I Am

It bothers me when people assume I'm stupid. People should never assume. Because it makes an ASS... it ASSES... it ... well UME just shouldn't do it. Heh heh.

Oh there are stupid people out there! Maybe more than ever. But it occurs to me that somehow we have been socialized to believe thay're everywhere. Like the computer geeks might say the default setting for intelligence expectation has dropped. I think computers just might have something to do with that. Let me explain:

Ever have trouble with a webpage? I'm looking for work right now and going to all kinds of sites where you are supposed to be able to upload your resume and thousands of prospective employers will be able to view it. The trouble is I fill in blanks for half an hour then press the "upload resume" button and nothing happens.

There are also job ads that ask for pictures, resumes, cover letters, email, passwords. employment histories, transcripsts, passports, criminal record checks, degrees, certificates, references, seals, stamps, apostilles... then you send them all this and they get right back to you with, "Please fill out our application form." The application form asks for pictures, resume, cover letter, email, password, employment history, transcripts, passport, criminal record check, degree, certificates, references, seals, stamps and apostilles. The exact same stuff. Then when you finish filling in all the blanks and press send or save or finish or whatever you get a message like, "there is some difficulty with your email and password." So you try every combination you have ever used in your life but none works. You tell the employer their online application is not working correctly and you don't get the job because the fault MUST be with YOUR computer skills.

I even applied to a company to get my criminal record check all taken care of for me. THEY had a website too and the same thing happened. I spent hours and hours filling in the information that they need to put on the RCMP criminal record form and the address they need to mail it to and the credit card number they need to receive payment and every time something went wrong.

And sometimes you get sent to a registration page after filling in all this information. The registration page just asks for all the same information. But you figure maybe the site will work if you are a registered member. So you fill in the registration blanks and register. I have NEVER EVER EVER filled out a registration form that didn't work! Hmmm. Mysterious isn't it? Anyhoo, you get all registered and sent back to the page with all the blanks you've filled out. The blanks are blank once again so you fill them in again thinking that now that you are filling them in as a registered user it will make a difference. You press send or finish or continue or whatever and again nothing happens.

There are lots of other situations like this when websites don't work. You've experienced it. Everybody has. It's because there are a LOT of flaws in these stupid websites. Some are designed to work with certain operating systems and not with others. They probably receive funding from rival operating systems to be like this. How are we to know if a website supports Internet Explorer or Google Chrome? They never tell you. You have to waste all the time and energy finding out yourself.

Then there's Skype. Can someone PLEASE tell me why everyone can use this but me? I froze two computers downloading it! Froze. Like had to restart in Safe mode and nuke it from there. Even the one or two times I have managed to get it without destroying my computer it comes with so much axtra shit I'm getting rid of programs for months. And I'm sure I don't even notice all of them. AND it takes up almost all my RAM. EVERYTHING is slower! AAAANNNNDDD it's annoyingly in your face. I haven't put in the effort to learn the ins and outs but the first trick I'd like to know is how to shut if off. I HATE that it's always going and that there is no user friendly way to shut it off! That's a sure sign to me that I don't want or need that program. AAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD then, when I use it the stupid thing shuts down all the time. I've had exactly ONE entire conversation on Skype without the thing shutting down on me. But people in the biz look so cool and modern with their Madonna headphones and face mikes! They LOVE Skype. Please!

And then comes my personal favourite part: you find an email address, "If you have trouble just email us at techsupport@brokenwebsite.com So you send them and email explaining that you filled everything in, pressed SEND and nothing happened. Here's what you get: "Have you located the power button on your computer, pushed it and noticed some whirring noises and things lighting up?"

Right? Because it can't possibly be the website that their ingeniusness designed. The problem MUST be with the moronic member of the general public trying to use my perfect website. Or, "Have you registered?" Right? They ask that because this is where they make their money. THAT is why registration always works. They make money because once you register your info will be sold, no matter how many times they say it won't on the website, it WILL be sold or given to people that you don't want to have it. People like spammers, hackers, your government.

So in this way and for this reason are we NOT stupid? Do we NOT deserve to be treated like the dummies we are treated as?

Well that's not fair. I am looking for work. I HAVE to use these sites. That's where they get us. There are times when we have no choice but to do what it is THEY want us to do. Banking, work, official documents, immigration, registration, certification, taxation, enumeration... we're all just doing what we're told. We're free! We're free! We believe we're free! But really we're just free to do what THEY tell us to do.

Again, aren't we as dumb as they treat us if this is indeed the case? We're like that elephant tied to a little stake in the ground with a thin piece of rope. We're only NOT free because we're told we need to live like this.

Here's an interesting way of looking at it: If aliens came down and just helped themselves to natural resources destroying the environment, we'd attack them, wouldn't we? If they then forced us to work for them and give them at LEAST half the money we earned, we'd fight back, wouldn't we? If they kept us working long hours for subsistence wages, we'd be pissed, wouldn't we? Then if they called an election and asked us to choose between Kang or Kodos to be our leader, we'd think it was a fucking joke! Wouldn't we?

NO! No, we wouldn't. We'd vote. We'd vote for Kang because he's going to lower taxes to 45%! Or we'd vote for Kodos because he's going to let us work 9 hours a day instead of 10.

So, the next time I am treated like I am an irretrievably vacuous numbskull with the I.Q. of a turnip, I guess I shouldn't get so upset because I am. I AM!