24 October 2017

My Unpopular Opinions

-Well, probably the biggest and most glaring unpopular opinion of mine is that I don't like pets. I'm okay with animals in an academic sort of way--looking at them from far away or spotting them in the wild is cool. I like seeing jellyfish in the ocean. But I don't like pets. The outdoor cats that Angel and I used to have are about the extent to which I can tolerate a pet. And those were half-wild barn cats that got into fights with possums...Angel fed them and played with them and I left them strictly alone. I particularly don't like dogs, and feel very uncomfortable around them. Thankfully, lots of the dog-lovers in my life still tolerate me and tell their dogs to leave me alone and go love on someone (like Angel) who actually appreciates them. Safe to say I'm not the right person to take care of your pets when you're on vacation. Again, that's what I keep Angel around for.

-I love it when people talk loudly, become overly affectionate with each other, or generally act strangely in public. Eavesdropping and staring at strangers is so amazingly entertaining. Life would be too boring if people acted normal and quiet all the time.

- Green apples are the best kind of apples (except for possible honeycrisp apples in the fall in Michigan. But that's very specific, so, generally speaking, green apples are the best accessible apples).

- Purple hair is better than normal hair.

- I fully and completely enjoy Facebook. Maybe part of this is related to my real-life enjoyment of eavesdropping. But I love seeing pictures of my friends' lives, I love hearing little status updates that I'd never get a chance to hear otherwise, and I love that Facebook makes it easy enough to stay in contact with people so that we can still get addresses and needed info to arrange real-life meetups on rare occasions when we're back in the same place. Keeping track of phone numbers and dialing international calls is too complicated. Plus, pictures. I love pictures. Angel says he only wishes his Facebook friends would post more photos of their pets. I'm more about the baby and vacation pictures, myself. :)

- I think kids are more fun than adults.

- TV isn't worth watching alone. I only watch TV as a social activity. There's almost no show or movie I would want to see badly enough to actually watch it by myself. I like plenty of movies and some shows but for me it's only an activity worth spending time on if I'm watching something with family and friends and doing something with my hands (like cross-stitch) at the same time.

- Sleeping in is the boring-est way to spend a free morning. I've tried. Not sure I've ever made it past 7:30 even if I try really hard to sleep in after a late night.

-I don't like beards. Or mustaches. Or any sort of manly facial hair. Maybe a couple of characters in a couple of movies have pulled off the look somewhat successfully, but I far prefer the clean-shaved look (and let's add nicely trimmed short hair and a three-piece suit while we're at it). Angel's favorite way to torture me is to only partially shave, leaving a goatee or mustache. This always disturbs me greatly and never lasts longer than a couple hours. Usually not longer than 15 minutes.

- Coffee is not worth drinking. Even the smell. Granted, I've only tried about one cup in my lifetime, but that's because I can't get past the smell in the first place. Also, anything coffee-flavored just tastes bad.

- Excessive complaining doesn't make people more relatable. I find courage in the face of adversity or even just viewing the normal ups-and-downs of life as no big deal a much more attractive trait. Side note: Angel's one of the few nursing students I've ever met who was like, "Eh, nursing school isn't bad. It's fine. It's just like any normal school. Being a nurse isn't hard, it's just heavy work. It's a good job." Yep. I like these kinds of people. I might myself be naturally more on the dramatic side but I find people who treat the tough stuff as NBD are my kind of people and they inspire me to be more like them. Not that I believe you have to be fake and act like things are fine when they're not...but the personality trait of never being fine, or of being easily flustered or offended by the bumpy roads of life instead of erring on the side of grace and good humor...that's not my type. Although it sure seems very popular in my own generation. I sometimes suspect that it's been harder for me to make friends as an adult because I just can't get into the complaint-fests about how tough "adulting" is with other folks my age. The people I know with the actual toughest lives tend to be those who whine the least about it.

- I don't like candles. Plain old fire is fine, and once in a while pretending the electricity is out and relying on candlelight might be fun, and I think they  have their uses...but I don't like them burning and scenting up the whole room. I would never purposely go out and buy a candle for my house. Angel really likes candles. Once, before we got married, I visited the house where he lived, and during my visit, I left to go to the bathroom, and when I came out, all of the lights were off and Angel was sitting in the center of the room with a whole circle of lit candles. It was the weirdest thing ever. It was at that point that I was calculating how near his landlady was in the living room and how many steps it would take to run to my car in the parking lot. Angel was just acting totally normal and saying, "Aren't candles so cool?" Apparently people like this really creep me out but I marry them anyway.

- Gilligan's Island is a better TV show than just about any other TV show ever, and inspired my life dream to become stranded on an idyllic tropical island with a bunch of quirky characters.

What are your unpopular opinions?
kanderson13 said...

I can't stand Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Not sure if you know who they are, but they're really popular home decorators here in the states - they're show is wildly popular and almost every friend I have on facebook has gone to their shop in Texas. Just not a fan of them.

I'd have to disagree with almost all of yours!!! Too funny. :) But life is much more interesting that way.

Suzanne said...

Ha ha! Interesting.

I prefer animals to people. Any day.


Unknown said...

How does one not like coffee and candles?! Two of my absolute favourites!

Haha I totally understand not liking coffee tbh; my 'addiction' to it began out of absolute neccessity back in my undergrad days of all-nighters to finish papers. I absolutely hated the taste for a long time but got used to it after awhile & now I LOVE coffee. Hehehe..Give it a little chance 😅

Kimberly said...

Hands down, pets are better than humans.
I will swim in a cup of coffee.

I love purple anything. I would love to rock purple hair but I am not brave enough.

My unpopular opinion - Chocolate is the worst.
hee hee.

