Don't be an asshole...

I know, it's kind of a blunt title today, right? But I was trying to figure out some other way to put it and I just couldn't. So Don't be an asshole it is.

Now on to the blog!

I read a book last week that is 14 years old. It's the first in a series I have been meaning to try out for a long time. Probably not 14 years, but at least 7 or 8. I have read a few short stories in that universe that have been included in anthologies I've picked up but I've never actually read the main series. Amazon had a really good deal on "first in a series" books so I picked it up and boom! Now I've started. And it was entertaining. And I will probably pick up more. I will look at the library's selection of e-books and hope that most of them are there. Lots of reading in my future.

I have at least three different television show series that I want to catch up with on Netflix soon. Things we just haven't had the time to watch yet. But I want to. I know they are there and we will enjoy them when we get to them.

There are a ton of movies out there that I want to see as well. We tend to see the big action style flicks in the theater and leave the smaller less effects heavy ones for home viewing. Which means we watch things late. But we get to them.

So where am I going with all of this?

Well somewhere I've been before. Spoiler Alert.

My biggest pet peeve right now is people and spoilers. The book series I mentioned, I know that a lot of things are going to happen. It's a 14 year old series, so imagine how pissed off I am when someone tells me, "don't get attached to...".  Television series, "Oh my gosh, the second season you will cry because they are killing...."  Movies, "It was really good, big twist at the end." What the actual fuck, people! Don't do this! Don't justify it when you do with "Well you should have seen/read/watched by now so..." NO! Do you have any idea how many books, movies and television shows are released each year? Just because you read it or saw it first doesn't mean you own it and all plot lines. Get it?

The biggest one? Game of Thrones. I watch the TV show. I haven't read the books. I made a conscious decision after the first season not to read the books because I enjoy the show so much. I know as soon as I read the books it will change the show, things will be different, I want to enjoy it without expectations. But I live on the west coast. So trying to make it to 9 PM on a Sunday night without seeing who died or who didn't is tricky. Spoilers hit my feed as early as 5 PM. If I'm not thinking about it, and making sure I am not online the episode is tainted. (I hear you laughing, Dana) and I am pissed off.

Not just that someone has spoiled it but because their response is "You should have read the books by now!" Sorry, that's just using an excuse because you are being an asshole. First off, not everyone who watches TV reads. Period. Secondly, why should I have read the books by now? Because you said I should? I will read the books, but I had never heard of the books before the show started. If you know that the show isn't even on yet where I live why not post as your status, "Game of Thrones tonight, See Comments for discussion!" That way you get to post your OH MY GOD THEY KILLED KENNY moment and I can avoid seeing it so for 40 minutes of the show I'm not just sitting there waiting for the death blow. Easy right? I'm not saying you shouldn't be excited to talk about it, I'm saying don't be an asshole.

Because that's what you are being when you ruin it for other people.

I don't care how you want to justify it. If you know not everyone has seen it and you ruin it, you are being an asshole.

"I can't believe you haven't read that!" Oh really? Then you have a very limited imagination. I read close to a hundred books every year. Do you know how many are published every year? Roughly 300,000.  So yeah, I haven't read everything. And neither have you. So don't be an asshole.

Are we clear?