Entitled Woman Turns Into Snowflake When Told Not To Touch Service Dog

This woman was dubbed "Service Dog Sally" for being upset that
her toddler was not allowed to pet a service dog. She said the people
with the service dog were rude when they said no. 

I just love picking on self-important, entitled people. Their antics very often go viral, so it makes it convenient to do so.

So I'm picking on somebody today. Who of course went viral.

In this case, a woman in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania mall asked another woman if her toddler could pet her service dog. The answer was no.

As pretty much everybody on the planet knows, you don't touch a service dog. They're working. They don't need distractions. Get your own damn dog.

The mother of the toddler goes totally off - angry and bewildered and insulted that she and her kid was told "No." Like we all have to bow to this queen of snowflakes or whatever the hell she is.

In her self defense, the woman in the video says she had accepted the "No" answer, but somebody in the group used profanity, so she confronted the group with the service dogs.  That naturally made everything worse, because she just couldn't ignore this alleged profanity.

Watch the video at the bottom of this post to make your eyes roll.

First, here are the rules, for the tiny percentage of people out there who don't get it:

1. You must ask permission first if you want to touch a service dog, or any dog, or any pet, or any person.

2. If you are told that you cannot touch said animal or person, that ends the discussion. There is no negotiation. Move on.

3. If you do put up a fight over this and are filmed in a public place, there's nothing you can do about it. The idiot woman in the video begs to differ, but this is all very settled First Amendment case law. If you are in a public place and being video'd and you don't like it, too bad. Just get out of camera range if it bothers you.

4. If you are told you can't touch a service dog, any pet or any person, and you object to being filmed, you are free to threaten to contact your lawyer. Again, First Amendment case law says you can say this. Just don't expect any lawyer with even a smidgeon of common sense to take your case.

Anyway, here's the video. It's kind of cathartic to want to slap the offending women, although literally slapping her would be illegal. So just do it in your mind:

Gorgeous People Acting Gorgeously

Hottie Thomas Schwendeman deploys for
the Korean War in 1950 

The stereotype is that often, beautiful gorgeous people can be divas and self-centered.

But, not always as the two stories in this blog post thingy prove. I'm a sucker for nice people anyway, because it's a break from all the not-so-nice people in the news.

Recently, a guy named Derek Schwendeman posted a photo of his grandfather, Thomas, which was taken as grandpa deployed into the Korean War in 1950.

As you can see by the photo, republished in this post, Thomas Schwendeman was quite the hottie.  The photo went totally viral.

He probably dabbled in the war briefly, just to prove how manly he was, then became a male model, with a different lady every night, right.

Totally wrong, of course. The good news is a woman named Fleecie snagged him first and Thomas has been devoted to her ever since. Sorry ladies, Thomas is Fleecie's guy, ever since they married in 1951, according to People magazine.

They're still happily together, by the way,

Instead of living a life as a dashing international man of mystery, Thomas Schwendeman worked for Bell Telephone for decades, retired, worked as a school bus driver, and now, at age 86, dotes on his three children and six grandchildren. A great-grandchild is due any minute now.

Mikal Bartosic, a popular high school
cheerleader, with her soon-to-be prom
date Jonathan in Florida.  

Fleecie says she's gotten a kick out of the viral photo - what she calls the "funny notoriety - but Thomas told her that she was the one, and if he had to do it all over again, wouldn't marry another woman, People reports.

The couple are still active, and still often go out bowling. That's how the two met. In a bowling alley.

I wish them many more happy years together.

Our next gorgeous person is Mikal Bartosic, currently a popular pretty blonde cheerleader at Park Vista High School in Florida.

It's getting to be prom time, so as you can imagine, a lot of guys there would love to take her to the prom. You know the stereotype: She'd end up going with the football quarterback, or the school track star, or the resident stud muffin.

Nope, Mikal had other ideas and she figured she'd do the asking, reports the Palm Beach Post.

She has a classmate named Jonathan who is on the autism spectrum. He didn't think he was going to the prom, that's for sure. Until Mikal presented him with a cake that signaled that Mikal wanted to go to the prom with Jonathan.

He said yes, very enthusiastically, as you can see in the very sweet video below. I LOVE the joy in the room when she asks him out.

I hope the pair have a great time on the big night!

Wishing You "Happy Holidays" Is Not An Insult, You Idiots!"

Texas Agriculture Secretary Sid Miller is going to slap
you if you wish him "happy holidays' instead of
"Merry Christmas." I don't think I'll wish him anything.

Ok, there's an insult in the headline for this post. I called people idiots. My bad.

But, I'm sorry, people who are insulted when somebody wishes them "Happy Holidays" are idiots.

