Your Grrrs...
Kelly in NYC: Grrr to Eva Longoria for her grossly insensitive comment at the MTV Video Music Awards: “Hey Diddy, you said anything goes, and I wasn't going to let a little hurricane prevent me from wearing my bathing suit.” Maybe if she had lost everything in the “little” hurricane, she might have just a tad bit more compassion.
Troy in N.D.: Mike, Thank you for providing a forum for people to speak out. My GRRRRR goes out to the rest of the world. This week the United States, more specifically the Gulf Coast, suffered a natural disaster of epic proportions. I have yet to hear of one country coming forward to offer help in any sense of the word. I have heard that charity begins at home. As far as I am concerned, that is now where it will stop.
Brian in Columbus, Ga.: Just wanted to send out a HUGE grrr to those pathetic pieces of pond scum that think it's OK to loot in Biloxi, New Orleans and other areas ravaged by the awesome wrath of Hurricane Katrina. The pictures and accounts coming out of that area are heartbreaking, and for people to prey on another's misfortune is just beyond excuse!!
Kristyn in Geismer, La.: GRRRR to the tourist visiting New Orleans from Philadelphia who was quoted in a news article as saying: "It's downtown Baghdad. It's insane. I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not." New Orleans is one of the most culturally rich cities in the country despite its poverty. Apparently this person missed the reports saying that 80 percent of the city evacuated before the hurricane. Let's not make a broad generalization about an entire city based on the actions of very few people facing the biggest tragedy of their lives. I wonder how sophisticated this tourist thinks she is while she stands watching and taking pictures of the chaos instead of helping some of the poor families affected. A big thanks to the people helping out and risking their lives to save others.
Diana in the South: I'm a Southerner and I have a big GRRRR to all the people that think the victims of Hurricane Katrina who did not evacuate should be punished and/or not assisted in their time of tragedy. People assume that everyone who did not evacuate had the means and method to evacuate but chose to stay behind. Many of my Southern neighbors live paycheck to paycheck and barely get by. They are the lower middle-class Americans who do not qualify for government assistance, yet they do not earn enough to get ahead and buy those new tires, brakes, vacations packages, extra groceries, etc. that so many others take for granted. Many of these victims are lucky to have transportation just to get to a nearby job and back.
Giles in Cyberspace: First, let me say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by Hurricane Katrina. I feel for all who have lost friends or loved ones to the hurricane. But my Grrr! goes out to Mayor A.J. Holloway of Biloxi. He’s been quoted as saying that “this is our tsunami.” What?!! Our tsunami? At last count, I found nearly 300,000 people died as a result of last December’s tsunami. I’m not minimizing the suffering of those in Louisiana and Mississippi, but to compare this to the tsunami is ridiculous.
Holly in Grand Rapids, Mich.: First of all, my prayers go out to those along the Gulf devastated by Katrina. I have to admit I was enthralled by the 24-hour coverage, but not because of heroism and human drama. I was waiting to see a journalist get smacked by flying debris. At what point does bravery turn into stupidity? And does it really serve the greater good to stand chest-deep in water telling us it's raining?
Mark R. responds to Kevin R. from last week's Your Grrrs: Kevin R., I just read your wonderful words of wisdom. I was moved ... to consider you and others who think they are so insightful as true Importants. Get a clue! Do you really think you are so wise? This column is a place people go to laugh at themselves, as Mike has reminded us many times. We don't take these things so seriously. You shouldn't either. Laugh a little.
Veronica in N.J.: Is it too much to expect that someone who wants to insult you could maybe not contradict herself? How can you be a "liberal pinhead" and "neo-con, anti-American?"
Douglas H. in Cyberspace: D'ya ever notice that when some lawyer defends lawyers he is always throwing up "noble acts" some lawyers did like 40 years ago defending civil rights cases and "not accepting fees?" As if the noblest thing a lawyer can think of doing, being a lawyer first and a human being second, is to NOT accept a fee for doing something that others would simply call personal sacrifice or maybe, even, THE RIGHT THING TO DO. But not lawyers. Doing something and not getting some fat fee for it is considered the extent of their "nobility." This fully illustrates why lawyers will never "get it" when it comes to understanding why so many people associate them with snakes, snakeoil and snakeoil salesmen.
Vauna in cyberspace agrees with Cory about toy boxes: I don’t think that toy manufacturers do what they do to reduce theft. I think it’s about appearance. They want the toy to look just perfect for the kids to love. Then when you try to extricate the toy from the box, the toy gets all mangled. E.g., the non-PC Barbie dolls. They actually sew the doll’s hair to some little plastic thing that’s taped down, to keep the hair perfectly in place. Pulling the hair out often (more often than not) ruins the fake plastic hair. Yeah, it’s a Grrr for me.
Mark in Okla.: Kudos on your thoughts about adding -orexia (i.e. tanorexia) as a suffix to the little quirks that we all have. I think that it is dangerous to do such things at a mass level. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that will likely lead to death if untreated. To tag someone's little quirk with the -orexia suffix is not only making light of a serious condition, but it is also taking the sense of seriousness of the condition conveyed by the word away. As a linguistic consultant, I occasionally end up doing polemics, and a golden rule in that realm is to save the "power" words (liberal, right-wing, heresy, extremist, etc.) for when they will really count. Overuse will diminish their psychological effect. It is the same with -orexia on a mass-media/societal level.
Respond to Mike | Grrr! Lexicon
Mike Straka is the director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and covers entertainment and features on the Sunday program "FOX Magazine." He also writes the weekly Grrr! Column and hosts "The Real Deal" video segments on FOXNews.com.
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