The De-Normalization of Fun

[caramel]

Earlier today I was reading an article that I would have normally dismissed as "slow news day" material, except one word struck me there: NORMALIZATION. The famous word present in the "Smoking de-normalization" campaign. Check the article here and look for the word:

Saskatoon bar removes offensive bathroom signs after woman's complaint - Saskatoon - CBC News

What occurred to me was that a person with little sense of humor was fighting to DE-NORMALIZE jokes and fun. Before you jump out of your chair, please note that the establishment in cause was a BAR, not a school or a government institution or something serious like a hospital, bank or a lawyer's office. It is an establishment where patrons go for having FUN.

Which brings me to the subject - why some people can't stand seeing other people having FUN? Did we see 2 vapers in a corner seemingly having FUN with their Pleasure Delivery devices? Go there and fake a cough, threaten to call security, and if it actually was allowed, make a stink out of it and write to your newspaper and MP asking for a law to DE-NORMALIZE such FUN.

Where are these people coming from? What do they want? Just "Work, Eat, Sleep"? Why can't they stand other people to having fun of some sort? Why nothing pleasurable should ever be allowed?

Discuss?

 

[Rucerius]

Personally, I thought the sign was humorous, but then again I am male so there's that to take into consideration.

 

[Bman1959]

The only people who get offended are those who want to be.

 

[BlueCanary]

That sign made me giggle…and I'm a woman. I have noticed a general decline in sense of humor and a growing increase in faux victim outrage over the years. Satire, for instance, is pretty much a dead horse these days…either people don't get it so you have to explain it to them, or they explode into a volcano of hurt fee-fees. No matter how funny something is, it seems to rub someone's tender sensibilities raw, and instead of looking away and getting on with their lives, they must destroy whatever the thing is so that nobody else can enjoy it.

As for the de-normalization of fun…I do think that overall people are less happy these days. We're constantly bombarded by oodles of scary information in ways that we weren't even 10 years ago. 24/7 pseudo-news milking every tragedy for ad revenue, "news" websites mining disinfomation for shock clicks, war, pestilence, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria. And we (I mean the collective "we" as a society) also seem to have somehow arrived at the idea that WE special snowflakes are super important and are somehow entitled to be insulated and protected from even the slightest bit of discomfort or disappointment or inconvenience. So the fake cougher who breaks up the happy vapers isn't necessarily anti-fun…but she can SMELL that vapor, and it is bothering her, and it probably has gluten in it, and nicotine is bad for you, and it looks like smoking, and SHE is the absolute center of the universe and SHE wants to not have to be inconvenienced by something that some other less important people are doing, so whether or not THEY are having fun is irrelevant to her because what they want/need is secondary to her wants and needs. Things get pretty lame and joyless and nitpicky real quick when everyone is the center of the universe, you know?

 

[CMD-Ky]

I have a miserable life, I hate seeing anyone enjoying themselves because I am unable to and I want to stay that way. I would like to see everyone live just as l I live. See signature.

 

[kosst amojan]

Here are some funny ones.

 

[Iffy]

I'd luv to see a similar sign with a female icon looking under a men's stall door... goose... gander!

BTW, I don't care for humorless folk, at all!

 

[RipTodd]

Humanity is wired to deal with tremendous adverse conditions, I.e., wars, flu epidemics, depressions, early death, etc. Since there is little of that happening some people need to make mountains out of bathroom signs.

 

[tearose50]

I'm offended at the rampant misuse of "offended"......and 99.99% of the oh so progressive and modern politically correct robots that come up with such ideas.

IMHO it was a FUN sign -- with not one drop of seriousness in it and totally appropriate where adult men and women socialize.

Can we dance now?

 

[T4T3Z0R]

What is even more unfortunate than this trend of people playing victim over nothing, is that its hurting the cuase of people against others actually being victimized. the little boy who cried wolf anyone? if people like her continue to feel"victimized" about trivial things, (remember the backlash for the nasa scientist wearing the pinup shirt his FEMALE friend designed for him?) in the future a woman might be being actually sexually harrased verbally at work, and people are just going to assume shes all bent out of shape over some joke and shes stretching the truth to make it sound worse. no one deserves to be sexually harrased in any way, shape, or form, but if this faux victim trend continues it will inevitably lead to people not taking real victims seriously.

 

[Bunnykiller]

its just a sign... sheesh... cant take a joke? go outside... and BTW, the whole world is a joke... go find another planet

 

[NOVA jon]

Wow! Guess I'll just keep these rose colored glasses on and stay on this side of the border!

 

[EBates]

Hopefully with this Win under her belt she can commence her attack on the city's Slow Children At Play sign in her neighborhood.

 

[bullet08]

something happened during 90's. everything has to be politically correct. no one take any jokes, and no one can label anyone. not sure what happened. but now days, only people i can talk to are handful of friends i have known before all these PC stuff started. funny thing is, most conservatives are much more relaxed about this kinda things. throw wrong joke at a liberal and you will get a mouthful.

 

[sonicdsl]

Moved to the Lounge

 

[Maiar]

Saw this on Facebook earlier too. But I don't have the energy to comment on everything that pisses me off on there lol.