Like it or not, this nation, and the world for that matter is full of Christians, Jews, Muslims, agostics, atheists, Buddists, Sihks and a whole bunch of other persuasions.  

Which means if you never met the person you're greeting, you don't know if they're celebrating Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice or some other year-end holiday. Or maybe they're celebrating nothing at all.

When somebody wishes you "happy holidays," all they're doing is wishing you happiness. That's it.

You'd think all this would be obvious. You'd' think you'd be happy somebody is being nice to you. Just enjoy it. Say "thank you" if you have any ounce of politeness in you. 

However, some people just HAVE to find something to be outraged about. Some people are FURIOUS when you wish them "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

Because a small subset of Christians think EVERYBODY just HAS to celebrate Christmas, and if you don't you should just go to hell.

I'm having this rant because of one Sid Miller, the Texas State Agriculture Commissioner, who recently said on Facebook. "If one more person says Happy Holidays to me I just might slap them....Either tell me Merry Christmas or just don't say anything."

Sid, Sid, Sid. When someone tells you "Happy Holidays," they're wishing you well. Maybe they don't  know you that well, so they revert to "Happy Holidays."

And yes, I know it works both ways. It's equally silly to have a hissy fit if someone wishes you a Merry Christmas even though you don't celebrate Christmas. If someone is being nice to you, why be hostile?

Speaking of hostile, respondents to Miller's Facebook whine were not exactly friendly. 

Jon Anderson: "Yeah, I hate it when people gie me well wishes that aren't the exact well wishes I want. It's like someone giving me a present and having it be a gift card to my favorite restaurant instead of to my favorite clothing store."

Ron Coley: "Let me get this straight: If one more person wishes you happiness with words that don't meet your approval, you'll slap them because you are a Christian and that's what Christmas is all about? Oh brother." 

Jonathan Buck: "Great idea! And, a great message for kids! Slap someone if they say happy holidays! Glad someone is focusing in on what is important."

You get the picture.

Sid's complaints about not being wished a "Merry Christmas" is all part of the "War on Christmas" a few conservatives and evangelicals think they see.  Right, Bill O'Reilly?

The Huffington Post offers a helpful chart to help you determine if you are being persecuted or not, so take a look at that, Sid Miller and friends.

What the "War On Christmas" really is is people who can't live with the fact that not everybody celebrates Christmas the way they do, and some people don't celebrate Christmas at all.

Yes, the whole Mary and Joseph and Jesus in the manger thing is really important and wonderful to millions of people and I think that's a great thing.

Is it really in the Christmas spirit, though, to slap down, literally or figuratively, people who are perhaps not that into Christmas, but are still generous enough to wish you well?

It's the season of sharing.  Maybe share some warmth instead of Grinchy bitterness instead.

A Nightmare Week For Cell Phone Abusers

Nick Silvestri in a selfie taken on the cell
phone he later tried to charge on a Broadway stage.
Oh, and nice duckface on the girl right below
Silvestri. So proud.  

Obnoxious cell phone people have been in the news all week.  People are finally getting FED UP with people who can't part with their cell phones. Or maybe we've been fed up for awhile.

One of the incidents that really showed that some people are over the top with their cell phones.

We had the moron who, just before the Broadway comedy "Hand To God" started, jumped on stage and plugged his low battery iPhone6 into a fake wall outlet on the play's set on stage.

Playbill tracked the idiot down later.  He's Nick Silvestri, 19, of Long Island, New York.

He'd tried to plug his phone in at a restaurant earlier but the manager there yelled at him.

So, he had to try something else when he arrived at "Hand To God"

"I saw the outlet and ran for it," he told Playbill. "That was the only outlet I saw, so I thought, 'Why not? I was thinking that they were probably going to plug something in there on the set so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if my phone was up there, too."

Uh, yeah. Just alter the set of a play, no worries. Just throw everybody off. And put a non sequitor on the stage just to make things goofy. Ugh.

Continues Playblll's interview with Mr. iPhone6:

"The reaction was immediate. Members of the audience shouted, and 'about five security guards came running down. So I hopped off the stage. They were pretty mad. They said, 'What were you thinking?" I said "Hey, buddy, what's the problem?"

Um, maybe the problem was you commandeered a Broadway stage for the sake of your stupid iPhone? I don't know.

Silvestri also seemed pretty pissed off that the security guy yelled at him in front of his family, and in front of the audience. Oh, the pain and sorrow! You poor thing!

Silvestri also thinks he should be thanked by the cast and crew of "Hand To God"

Really, why?

Asked what he'd say to the cast, Silvestri responded. "Hey, I'm sorry if I delayed your show five minutes. But got a lot of attention from this, so maybe I  made your show a little better known."

