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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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July 28, 2003 The Asinine Things You People Say... Part 16 I have started referring to my "favorite" (insert sarcasm here) phone calls into the show as "Hall of Fame" calls. Anytime I see on my computer screen that someone is ready to make a complete ass of themselves by making a comment we have addressed 1,000 times before, I now use that term. Over the next few weeks, months, Hell maybe years, I will document them all for you in this forum. Week number sixteen's entry is "it must be nice to be so perfect." This one almost always rears its ugly head while the show is in the middle of picking on someone for some shortcoming. For example, we’ll be making fun of Catherine Zeta Jones for looking awful while pregnantr w, or we’ll be mocking President Bush for his inability to use the English language properly. Perhaps we’ll be ridiculing Tom Cruise or Vin Diesel for their complete and total lack of acting ability (and heterosexuality... allegedly). Regardless of the topic, eventually some clown calls in and ruins our fun by saying, “Boy, it must be nice to be so perfect.” It is my opinion that in this case we have touched a nerve with the caller. Either we are insulting someone they admire, or we are attacking a condition that applies to the caller personally (for example, a pregnant woman). Either way, let’s examine the logic, or lack there or, in this statement. First of all, if you spend any time listening to our show you know that the most common victims of our verbal tirades our us. We attack each other and ourselves constantly. Arnie and I make fun of Dawn for her eating habits. Dawn attacks Arnie’s complete lack of respect for Women. I put myself down for my terrible hairline. Dawn is the victim of being called on the carpet for her hypocrisy. Arnie is called Fat. I am called scrawny and an albino. Nick the producer is accused of being gay for the sole reason that he worked in the theater for two years. I could go on and on. The point is that we obviously speak our minds about everyone in the same way. You may not like the way we do it, but that’s your damn problem and you really should change the fricken station. Secondly, I would venture that the caller is engaging in hypocrisy. The caller is basically accusing us of pointing out other people’s shortcoming rather than our own. I would venture that this a behavior that everyone engages in everyday. Are you telling me that you NEVER quietly mock a fat person? You NEVER chuckle when you see someone fall down? You NEVER call someone “White-trash” or some similar epitaph related to how that person chooses to live or behave? Please. Which brings me to my third point of illogic. Some would respond to my previous paragraph by saying “that’s what’s different. If I do it with friends it’s not hurting anyone…if you do it on the radio everyone hears it.” Grow up, Alice. Using that deflecting argument doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility of having the same thoughts, by the way. More over, our show is here to reflect society, not fix it. The fact is that demeaning, shallow, narrow-minded insults are spoken about each and every one of us throughout the day. Just because you don’t hear it while you are waiting in line at supermarket, doesn’t mean the person behind you isn’t thinking it. We have the courage to voice what people want to say. Bottom line. If you lack courage, punch over to the easy listening station and jam with Kenny G. If you want to know just how awful people really are at their core, we’re the show for you.
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