The Dol Is Begging the Question. You Betcha!

 I loathe Sarah Palin as much as the next person. At least, as much as the next, sane person who knows what a tea party actually is. All that ridiculous winking, the ignorance (oh, the ignorance!), and the mean-spirited willingness to say anything about anyone.

So, when I read a post yesterday by BuggyQ on one of my favorite political blogs, it really got me thinking. About The Mean Girl. The Queen Bee. Here's a bit from the post "Mean Girl:"

Here's the thing about Palin for me.  I know her.  I've known her since sixth grade.  She's the girl who pulled down the sleeves of my elastic-topped peasant blouse in the middle of the lunchroom to show everyone I wasn't wearing a bra yet.  She's the girl who stole my best friend's boyfriend just because she could, not because she really wanted him.  She's the girl who all the teachers (especially the male ones) seemed to adore, even though every girl in school knew she was Satan in jellies and Jordache.

Sarah Palin seems to be that girl, skills honed, talons sharpened, wink perfected. She drove me bananas during the campaign, not so much because of her political philosophy (Lord knows she didn't come up with that nonsense on her own, and we've all heard it before), but because I think she got to me in a seventh-grade sort of way. 

She's the girl you didn't want to be caught by in a moment of embarrassment. 

Don't trip and fall or walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to your shoe in front of her, because she will show no mercy.

I was never the prime target of The Mean Girl at my high school, but I had a run-in with her grownup prototype recently. Dude, it was awful. Seriously. I had no idea I could be so upset by an e-mail encounter with an acquaintance. 

You'd think I'd been de-pantsed in front of the football team.

She started out syrupy sweet, making obnoxious demands, and when I pushed back, the fangs came out. 

So the question is this:

Did you ever have a run-in with The Mean Girl? What happened? 

And, for Extra Credit:

Tell me about how Sarah Palin makes your blood boil.

For even more Extra Credit:

What did you think of Linda Tripp? Yeah, what a bitch, right? Who does that?

Comments

[Polly Poppins]

Everyone knows about my quintessential mean girl, the way she would systematically ostracize one girl and then the next, on a rotating schedule, for no apparent reason. The reasons were so not memorable, but the situation was always the same: open shunning at lunch, in gym, wherever. Until it wasn't your turn anymore.

As an adult, I suppose I'm required to be compassionate and think about what kind of pressures she must have faced at home, how uncomfortable with herself she must have been, how difficult it is to be a narcissistic sociopath. Only, every time I think of her I revert to being twelve again and I just want to sneak nair into her shampoo bottle. Too bad come-uppance usually only happens in the movies.

And Sarah Palin doesn't make my blood boil. She really doesn't. But whenever I consider the possibility of her winning an election, my blood does turn to ice water. Is it too soon to start applying for Swedish citizenship? Are they even taking immigrants there?

And Linda Tripp. Do the wee-uns on the blog even know who she is? I hate her. I hope no one will ever, ever be friends with her again. She is a horrible person.

[The Model]

Polly, the Swedish are pretty kind unless you overstay your tourist visa for a few years. That's how my dad got deported from Sweden.

One of the many benefits of being a sixth grade dropout is that I managed to miss out on the mean girl thing for the most part. Sorry, for once it doesn't make for a very good story.

That's a great analysis of Sarah Palin though. Never thought of her that way, but it's so true. She's just pure, soulless evil. But I'm still optimistic(/naive?) even to believe she'll never get elected into any real power. Then I'd really have to move.

Linda Tripp is a cunt.

[Pandora]

I didn't have a run in with The Mean Girl until she lived with me in my college apartment last year. I should have known that size 2 true religion jeans, orange skin, and bleach blonde hair made for a toxic combo.

I'm kind of glad we have Sarah Palin around. I like that she keeps politics interesting. She's like the safe version of George Bush. She says stupid things we get to laugh at but, we don't have the fear of her actually in office. *knock on wood*

Polly, it does weather in Sweden. Bring a parka.

Finally, I have no idea who Linda Tripp is. But, if the Dol doesn't like her than I don't. Because she who holds the house key to the laundry room is always right.

[Diosa]

I went to high school with Polly, so our mean girl is one and the same. My run-ins with her were pretty much done in middle school, though. She was my good friend for a few months and I remember how great that was, until it wasn't. I don't remember what exactly it was that made her turn on me, probably wasn't anything more than her changing her mind and ostracizing me.

I was so ridiculed in middle school, that by the time I hit high school, there wasn't much any mean girl or guy could say or do that could touch me. I always spent lunch in the band room because there were only a handful of people I socialized with.

Sarah Palin and Linda Tripp annoy the hell out of me. I find vapid, fame-chasing, money-grubbing whores annoying enough in Hollywood, but I can't tolerate them in politics.

