Way too many people seem to think that violence is somehow normal behavior, and I just don't get or accept that.

For way too many people, violence IS normal behavior. Someone grows up with it, it's normal, and they see people who avoid it as being weak. I know a bunch of people like that, including most of my family. One of the many reasons I left and never went back. I'm over here in the pacifist corner with you, Laura.

Nice to know Laura. my sisters and I were not allowed to hit each other Hitting was one of the worst crimes in my family ( lying might have been worse) No matter what the provocation, physical violence was not tolerated. It got the most severe punishments. I know some kids that were encouraged to fight it out.

If more than 2 crows is a murder of crows, what is a group of pacifists called?

:: sits on pacifist bench with the rest ::

A sit-in of pacifists?

Thanks. It has not been a rare occasion that I have been considered a fool for my hard line views on physical altercations. My world is filled with huge testosterone filled athletes and most of them consider mixing it up physically to be normal. I'm happy to report that I find most of them have a huge respect and understanding of the potential for harm and have learned early on to channel their emotions in other ways.

My parents were very gentle people and I can't imagine my siblings ever having physical fights, but chances are we did as kids and mom put an end to it. I honestly don't remember my boys ever fighting physically. Of course they would have known better than to do so in front of me! And it isn't like they like each other much.

My little sister and I would scrap as kids, but it was mostly wrestling and sitting on each other, but she had fingernails and I never did...I was a nail biter...And mom and dad would make us stop if they saw it.

I got spanked a few times when I was a kid, mostly when I did something horribly disrespectful, or something so dangerous I'd scared the shit out of my folks. I got slapped only once. When I was a teenager. I said something so ride and horrible to my dad, and he just slapped me. I think he was more shocked than I was.

Argh. I don't know if you guys remember me ranting about the friend/acquaintance (I'm rapidly leaning towards "acqaintance" and possibly "person I know") who was shitty and rude about not being invited to the wedding. Well, she's posting more shitty passive-aggressive stuff on FB, and I am done with her shit.

We have an acquaintance -- Tim has known them longer, so he may put them in the category of friends -- who had a stroke 3 weeks ago. Her condition was really grave for awhile, and now she's in ICU. We haven't visited, because (1) when someone is that gravely ill and they aren't close to me, I tend to give them privacy because I don't want to intrude, and (2) we're not close to them; I don't really visit people in the hospital unless I'm close to them. (This may be a piece of etiquette I missed. I mean that seriously, not as snark.)

So FB lady posted a public post about how "a lot of us" had a mutual friend who had a stroke but only one "friend" (the scare quotes are hers) has visited, and you can tell who your real friends are in a crisis, etc., etc., and she's so grateful she has people back in her home state she can call friends.

Fuck her. That is so passive-aggressive and shitty. I am so over her shit.

(I am serious about the etiquette question, though -- do people visit acquaintances in the hospital? We really don't know these people well. That seems weird and intrusive. Put it this way: if the roles were reversed, *I* wouldn't expect or want them to visit me in the hospital. But I guess I should?)

If the person is in ICU, I'm pretty sure they prefer visits to be family only, though it's hard to check for that. They definitely prefer the number of visitors is low.

If they're in a regular room and not feeling too miserable, a quick drop-in can be pleasant. But if you're not someone who sees them very often, I would think it weird to go visit them.

Sounds like the "friend" is very ignorable.

I think if I were an acquaintance maybe a card or email but not a visit because I don't tend to like a lot of visitors when I'm in the hospital but I like to know people are thinking of me.

If the person is in ICU, I'm pretty sure they prefer visits to be family only, though it's hard to check for that. They definitely prefer the number of visitors is low.

I thought so, too! (My caps lock was on when I started typing that, so I looked really emphatic!) Yes, I'm not close to these people, so it doesn't feel appropriate to visit at a really vulnerable time, but I have a little experience with the ICU (thanks, Dad), and I was pretty sure visitors were really restricted.

Sounds like the "friend" is very ignorable.

I am so over her shit. She's very judgmental and inflexible. Obviously.