Week 459 – Love Affair Never Meant Tacky Merchandise, Is Basic Teaching Extinct And Ewan Links Two Souls Again.

Christmas is just around the corner and there is something that I want to ask.

I suppose I need to put in some sort of waver:

I, Hugh Cron have no thoughts either way but am interested to see if anyone has any comments.

Let me explain.

The greedy bastards that are some of our supermarkets have put out a Rainbow coloured range for Christmas.

That made me curious, what is more important to a person who has a sexuality and a spirituality? Is it their religion or their sexuality?

I honestly don’t know as I don’t give a fuck about either.

The only observation I can make is that those supermarkets will say that they are giving every one a choice. Are they though or are they asking folks to choose between two parts of a person’s very being that makes them them?

I do wonder? Will the supermarkets put out some sort of Rainbow coloured alternative during Ramadan?

I’ll finish with another waiver:

I am not getting at anyone or anyone’s religion, I’m getting at those who thought it was a great idea to make money out of two very personal parts of being human!

Something came up this week that got me thinking. I’m sure most of us will be familiar with the phrase, ‘This is a well worn path.’

We’ve refused stories due to cliché, stereotype and all of us recognising the plot. But maybe we are being unfair??

Having a pretty good idea what is happening within a story should maybe make us ask,
how much is obvious and who is it obvious to?
For example, we have now read thousands of stories so little surprises us.

We also have experience, as in work, family and in ourselves. In a way we explore a lot of this in what we have written. Maybe we are being hard on a writer when we recognise something that may be a bit obscure to others??

There are young adults out there who have no idea about certain history that we have grown up with. The mental health overkill is there for all to see but how much do folks learn about other aspects? The exception being what they themselves have possibly went through.

I find the lack of general knowledge with some of our youngster depressing. (Watch them with their phones at a pub quiz!!) I also believe that we’re all insular but some more than others and that is even more depressing.
My point is, some do have an idea on how the world and the folks in that world work, but not everyone.

We can have our own thoughts on knowledge being readily available and therefore not needing to be taught or remembered.

I reckon that there are some folks out there who wouldn’t get many a subject or scenario. The selfish especially!

Like so many of our advice or tips, these aren’t specific, they just let you see what we consider and in turn, we hope that this’ll give you something to think on. An individuals experience and knowledge is the bigger picture that we aren’t able to consider.

Okay, time for this week’s stories.

We had two newbies, a returner and two old friends.

As always we extend a huge warm welcome to our fledgling writers and hope that they’ll have fun on the site and continue to send us their work.

And a second ‘as always’…As always…Wait a minute that’ll be a third. I better stop here or this could get more fucking stupid than it already is!!

…Our initial comments follow!

First up was J. Bradley Minnick for an impressive seventh time.

Clean up In ‘The Meat Department’ was published on Monday.

‘There is a lot to this.’

‘The MC was very well done.’

‘Really great ending!’

And here we go again (I do like a bit of ‘Whitesnake), Mr Sheehan was next up with his 220^th story. Just looking at the figure makes me tired and my brain ache!!

Tom’s latest offering for us was ‘Lakota Betty’

‘Quite a bit of depth in this one.’

‘Tom doing what he loves!!’

‘What can you say about this gentleman writer?? Nothing can do him the justice that he deserves!!’

Our first new writer was Ian Forth. He broke the back of the week with, ‘The Final Meeting’

‘Excellent writing.’

‘Some good description.’

‘The inner turmoil was believable.’

Travis Flatt had his second story published on Thursday, it was called ‘To Martin’s Farm’

‘The tone was spot on.’

‘Travis captured the panic and desperation well.’

‘This was refreshing to read as it was so well done.’

And we finished off with our last new writer.

Tanushree Mukherjee’s first story for us was called, ‘Beast Of Burden.’

‘This moved along effortlessly.’

‘An interesting look into that world.’

‘Smoke Shops’ are awfully cynical.

That’s us for another week folks!

Keep the comments coming.

Please have a look back to some previous Sunday Postings as we do a couple of features – They are basically a shoo-in. If you want to get involved we will publish as long as the quality of the writing is there and you don’t want to publish any hate lists.

I’ve tried that but was told NO!

Why not send us in some work that is well out of your comfort zone throughout Christmas. It may end up being your go to subject and genre!

Preferably no romance though, Christmas miracles only go so fucking far!!!!!!!!!

Come the New Year, anyone who has ever thought to submit and hasn’t done so, give it a go. I can’t guarantee an acceptance, but we can guarantee that you’ll be read, heard, considered and answered!!!

…Fuck!! That should be our motto!!!

Maybe it’s time to let you all know that we will still be publishing throughout Christmas and New Year. Not everything will be standard though but there will be a posting each day. The only difference may be if you do contact us, we may not get back to you as quickly as normal. It just depends if we are…emmm, ‘able’ to check the emails!!

Just to finish, I have to thank Tam Cowan (Daily Record Columnist) once again for giving me this little subtle gem. He stated that he couldn’t believe how rude the member of staff on the suppository helpline was!

FUCK!!! I wish I had thought of that, it’s an absolute belter!!!

Last thing.

The piece of music to pick was simple for me this week.

I just had to choose this for Mr McQuaig (Hope you are still alive you cantankerous auld bastard!!), the tragedy of Kirsty and more to the point the legend that was singing it!!

R.I.P Shane McGowan!!

Hugh

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay – line of multicoloured Christmas trees.

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Just as a bonus, we wanted to share the debate that this first section instigated.

I wanted to make sure that we were all comfortable with what I was going to post and, well, I reckon this brought up so many interesting thoughts.

Here they are with that initial section first!

– Christmas is just around the corner and there is something that I want to ask.

