Not Exactly a Rant...

As sort of a response to an attack where I was (wrongly) venomously and with damnation, accused of being a republican, (gasp!) I have to ask, were you judging me?  Were you stereotyping me?  No!  Say it ain't so!  Such tolerant folk wouldn't be a party to such hatefulness, would they?

Guess what?  EVERYONE is stereotyped.  Always have been; always will be.  Tattoos, clothing, skin color, neighborhood, gender, dye job, political party... the data input is analyzed and filed in the appropriate folder.  I'm so sick of hearing, "Don't judge me," that I could puke.  The same people puff their chests out and say, "Represent!" like it's a battle cry, then they tell me not to judge when I draw conclusions based on their representation.  Do you even know what you mean? Don't judge me? Really?

Of course you're being judged!  Of course you're judging me!  It's called "assessment," not judgement, and it's automatic.  Feel free to talk to me for a while so you can form your very own, personal, stereotypical assessment of me.  If my convictions on a subject are strong, then say or think what you will; it's no skin off my teeth.  I'm a big girl, I can take it.  If I'm concerned at all that your judgement of me is incorrect, I'll assess it again myself and I'll alter my presentation accordingly if I need to.  If your opinion matters enough to me, and if I assess that you're perceptive enough for me to have a meaningful conversation with, perhaps we can talk again.

I represent.  I am a representative.  It's the mark I make on people, for good or for bad, for right or for wrong.  I'm confident, my convictions are sure, and you and your short-sighted and sophmoric hysterics don't bother me.  Now, grow up and live with it, for crying out loud!  Or don't.  Your problem.

We are all representatives, like it or not, so first off, arm yourself well with some education, understanding and intelligent arguments, because at the end of the day I don't really care how you FEEEEEL. Secondly, represent well and intentionally.  If you don't appear to mean what you say or know what you mean, how can you expect anyone else to take you seriously?  I don't want to hear your quotes and party line and have you cuss me when you're ignorance traps you in a corner searching frantically over your script for the proper reaction.

Finally, have the hair to stand up for it if you believe it!  I want to see confidence of conviction!  You can't fake confidence, it only makes you come across as obnoxious.  If all you have is assimilated ideology and feeeeelings, and you don't have confidence or convictions, you should probably keep that hole below your nose from letting off gas. If you can do that at least then if we disagree I can walk away with some respect for you.

I know what I represent, do you?