Shaming

There’s been a whole lot of shaming going on!

It seems like every other day, there’s another story in the news about some tragedy, or near tragedy, and in the end, someone gets shamed. Publicly, with such venom from total strangers who most likely know very little about the actual incident that lead up to the shaming. To that, I quote Gomer Pyle and say, “For shame, for shame, for shame!” Shame on all of you shamers!

If you are going to shame someone, maybe it’s time to start shaming the correct source instead of always the parents; who most likely are already going through hell, and you have just added more fuel to the fire! Thanks so much, fellow humans. I hope nothing bad ever happens to you that you ever have to experience that kind of pain.

Before any other parent gets shamed, I want to offer a suggestion for those of you heading to the beach this summer.

If you choose to go into the ocean, you should know that the ocean is home to many different species; some nice and harmless, and some not so nice, and most definitely not harmless, especially to humans.

A few critters come to mind that might hurt you, but the biggest one that everyone is afraid of is of course, the sharks. And with good reason too. I mean, how many movies have been made about them and their stealthy ways of attacking. Movies meant to scare the swim suits off of us! And, keep some of us out the water for a while. “Ssssssshhhhhaaaaarrrrrkkkk!” (A line from Jaws in case you didn’t know)

Let’s review what we know about sharks:

We know that they live in the water by the beach, they are predators, and we know that they have lots, and I mean lots of very sharp teeth, and we know that they know how to use those teeth. They get hungry too, just like us humans, and sometimes they mistake humans for their next meal, or maybe they are just feeling the love that day, and want to give you a love bite.

"Whoops, sorry, guess that love bite was a little harder than intended. Eh, just grow another limb. You can, can’t you? No? My bad..."

No worries though, if they lose a few teeth in an intended or unintended bite, they can grow more. That’s just how they role, or ...swim.

But how dare they take a bite of us humans! We are just enjoying the lovely warm waters, relaxing, surfing, and my favorite, boogie boarding. We're on our perfectly planned vacations, don’t they know that?! How dare they infringe on our time!

Shame on you sharks!! Shame on you for ruining our vacations. Shame on you for being a terrible shark and not paying closer attention to your hunger, strength, instincts, and teeth! And what the heck do you need all of those sharp teeth for anyway? Can’t you find somewhere else to swim, some other fish to bite. I don’t care if it’s your home I am swimming in, you are an awful shark and should be put in shark jail for being so careless with your sharky self! I hope you rot in shark jail! You had no right to be so insensitive to me and the other humans here in the water. Jeesh!

Shark shaming.  Shame the sharks if you must shame. They have thick skin, lots of teeth, act like they don’t care what anyone thinks, and mostly, they won’t ever read the hurtful comments sent their way. They're tough, they can take it…