Irritating phrases

There is a question that seems to be everywhere. If you could have a superpower, which one would it be? A lot of people seem to want to answer the power to do good. I feel this is a cop out answer. Everyone has the power to do good. Another seemingly popular thing is the phrase (maybe not so much anymore) 'Practice random acts of kindness'. This drives me crazy. Why? Because I think that acts of kindness should be practiced deliberately and often. It should be a normal part of your life and not something done on a special occasion for some sort of personal morale kick.

Another one? How about 'Respect must be earned'. No. Everyone should be given an inherent treatment of respect. I know that not everyone acts like they deserve respect and that there are times that being respectful is not the appropriate action in a situation, but I think these times are rare. I will say that being polite and giving someone respect are two different things. The point I'm trying to get across is that people are not worth more or less than other people because of who they are or what they do. In addition to words of racism and bigotry that are clearly taboo, other disrespectful and hurtful words that get under my skin are words that show a lack of understanding that people deserve respect, words like white trash and retarded.

I participated in Nanowrimo the year before the Nerdlet was born, and it was incredibly gratifying. I've wanted to participate again the last two years, but it hasn't really been feasible. I'm hoping that next year will be different. I have a couple of ideas for another novel. One novel that has been sort of forming in my head is one of a person with Down syndrome trying to be a superhero. I wasn't going to give him or her a superpower, but more like a heroic job. The first thought that I had was maybe spending his time finding homes for animals in the shelter thereby eliminating that shelter's need to put any animals to sleep. In the overall story of this person and his acts, I'd like to show how that person is truly doing good and affecting the lives around him. I'm not sure I'll be ready to write this novel next year as I have pretty limited experience with people with Ds, but I might try it anyway. After all, my writing at this point is really only for me and if I ever get to the point where I'm publishing anything, I could revise it then.