Fuck You Kindly

[redbrunja]

There is this bumpsticker that never fails to decrease my mood by 25% as soon as I see it.

It says, "Everyday is a good day."

Really? Everyday? The day you got raped? The day your mother died? The day you finally shuffle off this mortal coil? Those were all good days?

Fuck you.

Comments

[okroginator.livejournal.com]

Not that I don't agree that the statement itself is erroneous, but maybe it's this person's way of trying to be optimistic.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'm sure they are. It's factually incorrect and emotional bullshit sentence.

[lykomancer.livejournal.com]

I think that's true of everyone's attempt to be optimistic.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Not automatically. Personally speaking, those optimistic statements that take into account the reality of the situation, such as 'every cloud has a silver living' or 'this too shall pass' (which I used to hate but now have a grudging fondness for) or even 'there is something good in every day' are, imho, if not completely logically bulletproof, at least solidly set in the same reality I live in.

Also, that icon is fucking epic.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, they are fallacies, so they are mistakes like:

"All men are the same"
"All optimistic sentences are "this or that"."
"Everyone love it"
"Everyday is good", is as wrong as to afirm "everyday is bad"...

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

"All men are the same"

This one in particular I think is deeply embedded in our culture and deeply damaging.

[the-sun-is-up.livejournal.com]

I agree with okroginator, it sounds to me like they meant something more like "everyday has the potential to be a good day" or maybe "everyday has some good bits in it." It's an affirmation that, while not strictly accurate, helps them feel optomistic about the future.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's what they MEAN but every time I see that bumpersticker I feel more bitter and pessimistic. It's just such a bullshit sentence.

[the-sun-is-up.livejournal.com]

*shrug* I don't think it's bullshit. I think it's a lot like your icon up there. A scale that reads "you're beautiful"? That's not accurate for everyone, and it's certainly not scientific, but if you had a scale that said "you're ugly" or "you're average," even if it were technically true, it would be pretty counterproductive. On the other hand, believing that "you're beautiful" or "everyday is a good day" is usually productive, even if it isn't true.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I see your point, but that saying just has a pollyanna/detached from reality spirit to it that really, REALLY grates my nerves.

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

Stuff like that always makes me want to respond with quotes from Candide.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I don't get the reference, sorry.

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

Candide is a satire written by the French philosopher Voltaire. It's a criticism of Optimism as a philosophy.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Sounds right up my alley.

[sureasdawn.livejournal.com]

It might be better phrased as "Every day is a good day for someone."

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yes! That would be factually correct.

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah. I know what they're trying to say, but it's something that, if I see it when having a crappy day, will light my brain with rage.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I've never come across this bumpersticker when I was already upset, but I fear what will happen if I do.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

It's on the same level as being told in junior high "These are the best years of your life".

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

What moron actually let those words escape his mouth?

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

The same kind of moron who kept sending me to counselors to ensure I wouldn't go on a gun-toting rampage in the post-columbine years but made no effort to stop the bullying that might trigger it.

[mewsrissicat.livejournal.com]

Your story makes me appreciate my best friend's high-school teacher even more, when - under circumstances much like yours - she drew a line on the chalkboard and divided it in fourths.

She then said, "Here's the span of your life, and here you are (pointing to the first quarter). Right now your life is hell, and you can't do much to change that."

"But this is only the first quarter of your life, and once you get here - out of high school and into college - your life is going to improve so much. So just hang in there, okay?"

(And she was right.)

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome teacher. The best I ever managed was the one who admitted the only purpose for a particularly pointless lesson was to keep us off the streets until we turned 18.

[mewsrissicat.livejournal.com]

She was! We've been trying to find her again to say "Thank you!"

For both the honesty and the optimism - without the acknowledgment of her pain, she would have felt alone in the world. Without the promise that the first twenty years would eventually end and life would improved, she might have done the unthinkable. (Catholic, or not.)

I don't understand people who don't love teaching... but then, I *loved* learning. It was something to lose myself inside, and avoid the rest of the world. (Along with reading.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That is a truly awesome teacher.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Son of a bitch.

[zeldabel.livejournal.com]

Yep, I totally agree with you. Some people are just too effing perky.