Beth (Coffee Until Cocktails) said...

I understand your feelings on pets. I love my cats, but I think after they're gone we might not get any others. We'll see. I do like coffee, but it's ok if you don't!
My unpopular opinion - I don't get the hype around Harry Potter. There. I said it.
The Beth Next Door

AnneMarie said...

I love these kinds of posts! I'm not a fan of excessive complaining, either. Maybe it's because I grew up reading the Little House of the Prairie books (thus showing me just how easy we have it)? I find it a lot more encouraging to hear of other people who just "suck it up and push through" than hearing people complain on and and on about how hard things are. Also, I once read that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it, and I think there's some truth to that-the people who act as if they're in constant crisis seem (to me at least) to sometimes be creating their own stress and small crises.

Hmmm, not sure what my unpopular opinions are. I'm not into professional sports and could care less about football season, does that count?

Moonofsilver said...

I don't like pets either :)

Kay R. said...

'I think kids are more fun than adults' - Id say this is a pretty popular opinion.

I dont judge, so no judgment I promise - but the pets and coffee ones hurt my little heart lol

Michelle said...

I found myself starting to hate Facebook, so I deactivated it for three years. After Gracie was born I knew long distance friends and family wanted to see pictures, so I whittled down my friends list to people I actually care about and enjoy, and it doesn’t bother me at all now. I actually like Facebook now! I never thought I’d say those words.

Flavia said...

I love cats! And I love honest people like you!

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I like your "unpopular" opinions. Although I don't share all the opinions, I appreciate that we are all different. Variety is the spice of life. I love cats and coffee. I don't like facial hair either. My "unpopular" opinion, I like being alone. its my introverted nature, but I enjoy being alone with my thoughts and to do what I like. I don't get the "harry potter" hype or the fascination with many of the "popular" TV shows in the states.

Angi said...

I don't like dogs, either. I am a cat person, for sure. Isaiah wants a dog really badly, though, so I know someday I'll be a dog owner. But a very picky one.

I'm still not a Facebook lover. I think it's because the only family members who really use it mostly just post memes and share opinion articles and such. Nobody really uses it for actual life updates and photos, so I don't use it anymore, either. But, on the same hand, none of my extended family is really that close with each other and the people I'm close to, I just email/text photos of the baby. No need for FB!

I love your purple hair. I'm thinking of doing a smoky lavender sometime soon. Want to come do it for me? My hairdresser charges like $125 for hair color, and no way am I attempting it myself. EEEK.

Michelle said...

I'm a little excited to see someone that shares several of my "unpopular opinions". I too, don't love animals, especially dogs! I was attacked by one when I was very little and they cause me great anxiety now. I don't like coffee either. I don't like most hot drinks actually. I only drink water (and as a bonus, it's great for your skin!). I'm not a fan of candles either. Now sleeping in on the other hand, I love that! :)

Carolann Chambers said...

I was just talking about the whole complaining thing with someone. Sometimes I find it helps to vent or get things out, but I become overwhelmed and annoyed when people complain about silly things. Nick has really instilled in me a different way of looking at the world, to appreciate the hard things and embrace them. Life is pretty great and the hard things only make you stronger and better.

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Oh gosh, I can't stand people that do almost nothing but complain. One negative of Facebook, but in general, I don't mind FB. It keeps me in touch with people, so there's that.

I don't like hot drinks of any kind.

I'd LOVE purple hair. Or blue. Just something fun.


Rachel ¦¦ A Nesting Nomad said...

I am also not a fan of facial hair or coffee. I do however like candles quite a lot and have considered making the trek to the airport just to go to the one branch of Bath & Body Works in our state. I don't think that's reasonable behaviour considering it's about a 45 minute journey plus $30 in train fares.

I generally follow the life motto of never complain; never explain. Apparently Disraeli came up with this so I feel I am in good company. Basically, nobody cares, so keep it to yourself. Works for me!

Laura Darling said...

I like my parents' dog, but I'm not crazy about dogs I don't know. And I don't have any desire to have one because I don't want an animal living in my house! LOL! I also like when people act crazy in public. People watching is my favorite.

rooth said...

I don't like desserts/candies with nuts in them. My parents and Bryan both love them. No thanks!

Kristin said...

I also think that sleeping is incredibly boring. I only do it because I have to.

I can't get on board with purple hair for kids. I have students who do that and it bothers me. Like, do that in the summer. I think I'm really annoyed at the school for allowing it. As an adult, cool, do whatever.

I was never, ever a pet person before we got a pet. Dogs used to bother me a lot, actually. On the flip side, I had a dream once that I was attacked by a house cat (I was like 7) and I've distrusted cats ever since.

Farrah said...

haha, I'm definitely in the no-facial-hair crowd as well! + I sometimes wish I didn't have to sleep so I could get more things done. :[

I think my most unpopular opinion is that I have zero interest in childbirth + ever having/raising kids (my parents are pretty sad about this). I prefer pets to people. :P

Charlene Maugeri said...

So toward the beginning of this post, I started thinking "Wow! Rachel and I are really similar in our unpopular opinions" then when I got about half way down the page, I thought "Ok nevermind." haha

I have one question though, do you bleach your hair before you color it purple? I am planning to color my hair purple once I quit my corporate job (December 8th can't get here fast enough) but I'm not sure how well it will show up and I would rather not bleach it. I used "liquid hair chalk" for a very temporary version a couple weeks ago and you could barely see it.

Jenny Evans said...

Yes to the pets! Phillip and I both grew up with dogs and we always just assumed we'd probably have one when we were older because that's what people do. But now that we're grown and we'd actually be the ones taking care of said pets including constantly picking their hair off our persons and picking up their poop... no thanks.