Hesitant, Hopeful

When I was a sophomore at the University I got hooked on cough drops. I had been pretty sick and I couldn't kick the cough, so Halls and Ricola were my go-to solution. I sucked down an average of two bags per day, which is way more than recommended, but whatevs. I needed their menthol-y goodness. I mean, come on, RIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCOOOOOOLLLLLAAAAA is made with Chrüterchraft. *cough* Yeah.

Then my cough went away, but the cough drops didn't. I needed those suckers and my friends began to notice and, honestly, it sort of became a running joke. Except it took me the whole semester to back away from the cough drops. Think French is hard, try it with a mouth full of cherry Halls. Impossible.

Why am I telling you this?

*shrug*

No idea, except that I'm sick, have a cough, and have downed half a bag of cough drops in the last three hours. By the time this cough goes away, I'm going to need an intervention. And rehab. Seriously. What do they put in these things?!

Crack, it has to be crack. That's the only explanation. Or maybe it's not the ingredients. Maybe I just don't want those two manly-looking men on that ad up there to think I "look ugly" when I cough. That must be it.

I'm going to the doctor Thursday afternoon... if I don't die before then. Coughing.

Okay, I'll admit it. I've read all three books and I intend on seeing the movie when it comes out next week. More than that, I intend to take my husband, Matt, to see it... on our 15th anniversary.

But, I have intention of talking about what's happening in the books. This isn't a review. This is a request. A simple, easy request for everyone who hasn't read the books. If you've read them and you loved them, or read them and hated them, I'm not talking to you.

Okay, here goes...

If you don't like it, don't watch it. But, please, please, please, hush about how much you hate it and you can't respect others who like it. If you didn't read it, don't say you don't like it. It isn't possible to dislike a story you haven't heard. You cannot hate a book you haven't read.

That's it, that's my whole request. Because I am so tired of seeing people say they won't "throw their money at that trash," that they haven't read it "but they just hate it." Ridiculous. Seriously. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, of course, but why waste your energy being opposed to something that doesn't affect you? It's like the people who spend the whole day on February 14th complaining about how much they hate Valentine's day. The only point in complaining is to rain on everyone elses parade. It's a waste time acting like that if the only point is to make others miserable.

Being a naysayer about this book/movie is the same thing as being curmudgeonly about Valentine's day.

I mean, Fifty Shades isn't the best written story--as a matter of fact, the writing is abysmal. It's trashy and, at times, borders on abusive. It's a sort of BDSM most people in that community can't get behind, but the BDSM really isn't the point. It's a story about a guy who's completely fucked up. About a girl who's drawn to that, to fixing what's broken. About how they manage to come together. So what if it started as Twilight fan fiction? Who cares?


And, while we're on the subject, if you haven't read all three books then you haven't gotten the whole picture. So, yeah, please try not to be judgmental. I'm sure you have better things to do than to discuss a book you haven't read with other people who also haven't read it.

Just sayin'.