I suppose I need to put in some sort of waver:

I Hugh Cron have no thoughts either way but am interested to see if anyone has any comments.

Let me explain.

The greedy bastards that are some of our supermarkets have put out a Rainbow coloured range for Christmas.

That made me curious, what is more important to a person who has a sexuality and a spirituality? Is it their religion or their sexuality?

I honestly don’t know as I don’t give a fuck about either.

The only observation I can make is that those supermarkets will say that they are giving every one a choice. Are they though or are they asking folks to choose between two parts of a persons very being that makes them them.

I do wonder? Will the supermarkets put out some sort of Rainbow coloured alternative during Ramadan?

I’ll finish with another waiver:

I am not getting at anyone or anyone’s religion, I’m getting at those who thought it was a great idea to make money out of two personal parts of being human!

…

– hmm – that’s interesting. I think first of all that they are trying to guilt trip people and play on their sense of ‘yikes’ if I don’t buy that I’m a bigot and I really don’t like that. It’s very cynical, isn’t it? We have always had gay people, I suppose we have always had the rest of the range and they just haven’t been so vociferous about it. They have all managed, up to now with red, green and gold with blue as an addition lately for Christmas – they didn’t need any rainbows and rainbows aren’t traditionally Christmas – bear with – I’m trying to organise how I feel about this. I think that maybe your sexuality and your religion (if you are religious in any way) are integral parts of you and as such you don’t really need to think about it too deeply – it just is. Nowadays, I think that maybe for some people, blathering and fussing about their sexuality is more about attracting attention to themselves than accepting who they are and just living it, and they are the ones who might need a rainbow Santa. But maybe it is more aimed at those who wish to show just how ‘open’ and accepting they are and they need everyone to know about it. Or maybe it is simply the supermarkets just seeing a chance to make yet more money. 

I only know a few gay people and I can’t imagine any of them wanting to have rainbows at Christmas just to show that they are gay. Bit of a muddle this post but that’s because to be honest I just don’t understand this desperate need for shops etc. to be tacky!

…

– Please Diane!!

If we do let that section through – Add what you have just typed to the end!!

It makes a lot of sense to nonsense.

I reckon if anyone is a staunch Christian Gay, they would want to go down the Christian festival road – If you are an attention seeking proclaimer, you’d go down the Rainbow road.

It’s a belting question though! The problem is as soon as you ask it you are open to those sensitive fuckwits who I would literally rip their fucking spleens out. Not for being what they are but for not being a tolerant human who is inquisitive and wants to know what other PEOPLE think (We are all fucking people first – Surely!!!)

What about the Ramadan question – I reckon we could get pelters for that. But by fuck does that show the double standards that our own society has for our christian country and what they will tolerate otherwise.

FUCKING DOUBLE STANDARDS ARE WHAT I LOATHE MOST!!!!!!

…

– The Ramadan question is very interesting because I think that anyone who even considers doing rainbow coloured things for a Muslim festival simply does not understand much at all. It goes without saying I hope that I find the treatment of gay people in many Muslim countries as barbaric – But – and this is where I think it really becomes a conundrum – according to the people who abuse and mistreat people because of who they love they do it because their religion tells them to – Ramadan is a very religious festival – much more than Christmas in all honesty and so if you celebrate gay love as part of Ramadan in a retail setting you may be evolved but I have to say that you are probably also a money grabbing greed pot. I don’t really see it as a double standard if it’s not done at Ramadan – I see it as ignorance at Christmas. But then it’s all about that isn’t it. What does it actually prove if you have a rainbow Christmas tree – nothing except you want everyone to know how wonderful you are. 

…

– Oooooh, I will have to look at that tonight.

I believe that a cartoon somewhere had Jesus as Gay.

That’s one thing Christianity has going for it. You don’t risk your life with a cartoon. Still a way to go to forgive the Crusades and the bit quiet attitude the Vatican had about the Holocaust.

…

– You have a point Diane regarding the double standard but I still sort of stick with it. Our society is happy to diversify this countries initial religion into something more tolerant (HAH!!!) but I don’t think it would dare tamper with any other religions, even when these folks are as British as British can be.

All they have done is cherry pick who will be the least vocal.

As I said: 

‘I am not getting at anyone or anyone’s religion, I’m getting at those who thought it was a great idea to make money out of two personal parts of being human!’

I can’t believe I am commenting on this as I hate religion and don’t give a fuck about anyone’s sexuality. What I really hate is the greed and the money that is there to be made from those woke idiots who don’t see that they are being targeted. I also hate that the supermarkets are pretending that they are so forward thinking but won’t have the fucking balls to offer this shit (It’s cheap made crap that is expensive) to Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Paganists and whoever else. (I wonder if they will ever consider Rainbow coloured rosary beads) All they do is pick on some of the christians. No wonder those idiot bastards got fed to the lions, they are now being fed to Tescos!!

…Cracking debate I might add.

…Do we dare show all of this????????? …Also looking forward to Leila’s thoughts!

– To be fair, I don’t think we have said anything disrespectful.

…Well maybe apart from the lions!

And that is a helluva change for me!!!!

…

– And witches.

…

– I loved the lion line

…

– Of course the corporations that run Supermarkets do not believe in anything except money. I’m certain the the CEOs scorn our gods and do their best to profess love for persons whom they despise. This extolling diversity is just another fantasy from the book of Cash–cynical and beneath serious consideration. A person would do well to hold his/her beliefs (even those, like me, who believe in nothing) and not look to the money changers for confirmation. To profess love for all in this fractured world is simple minded; these guys should stick with Santa and forget about injecting everyone’s world view into something that is only believed in by some. The way I look at it, the Christians are as entitled to holidays as anyone. 

…

That’s what we do guys! Please let us hear your thoughts!!!