Yeah, we should all be grateful for self-centered Long Islanders who love their iPhones more than life itself, and think we should, too.

It seems as if people used to go to Broadway to you, know, see Broadway plays. Now, apparently, they go to Broadway to text. Like you can't do it anywhere else.

This week, Patti LuPone during her Broadway show, swiped a phone away from an audience member who'd spent most of the time there texting. Good for you, Patti!

The attachment to cell phones is of course world wide. I leave you with the emotion some people have when the phone malfunctions. This is on a Hong Kong subway car, in which a woman has a meltdown to say the least when her phone stops working.

Warning: Keep the sound down a little. If your neighbors hear you, they'll think you're torturing a cat, which is never a good thing:

Zendaya/Rancic: TV Host Demonstrates How To Make A Proper Apology. Others Could Learn...

A Fashion Police host apologized
to Zendaya for an offensive comment about
her dreadlock hair style at the Oscars.  

Very often, celebrities, politicians, public figures and other people in the news say something stupid, and the Internet and media pile on.

The well-worn trajectory has the people who make the dumb comments digging in, then apologizing.

But you can tell the apologies from most of these people are done just for PR, and the wording of these mea culpas betray a total lack of sincerity.

"I'm sorry if I offend so and so....."

No, you DID offend them. Even if you didn't mean to offend them, you did.

So, it was refreshing to hear the way Fashion Police co-host Giuliana Rancic apologized for making a racist-sounding remark about the actress Zendaya's hair.

First let's get to the offending comment from Rancic. She said about Zendaya's hair style at the Oscars, which was a nice dreadlock do:  "I feel that it smells of patchouli oil, or weed. Yeah, maybe weed."

Fashion Police, is of course, famous for its snarky comments on the way celebrities appear in public, especially their style, or lack thereof (depending upon your opinion.)

Though Fashion Police is a frivolous show and what's said there is certainly not important, Rancic's remarks, pardon the pun, reeked of possible racism.

Zendaya responded to the insult with maturity and class, but also with needed outspokenness:

"To say that an 18 year old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or "weed" is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive....... There is already harsh criticism of African American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who chose to judge others based on the curl of their hair. 

My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough. To me, locs are a symbol of strength and beauty, almost like a lion's mane."

Fashion Police co-host Kelly Osbourne was offended enough by Rancic's comments that she threatened to leave the show.

Clearly, Rancic had to apologize. So she did. Thankfully, she got it right.

In her on air apology, Rancic began:

"I'd really like to address something that is weighing very heavy on my hears. I want to apologize for a comment I made on last night's Fashion Police about Zendaya's hair. Now, as you know, Fashion Police is a show that pokes fun at celebrities in good spirit, but I do understand that something I said last night did cross a line.

I just want everyone to know I didn't intend to hurt anybody. But I've learned it is not my intent that matters; it's the result. And the result is that people are offended, including Zendaya, and that's not OK."

Lets stop here and analyze the statement for a moment. I'm so glad Rancic didn't say, "I'm sorry if I offended anyone. She knows she offended people, so she says straight up that she did, even if that wasn't her intent. Rancic says she crossed a line, and she used the word "learn" to make clear that she had to educate herself on what she did wrong.

Rancic goes on:

"Therefore, I want to say to Zendaya and to anyone else out there that I have hurt that I am so, so, sincerely sorry. This really has been a learning experience for me. I've learned a lot today, and this incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes...how much damage they can do, and that I am responsible, as we all are, to not perpetuate them further. Thank you for listening."

Again, Rancic gets it right. She doesn't say "if I hurt anybody." She acknowledges that she did hurt people, no ifs ands or buts. Again, she talks about how she learned from this, and more importantly what she's learned from this, so she won't do it again.   She also urges others to not make the same mistake she did. Kind of paying it forward.

For the record, Zandaya said she accepts Rancic's apology. And Osbourne said she's glad Rancic apologized and that Zandaya accepted it. Crisis averted.

In the grand scheme of things, a host of a celebrity show saying something rude and crass about another celebrity isn't going to make the world come crashing down.

But more powerful people, the ones with enough mojo to make the world come crashing down, should learn from Rancic.

Rancic might be a star on a celebrity fashion show, but people who should know better, who at least arguably are in positions more powerful than the people on The Fashion Police.

To cite just one example, it makes me think of Rudy Guiliani and his ridiculous "Obama doesn't love America" comment.

Giuliani just couldn't admit he said something over the top. That it was wrong and insulting. It's perfectly legitimate to criticize the president and his decisions, but how does the wild accusation that Obama doesn't "Love America" help.

Instead of at least saying he expressed himself wrong, he did some verbal somersaults, saying he didn't intent to question President Obama's motives or "the content of his heart."

But Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. You didn't acknowledge that you overstepped.

Oh well, he's kind of irrelevant anyway. We can be thankful Rudy isn't a host on Fashion Police.

For the record, here's a video of Rancic's on-air apology:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Smartphone Edict Suddenly Makes Me A Big Fan Of The Band

The band Yeah Yeah Yeahs have put out an edict at places where they're having concerts: Stop viewing the concert by holding up your smart phone. Nobody can see through the forest of outstretched arms holding the glowing phones.

If you go to a Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert, just
watch them directly, not through your smart phone.

Here's a sign they've been posting at the concert venues:

"Please do not watch the show through a screen on your smart device/camera.
Put that shit away as a courtesy behind you and to Nick, Karen and Brian.
Much love and many thanks,
Yeah Yeah Yeahs."

To be honest, I don't think I'd know a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song if I tripped over it. I've heard of the band before, but never investigated them. Now I will have to.

I'm all for snapping pictures of events you're enjoying, but only if you do just that: Snap a quick picture, then get on with it. This might be a bit ironic, but I don't think you can even form a good memory of how you experienced something if you spent all the time recording it so you can watch it later.

It would seem as if you weren't really there if you just look at what you recorded after the moment has passed.

It gets worse. A Facebook friend said he was watching his young daughter at a stage performance at her school. The dad would have loved to actually see what his daughter was doing up there on the stage, but some moron was holding up a nice big iPad to record the event. Lady iPad didn't even seem to care she was blocking the view from everyone else.

Hey, as long as she got her picture and video, who cares, right?

Am I going to be branded as a weirdo the next time I go to a concert because, instead of holding up my iPhone to record the event, I just sit or stand there and enjoy the event?

Maybe when I go out on a date with my husband, I shouldn't have any face to face conversations with him. Maybe we should just text each other, even though we're sitting two feet away from each other.

Human contact and experiencing what's really going on is so 20th century, isn't it?

Not Buying At The Store Or Blowing Off Dinner Reservation? You're Screwed.

Two items from Consumerist over the past day or two seem to indicate some retailers and business owners are beginning to up the ante when dealing with what they regard as rude customers.

They're hitting them where it hurts, at least a little.

In one case, a retailer is charging $5 a head for "showrooming," a word for going to a store just to look at merchandise, then finding it somewhere else for a lower price.

Will more stores charge admission fees if you
just go in, look at a product, then try to find it
cheaper online?  

The store's showrooming policy means anybody coming in pays the fee, but if they buy something there, they get their $5 back.

I can understand the frustration of store owners who have to constantly deal with people coming in just to look, then spending the money elsewhere when they can find the same thing for a lower price online or maybe at Walmart.

The retail business is brutal. Store owners can help themselves through exemplary customer service and niche marketing, but that only goes so far.

But it seems like this whole thing about stopping showroomers can backfire. Consumerist quotes Matt Brownell of Daily Finance, who said:

" ....the most misguided strategy we’ve seen for dealing with showrooming… The goal of any retailer should be to impress customers with competitive pricing and great customer service — not treat their customers with suspicion and hostility from the moment they walk in the door.”

It definitely would put a bad taste in my mouth if I was charged admission to go into a store. And like most people, I might wander into a store not knowing whether I will buy anything there. An admission fee would certainly be off-putting.

I might be shopping for say, a shirt, but maybe it turns out they don't happen to have a shirt in the style I like, or don't have my size in stock. Yeah, I can order it, but what if I want a shirt now? I'd certainly resent paying the $5 fee if I left the store empty handed only because I didn't like what they had.

That would drive me to online shopping in no time, flat.

In the other Consumerist piece, a restaurant owner is publicly shaming people on Twitter who blow off their dinner reservations.

It's definitely rude to make a restaurant reservation and then blow it off. The eatery left the table open for you, and it stayed open, which meant other diners couldn't eat there and the restaurant lost money.

Most people blow off reservations for stupid reasons. They didn't feel like eating there after all. They made reservations at four restaurants, then decided at the last minute which to pick.

But what if somebody is publicly shamed via Twitter for blowing off the reservation, and not calling to inform the restaurant ahead of time, for perfectly legitimate reason. He keeled over from a heart attack. His wife got run over by a bus I mean, who knows?

And those public shames give the restaurant a whiff of negativity, not something that makes people want to eat there.

So, rudeness can go two ways. Us customers could give local retailers a break, buy local and spend the few extra pennies in your community that you would have spent on Amazon.

If it becomes apparent you can't go to the restaurant as planned, call them as soon as possible to cancel so they can fill the table with some other diners.

And retailers and restaurant owners: I know we customers can be frustrating, but try not to take it out on everybody.