but not in a row

I have been reminded, recently, of a joke about a 24-hour convenience store that was closed ... the question ... why are you closing, it says 24-hours! the answer ... but not in a row. we think horizontally ... from memory, automatically. We traverse sharp corners, but when the road curves we often just cannot quite navigate the changes. Consider, the rule ... follow directions to the letter. Walk down two blocks, turn right, walk to the end of the block and enter the building on the left. At the end of two blocks if you turn right you would walk into a brick wall. If you continue walking five feet you would find a side street. Can you find the side street? Maybe not. Why not? Memorization does not require contemplation. Think about it.

Road Cutting

That's what I call it anyway. I'm driving along, plenty of room behind me for a vehicle to slip into my lane when, out of nowhere a driver pulls up alongside, and zips in between me and the car in front of me, just barely enough room. Damn! Why was that necessary? Was the risk of an accident worth the 1/10th of a second advantage? If you put your blinker on I would have even backed off so you could get in front of me. It feels like 'king of the hill' to me and I hated that game in elementary school ... no one won. And if you cause an accident, no one wins here either!

Pissing Contest

I could have participated ... it was an outright challenge. I, doing my job; he, taking over. I could have growled, asserted my little authority, but I withdrew, some dignity still intact. The important thing is that someone got the help they needed. The important thing is there was no conflict. The important thing is he jumped in to help. The important thing is quiet fell. The best thing is, it became a non-contest to me. Thanks!

Election Rant

Stop calling me! I know who I'm voting for, I've already decided. I know that the only people running for office are politicians and I already have a preconceived notion of the degree of verity of politicians ... you can probably guess what that is. Don't call me. I know you want me to vote for you, and that you'll probably tell me whatever you think I'll believe in order to get my vote.

You're not going to tell me what you really think of your opponent; probably. You want me to infer that you are the better candidate and will provide any and all information that will further that goal. Don't call me to trash your opponent .... I'm not stupid. If, for some possibly unknown to you reason, I am looking for a candidate with integrity, who is more interested in the good of their constituants than in furthering their own career, you have already lost my vote.

Quit calling. You are only displaying your desperation and if you're desperate now, what are you going to be next year when things have not improved? Beyond desperation is not a good place to be, as many Americans can already attest.

Stop, I've already voted and it wasn't for you.

Cancer Sells

It does ... it really does! It's a marketing bonanza. It has all of the elements of a best seller. Fear ... Passion ... Money ... Life and Death! What would you pay to save your life? Some, more, all? The ads scream in mouthless wonder, CURE ... NO CHEMO ... NO RADIATION ... only WE care ... the government WANTS your money ... PURE ... SECRET .... just DRINK THIS ... sounds to me like something out of Alice in Wonderland ... DRINK and you get smaller. DRINK again and you get bigger. Which size is cancer free? Who knows?

My friend e-mails me, I heard of this new cure, it's supposed to work ... let me know what you think. What do I think? I speak Stage II Breast Cancer language; chemo ... check; surgery ... check; radiation ... check. I've been cured for ten days ... I still read the ads ... they cajole, scream, offer, entice, lie. Oh, did I say lie? Yes, some of them through omission, through manipulation, through my own desire to want to believe .... lie.

I must look like the lucky one, she's stage III, maybe now stage IV since it, or IT, came back. Lucky, yes, maybe. I looked up my odds to get breast cancer; 1.8%. That means 92.2% of everyone will get breast cancer before I would ... did they? I don't know .... I hope not ... I stopped asking 'Why Me' after my first chemo, lying unmoving in bed so my stomach would stop turning.

So, since Cancer Sells, Cancer Cells Sell, I want to be the first on the auction block to sell mine. Any takers? I didn't think so. Market your cruelty elsewhere, please

My First ... but not my last

what is this fascination with the lives of the stars .... Is it the morass of drama in our own lives that demands relief by focusing on the drama of others we don't have to be emotionally involved in? We can be spectators of life and when it gets too intense we can switch channels? Can it be the lack of drama that entices us promising less boredom without sticky involvements? Twenty years ago it was the coffee katch, twenty back from that were backyard fences, twenty more back were Sunday tea's. Is it my imagination or are we moving away from more personal involvement, and accountability, in the lives of others. Does that feed our need to compare our lives to others and feel better/worse about ourselves? So where is that need in Maslow's chart? so is it a 'good news' 'bad news' thing? The good news is that we can tune into the misery of others without being involved ... the bad news is that we can tune into the misery of others without being involved .... or can we?