The hit Broadway musical Mean Girls is a spin-off of Tina Feys 2004 movie based on American teenage girls, specifically, acting well, naturally.
No one has to reach very far back to pull out the painful memories of being teased or ridiculed by their peers. As the mother of two young daughters, Fey, a comedienne, actor, and writer, knows all too well how todays world of social media can blow a thoughtless remark out of proportion.
In an interview with the New York Times the three women who star in the musical, and are now 10-plus years removed from those tender years, gave some sage advice on how to deal with such slights either from their own experience or that learned from their on-stage characters.
Its perhaps noteworthy that all three are from the Midwest Missouri, Michigan and Ohio.
Look forward, not sideways, summed up Taylor Louderman of Sullivan, Mo., a town just a shoe size bigger than Iola. The minute you start comparing yourself to others or listening to their remarks, its all over. Instead, put the blinders on and keep your focus on your goals.
IN OTHER WORDS, dont be a snowflake. You know, someone who is overly sensitive and melts at the slightest provocation.
According to Kris Kobach, most us today are such snowflakes we could put out a fire.
But then its was Kobach who got his knickers in a twist at complaints of his chariot of choice fashioned by Iolas Don Erbert at last weekends Old Shawnee Days parade. Kobach rode in a stars-and-stripes Jeep with the replica of a machine gun mounted on back.
According to media reports, the outfitted Jeep inspired gasps from onlookers and some parents said their children were upset by the site, in light of recent school shootings.
Kobach responded: I will not back down in the face of a snowflake meltdown and outrage culture, and reiterated the NRA standard, The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
THIS IS WHEN a touch of class would be appreciated.
Knowing that Kobach is a gun fanatic, its as natural to see him paired with a machine gun as it is to see Hillary Clinton in a pantsuit. So, no big surprise there.
But these are not ordinary times.
Last weekend, for instance, students at an eighth-grade graduation in Chadds Ford, Pa., were issued bullet-proof shields to insert in their backpacks as a way to prepare them for high school.
It is their life now, which is very sad, said Barbara Rosini, their school principal.