And I warn everyone not to be naive enough to think that Sarah Palin isn't a threat. She shouldn't be, but that doesn't mean she isn't. Media coverage and politics make strange bed fellows these days, and everyone knows her name. That's scary power for someone like her to have.

[The Dol]

I'm glad we all agree on Linda Tripp, even those of us who are too young to remember her.

I'm with Diosa, too. Don't underestimate Sarah Palin. Someone as void of grey matter and with a track record of failure on the scale of George W. Bush *never* should have become President, and we got that numskull for eight years. Sarah Palin appeals to the same people as he did, and they have a baffling ability to get people elected.

I blame Fox News.

[Chance]

I never had to deal with the mean girls in highschool. Girls have always wanted to be my mother/sister/or lover. Sometimes all in the same day.
I would not want to be stuck in a room with her but I feel sorry for Linda Tripp. Ugly...outside and in...pretty sad really.
Sarah Palin is the most dangerous person in America. Just smart enough to appeal to 1/3 of the country she (and glenn beck) could form a third party. What happens to us when the Republicans become the center? Can anyone teach me the words to Oh Canada?
By the way the model used the C word...

[The Dol]

The Model is hardcore, Chance. Do not get on her bad side. She will whip out dirty words you have never heard before. (She has been to France and Tokyo! You know what I mean.)

[The Dol]

And DUDES!!!! Get yourselves over to BtQ from the other day with Chance. A favorite author of mine posted in comments and it is the most exciting thing EVER!!! Yes, I'm ecstatic.

!!!!!!!!!!

[Polly Poppins]

@Pandora, really? It does weather in Sweden? The bright-haired, no-nonsense Swedes with their swimsuit models and beach volleyball team just didn't strike me as the type of people who would stand for such shenanigans. I doubt they even have a word for shenanigans. Unless it's Americans.

@Chance, the C U Next Tuesday word is never appropriate. Unless someone brings up Linda Tripp. And then, well, there that is. There is no excuse for her, and I hope her parents are deeply ashamed on her behalf, since, clearly, Linda doesn't have the capacity to muster the nobler feelings.

@Dol, are those rollover exclamation points left over from the months when you were lacking mojo? I'm glad to see you're finally cashing them in. We don't like to let exclamation points go to waste around here

@Diosa, after all these years, I don't even think our mean girl realizes she was our mean girl. I wonder who her mean girl was?

[Pandora]

Speaking of Swedish models, Tiger Woods will be holding a televised press conference this Friday.

[The Dol]

I have definitely not been stingy with the exclamation points during the last 24 hours!!!!

[Ramblin' Jack]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Found these under the sofa cushions. I never use the things, so I'm donating them to the blog.)

[Bookgirl]

I grew up with Di and Polly, so ditto them on the mean girl. The fascinating thing, though, is that she lost any and all power by high school. This is what happens when you use up your influence badly and too soon. And no, I'm guessing she has no idea. Even though I wrote an essay about her for my cross-cultural communications honors class in college.

Pandora, We cannot get complacent about Sarah Pailin. Because a large portion of the country likes the idea of having someone just like them (i.e. not too smart, not too sophisticated) as president. Which baffles me. I have a genius IQ, and I have friends who I consider much smarter and more knowledgeable than I am. And I don't even think THEY'RE smart enough to be president.

And while I agree with The Model on Ms. Tripp, I prefer the term "whore," which is my derogative female expression of choice. I am not, however, above use of the c word. But you have to have royally screwed over someone I know personally for that one.

Model, I would think given your line of work, you would have met WAY worse mean girls than we mere civilians could even imagine. No?

[The Dol]

I know, seems like The Model should have more Mean Girls in her past, doesn't it? My take on it from knowing her personally is that she is really good at not getting worked up about other people's nonsense. That's my theory. She probably knew plenty of Mean Girls, they just didn't get to her.

Oh, and thanks, Ramblin' Jack!!!!!

[Polly]

@Bookgirl, I don't consider whore an insult. I refuse. It's just a job description.

[The Model]

In fashion, you don't really see a lot of the same people too much, so that sort of eliminates a lot of mean girl possibilities. There was one time when I lived in a big house in Sydney with 17 other models and things got a little sticky and I would definitely use the c-word again to describe the roommate I was stuck with, but I really can't think of any good mean girl stories from modeling.

If anything, the mean girls I've encountered in my life have probably been in online moms' groups I've been involved with.

@Polly, I agree about whore. Love "C U Next Tuesday".. I'm totally stealing that one. But I have to disagree about it never being appropriate. On the contrary, I think it's appropriate rather often (in the absence of kiddies, of course).