Stupid social rules

I think social rules are stupid, yet almost unavoidable for anyone who communicates with another human being. Why do we have a set of rules to follow in order to interact with other people?
First, let me clarify what I mean exactly by social rules. Social rules dictate the way I behave in social situations, the actions and reactions I have in those situations. For example, if I were invited to a wedding, I would be expected to wear formal attire, and my +1 would be expected to wear a suit. What if I showed up in jean shorts and sandals? By not following the social rule of attire at a wedding, I have opened myself up to the ridicule and disdain of everyone at the wedding, and most likely offended the bride and groom. Do you see anything wrong with this? It is because of the social rules themselves that I am ridiculed and that the bride is offended!
Here's another situation where social rules (should not) apply: my friend introduces me to her Italian dad for the first time, and he innocently kisses me on both cheeks, with no ill intention. I am American, so of course it makes me very uncomfortable. Depending on how culturally unaware I am, I may even be highly offended by it and think him to be a huge pervert. Social rules have just made the situation weird, when it should have been simple.
Social rules are just a way to control society's acceptance of certain behaviors. If you base your actions on what is acceptable to society, your life will reflect everything you see on TV.
So what set of rules should we be following? Well, you know what is right and wrong, don't you? Do you need a set of social rules to tell you what to do all the time? Should you be on time to work? Should you treat others with respect, the way that you want to be treated? Should you do your homework? Should you steal? Murder?
Did you really need social rules to answer any of those questions? No, you did not. See now? Social rules are stupid. I think they should be called "anti-social rules".

Reaching out

I'd like to talk about our relationships to the people we see everyday, but do not know. People that you see walking down the street, passing by you on your way to work or home. You don't know their names, but you might have seen them more than once, or maybe not. If you saw one of these people crying, would you hug them? No, most of us would certainly not. Why? We are afraid of the awkwardness that might ensue after a hug. Would you ask them if they need something, like money or a place to stay? No, probably not, because we are scared of who they are and what they might do. If you let them in your home they might steal our things or simply take advantage of our hospitality! Or worse yet, they might kill us!
Why are we so distrustful of our fellow human beings? Where did this fear come from? Is it well founded? No, it is not. It is ridiculous that we have such a fear. I know you see horrible stories on the news of people that are murdered and kidnapped, raped and burglarized, but these incidents don't happen nearly as often as you think. And most of the time the criminals that commit these crimes know the victims personally.
I think it's important that we start letting down our guards, letting people in, even if just briefly. If you see someone crying in public, they most definitely are in a bad place. How many times have you cried in public? I can count the instances for myself on one hand. And in each of those instances, I would have appreciated it if someone who didn't know me simply asked me if I was OK. It's not that I would have told them what was wrong, but it feels good knowing that people care. If someone would have just said, "Hey, do you need anything? Can I be of help to you in anyway?"
We assume everyone is out to get us, but wouldn't you agree that most people are just like you? They are! We are all so alike, yet we are all so scared of each other. We make assumptions about everyone's personality the minute we see them, and we judge them so harshly.
I am just as guilty of all this as everyone else, but I have a strong desire to change it. There's a girl who lives in her car near where I live. I walk by her at least twice a day, and she's always there. I want so badly to knock on her car door and ask her if she needs anything. I have not been able to bring myself to do it yet, because I am nervous that she might be defensive, or upset. I am afraid of the awkwardness. I am also afraid that by the time I get the nerve to do it, she will be gone, and I will never know if she's OK.
What can we do to overcome this fear of other people? To be open and trusting of the people who surround us all the time would be so comforting! To know that if you were hurt physically or emotionally, you would only have to open the door and look around until you saw someone and then you could depend on that person for support.
This is where I would usually wrap it up with some sort of conclusion, some sort of semi-solution to the problem, but I feel like the world I am wishing for is so far from the one we are living in, that I don't know where to begin.

Poison in our tap water

First, let me introduce you to my idea of what my blog will be about. You may have noticed the name of my blog- "didjuno?"... don't laugh! It's supposed to mean "Did you know", but I thought it would be cute if I wrote it differently. So it's kinda gonna be about whatever my current interests are, and if you know me well, my interests are worldly, varied, and they are always about something new, informative and exciting. (Well, I hope you think it's exciting.) I feel this desire to inform people about things they may not have the time to research, and I hope that if you are reading this, you find the information I present to be useful. My main goal is just to have my close friends investigate a little further the issues I discuss, so that maybe I can make a small change for the better in the lives of the people I love. :)


OK, so I've never done this blogging thing before, but a friend of mine has been telling me for a long time that I should be posting my thoughts online for the world to see... I'm not sure if she's right. :) So here I go...


My first topic is fluoride in our tap water. Fluoride is a well-known treatment for cavities. Used as an oral rinsing agent, studies have shown that fluoride helps reduce the number of cavities. As far as I know, no one has ever presented evidence that ingesting fluoride helps with cavities. (Why do you think you're supposed to spit your toothpaste out, and call the poison control center if you ingest more than a pea size amount?!?!?)


Didjuno that they put fluoride in our tap water? It's true. What's wrong with this? Well, what if someone told you that there was a vaccine you could get that would keep you from getting sick- not something terminal, just something minor... like a cold, would you want them to give you a choice of whether or not you get the vaccine? Of course you would want to choose! What if there are side effects? What if the risks outweigh the benefits? You want to make an informed decision, right? Well, with fluoride, you don't get to. They just pour it right into our water, and then they want us to thank them! In principle, it does not matter if fluoride is good for us. We should be able to choose.


So, what's actually wrong with ingesting fluoride? Well, it's poison. Yeah... It causes all kinds of serious health problems.


From zerowasteamerica.org, authors Lynn Landes & Maria Bechis state;

The more serious health  concern is that dental fluorosis is not the only harmful health effect that results from overexposure to fluoride. Fluoride has been linked in government and scientific reports to a wide range of harmful health effects, including: bone and tooth decay (including dental and skeletal fluorosis, bone pathology, arthritis, and osteoporosis) Alzheimer's, memory loss and other neurological impairment, kidney damage, cancer, genetic damage, and gastrointestinal problems. In addition, fluoride has been found to leach lead from old water pipes and soldering material, which has resulted in increased lead levels in people.

Many of America's organizations have made statements concerning the dangers of ingesting fluoride, including the CDC and the EPA, just to name a couple. So why, when there is so much controversy over fluoride, do they continue to dump it into our water supply? Maybe because it is a waste product of the manufacturing industries. They don't know where else to put it, so they force it down our throats. Disgusting. Shameful. Outrageous.

What can you do? Well, on a small scale, you can purchase a Reverse Osmosis water filter system to take the fluoride out of your water. You can find them for under 200 bucks. (Regular water filters, such as Brita, do not filter fluoride.) On a large scale, I'm not sure... write an email to your local municipal water district, write an email to your local political officials, and tell your friends about fluoride.

You can also do more research to inform yourself about fluoride: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dangers+of+ingesting+fluoride


OK, so although fluoride is a boring subject, I think it is important. My next blog will hopefully be funnier, or less boring at least. :)