the power supply back and order a different one, which will probably cost more money.

Of interesting note was something I heard outside of Best Buy this afternoon. A man maybe a couple of years older than myself, his girlfriend/wife/whatever, and a young boy about 10 or 12 years old. The adult male was what I'll call a hip-hop redneck--pure Oklahoma white boy, but thinks he's from the 'hood. Well, his kid brother/son/whatever was even worse. Little tot thought he was straight outta Compton or something, 'cause he was standing there cussin' like a rapper. I just couldn't believe that a kid that young was talking like that, and that neither adult said anything about it. Hell, I don't even like hearing the student-athletes curse. I'm not a prude or goody-two-shoes by any stretch of the imagination, but honestly, the sort of language this kid was using was simply the sign of poor education and (probable) mental retardation in the sense that someone had obviously been retarding this child's opportunities to learn anything of value.

I think that actually points to my biggest problem with rap: aside from the fact that I just don't like the musical style (I have a thing for guitars, what can I say? Drums and bass and samples just don't really do it for me), the fact that so many people attempt to emulate the lifestyle rappers rap about bothers me. I think someone wasn't listening to the guys in NWA and all that. This wasn't something folks ought to be imitating. They're talking about the hardships they've gone through, the hell they lived in, and it's not something they necessarily wanted others to have to live with. I think folks (especially the hip-hop rednecks I mentioned earlier) just don't seem to get. Then again, that's what you almost have to expect from people who absorb pop culture without fully understanding what the source material is.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Minus 5, "Dear Employer (The Reason That I Quit)"