Heckles

Normally these segments are designed to serve as harmless comedic fodder, but most of the time they come across as being condescending and mean-spirited.

I don’t have anything against writing a final exam—obviously I need to prove that I learned something over the course of four months—but I have a huge problem with the way people act at the end of the semester.

Although it could be argued that the best movies this past year really were created by a single kind of person (white men) and that the nominees were fairly chosen, it is hard to accept this fact when some fantastically talented people were not properly recognized for their work.

I don’t dislike Christmas, but this genre of music always makes me rethink my opinion of the holiday season. It is the worst kind of music: it’s unoriginal, it’s ridiculously commercialized, and it’s sometimes utterly horrifying.

When it comes to spoilers, most of my friends and family would say I’m a kind of radical idealist. For the most part they’re probably right, as I will go to extreme lengths to advocate for the avoidance of unwanted plot information pertaining to movies, television, books, comics, etc. At the end of the day, I admit, I’m a Spoilerphobe.

Niceness itself isn’t a problem — a nice person is kind and pleasant — but dating and friendship require a little more. We all want to spend time with good people, but we also want to spend time with people who intrigue us and like doing the same things we do.

I’m the guy behind you. And I’m here because I want to succeed in my courses, and your online shopping experience is making that decidedly difficult. Who knows, you might even find the lecture interesting if you cared to look up from your screen — what a novel idea.

Yet for some ridiculous sense of entitlement, some students still suggest that servers should put up with all of that for less than the standard minimum wage, or that not being at 100 per cent levels of friendliness at all points of your shift is deserving of no tip.

There must be something that makes Canada worth being proud of though. Perhaps our health care? But in fact, most other democratic countries have similar or better levels of national health care. Despite our constant bragging, we’re thirtieth in the world for health care. Twenty-ninth is Morocco.

These lists can be funny and interesting, but they need to be kept in perspective. They shouldn’t take the place of more important and current news stories on the home pages of websites and news organizations. They are a sideshow, and it’s the responsibility of both the media and ourselves to keep them in their proper place.

Full involvement in higher education gives us more than ample opportunity to establish our identity, independent from our relationship status. We need to use university life to our full advantage before tackling the inevitable turbulence of married life.

With Ottawa’s average annual precipitation of 940 millimetres and variably sucky and slushy weather for months of the year, I’ll admit that rain boots are a practical investment. But before you rush out to join the Hunter hordes, consider the economic and environmental costs of the brand you choose to purchase.

At the heart of musical variety is experience. To say you hate country after hearing one Taylor Swift song is simply ignorant. That would be like saying you hate ice cream after sampling one flavour of sorbet.

Also, just because you’re not kissing anyone in the near future doesn’t mean you can ignore your bad breath. When you speak up in class, it shouldn’t feel like an act of chemical warfare to those around you.

Next time you’re driving, can you at least take it easy on us cyclists? All we want is to share the road in peace.

I can’t help but shake my head at the hundreds of people who waited in the sweltering heat outside of St. Mary’s Hospital to catch a first glance at a prince who will never be able to levy a tax, form a government, or declare a state of war.

Our online culture currently supports pro anorexic and bulimic behaviour—called pro-ana and pro-mia sites—and thin inspiration websites. Our society’s obsession with people’s outward appearance is harmful to our own well-being. Whatever happened to just eating right and exercising? Whatever happened to caring more about who people are on the inside than what they look like? There’s a reason eating disorders are on the rise among young people, and a lot has to do with our fat-shaming culture.

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