Entitled People:

We all know them. Heck, we are them, at times. But I'm speaking of the constant flow of opinionated junk that flies from the faces of some people. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, ball-caps, or simply talking to anyone who will listen about how you feel gets old. Stop it.

Obama vs. McCain? Forget it. If these loudmouths with strong opinions on this candidate or that candidate knew how many legitimate experts had already looked into the matter for them, maybe they would shut the heck up. Then again, probably not.

Maybe you get the idea one day to shove your feelings about abortion or religion into my face via bumper sticker. Let me fill you in on a little something: the three dollars that stupid sticker set you back would be much better donated to the cause it represents! Admit it - you really don't care much about the issue, you just want people to think you do, so you make your enthusiastic opinion a matter of public view. Congratulations, your opinion is on record.

If you visit the Grand Canyon, wear the t-shirt. If you win big in Vegas, please wear the t-shirt. If you have political or religious views, why are you wearing the t-shirt? If these people ever once stopped to think about it, the only thing this does is cause like-minded people to be happy, and people who disagree unhappy. In the end, what has been accomplished? Pretty much the same thing as if the shirt was never worn at all - they look great to half the people, and horrible to the other half. Well done.

How many times have you heard these entitled people touting that this or that has to change if the economy is going to pick up, or that if the government just realized a few simple things, the war would be over and our boys could come home.

Folks, some people literally spend their entire lives trying to figure out things of this nature, and fix them for us. If someone who has looked into these matters and gone to school for these matters for twenty years or more can't solve the situation, how in the heck do you figure your ideas are so much better? They aren't, so drop it. You look foolish.

Do I have opinions? Of course! Do I let others know about them? Sometimes, but usually only if I'm asked for them. Are they strong? Sure! I do not have a bumper sticker, though, nor own a single t-shirt with writing unless I'm part of the club or the musical band advertised on it.
Of course, this article itself is an unwarranted opinion piece, but I don't feel so bad about it. I guess opinions about opinions are another thing entirely. I'm just trying to make it clear that in order to have a strong opinion about something, it's best to gather all the information about it. Since that is usually impossible, maybe we should open our ears and close our mouths for a while - this way, we won't look foolish.