I'm just going to say it now: 2016 Sucked

You know what's fun about leaving a year behind and looking forward to brand new, 365 day calendar? Remembering everything that went wrong. And in 2016, everything went wrong. From celebrity deaths to blown 3-1 leads, I can't help but feel that this was a year for the ages. The cream of the crop of crappiness. The utter end all for everything sucky about life.

However, I'm going to leave 2016 on a little bit of a happy, sarcastic note. Because I'm cynical like that and want to remind people of things which made them cry. For today, my focus is pop culture.

Unfortunately, 2016 didn't just stop at the avid killing of A-list celebs. It also brought about the death of multiple Pop Culture sensations and several cultural ideas. So, in the name of the late tech giant, Vine, this is what you can do, 2016...

These are the notable cultural and social losses of Anno Domini, two-thousand-and-sixteen. Some were unfortunate. Others not so. Regardless, the future will never be the same with these cultural ideas forever destroyed by the s***storm that was 2016.

UNFORTUNATE LOSSES

I'll start with unfortunate losses. Those ideas and concepts which we should bring with us into 2017 and beyond, but for some reason decided to kill off instead. I'll never understand humanity. And I'll definitely never understand why this year played out the way it did.

Religious Tolerance

It feels like 2016 was the year of bad blood, especially between theological groups. But, much like the T-Swift song which swept 2015 by storm, we came out the other side with a strange hatred for everything and everyone different. I wish we could all get along, but I don't think that'll be possible over the next four years. What with the rise of ISIL in the Middle East, the fear mongering of the Alt-Right in the United States, and just all around misrepresentation of philosophical points by and on all sides. Why take the blame when you can point your finger at a group of people that's different from you and that you don't understand?

Musicianship and Actual Musical Talent

Who needs talent when you've got a pretty face and autotune??? The death of true musicianship will forever be the greatest loss of the 21st century. After all, what happened to just jamming with a bunch of friends in your living room?

But I digress and strongly apologize for paraphrasing the great Dave Grohl (I'm pretty sure he's Jesus). But that doesn't mean I'm wrong. We've gotten away from true music and musicianship and spreading songs with a message! No, I'm not saying I want to go back to the days of the Yellow Submarine, but I'm getting tired of sex, money, drugs and variations thereof. If we could just take the lyrical clock and wind it back two decades, I'd be more than content with the outcome.

Common Courtesy

I think it goes without saying, but if you haven't noticed: common courtesy is dead!

Sure, there's the random person who holds the door for you. But what about a time when people didn't bring up argumentative topics for no better reason than to start a fight? I'm all for talking about issues if we're fixing them, but yelling just to yell creates more animosity that's just completely unneeded. Sorry, Aesop. Looks like you were wrong.

Common Sense

Common sense is not so common. That is all. Also, that is a picture of Thomas Paine because Google did not yield any relevant images for the search 'common sense.' If you don't understand my image choice, please revisit your 7th-grade history book. Besides, just look how disappointed he looks with America.

Common

Ok I can dream. I'm tired of hearing about him from my brothers. Playing into a previous point, his music isn't even that great.

My Social Life

Ummm... Actually let's not talk about this one...

FORTUNATE LOSSES

Thankfully, with the bad comes some good. Though we're losing some truly wonderful social concepts, we're also losing some bad ones and I can't wait for their eventual disappearance. WARNING: unpopular opinions ahead.

Vine

I can't say I never got some kind of joy out of the mindless, ADD forming task of watching 7-second videos. But I can't say that I'll miss the distraction, either.

The Gluten-Free Fad™

As a former employee at a coffee shop which also specialized in gluten free foods and deserts, it drives me crazy how much people don't actually know about gluten. Because unless you suffer from a debilitating disease such as Celiac, there is absolutely no need for you to eat gluten free anything! I'm not saying that you shouldn't eat it (I enjoyed getting paid double what my friends did just because we charged extra for the gluten free products), but self-diagnosing and pseudo-scientific research are things which I'm glad to see dying off.

The Dab (Hopefully)

This one is one I'm hoping continues to trend downward. Unfortunately, it's not quite dead and may still be with us for a good part of 2017, but it's got to die eventually. And fortunately, it's already on its way out. Unfortunately, that just means some other stupid pose or dance move is just on the horizon. Brace yourself.

The Bottle Flip Challenge

THANK THE LORD HALLELUJAH! I'm so glad this is finally dying off because it was so over done. Really? A talent show act? And did it require that kind of uproar? No, it didn't. And it didn't require the subsequent social media sensation which swept the world. I'm glad this is gone. Though if you do continue to flip bottles, make sure it's into a recycling bin. Save the planet, dudes.

My Social Life

Again... let's not.

(SPORTS EDITION)
(CELEBRITY DEATHS EDITION)
(POLITICS EDITION)