Too Much Free Time...

I am consistently amazed at people using the phrase “Too much free time on their hands.” It is almost always spoken in response to someone producing, with no damage to anyone else, a quirky, odd or mildly entertaining bit of creative output.
Put a costume on your pet duck? “That guy has too much free time on their hands!”
Edit a video to make it funnier and post it online? “That woman has too much free time on their hands!”
Decorate your entire basement with nothing but Sharpie markers? “That idiot has too much free time on their hands!”
What if this criticism had struck Walt Disney, Leonardo Da Vinci or Mikhail Baryshnikov while they fumbled around looking for the best way to express their vision?
I would like to ask a favor of you. The next time you feel the urge to utter this phrase stop and think. Why are you pointing it at the people who manage to combine creative with harmless and entertaining?
Let us try a slight paradigm shift. How about we all save this particular phrase for the non-creative, for the harmful and for the not so entertaining?
Protestor who avoids constructive action or debate in favor of standing in the street with a sign? “THAT person has too much free time on their hands!”
Nuisance lawsuit? “THAT person has too much free time on their hands!”
Attempting to FORCE your beliefs on others? “THAT person has too much free time on their hands!”
I realize that criticism of the harmless is far from the worst of our culture’s ills but perhaps for just a day or a week we could aim this particular criticism away from the harmlessly creative and towards the maliciously disruptive.
Try it for a bit. It won’t take much effort and may leave you with a little extra time on your hands.