Irresponsibility

I'm sure I've blogged about it before and I know I'll blog about it again at some point.  I may at times ramble and be a bit off track, you should be used to that if you've read my blog before.

 

Irresponsibility pisses me off.  YOU are in charge of your life.  YOU make choices and those choices have consequences, good or bad.  Yes, occasionally things happen that are out of your control.  Do we need a definition of the word occasionally?  It is an adverb that means at infrequent or irregular intervals.  Not all the time.  Your action, or inaction, is almost always what causes things to happen, or not happen, in your life.  The world does not happen to you, you are responsible for what happens in your life.  Do you have to like it?  No, but you need to take responsibility for it.

 

I'm fat.  Do you know how I got fat?  God did it.  Just kidding!  I made bad choices and now I am physically paying that price.  

 

Look at that.  Responsibility accepted.  Now, I've accepted passive responsibility.  I need to do something about it.

The world is full of people either not taking responsibility or taking passive responsibility.  It needs people who take active responsibility.  What does that mean, active responsibility?  It means acknowledging your responsibility and doing something to fix the situation, make sure the situation doesn't happen again, or at the very least, doing something to make up for your part of the clusterfuck you have created.  Why do I assume that the situation isn't positive?  Do you really need to ask?  If the situation is a positive one, you rarely find people not accepting responsibility.

Let's look at the fat situation shall we?  Why did I gain weight?  I have a slow metabolism.  I'm inundated with pictures of food, usually not good for me, all the time through the media.  I didn't know that double double at In N Out was bad for me.  Fast forward two years and I've lost the equivalent of an average adult non-American male.  Look at what I did!  I worked hard and I lost all the weight.  It was all me.  I am amazing because I have triumphed over this horrible affliction.

I hope at this point somebody has slapped the snot out of me.  What a hypocrite!  Would I be awesome for losing that weight?  HELL YEAH!  What would be even better?   If I acknowledged why I was fat in the first place.  Bad choices=bad results.  Occasionally, bad choices=good results.  Hey, check out that word again.  Pretty cool how I did that.  *Please tell me you just rolled your eyes*

People love to point fingers at why things in this country and/or world are the way that they are.  It boils down to responsibility.  We expect people to fix the problems that exist but we won't even accept active responsibility for our own actions.  Saying that you accept responsibility and then doing the same thing again is not accepting responsibility.  It's telling people what they want to hear so they will shut up.  It's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  It's insanity. 

 

I don't care what you did or why.  I just want you to suck it up, acknowledge that for one shining moment you fucked up, and fix it.  That goes for me too!  Did you forget to tell your wife you were out of coffee filters and it's time for bed?  Here's what I want to hear. "I screwed up and forgot to tell you that we're out of coffee filters.  Here's how I'm going to fix it.  *insert appropriate way to deal with situation*.  Did you lose your license because you committed a misdemeanor hit and run?  Here's what I want to hear. "I made a bad choice.  I will take the bus/walk/ride a bike and not tell you how unfair it is that you can still drive".  Did you get fat because you ate shit that you knew was bad for you?  "I made myself fat.  It is not your fault and I will work to make myself healthier".  Did you promise to lower taxes than screw everyone who voted for you?  "I lied to you.  You have no reason to believe me again.  I will work to regain your trust and do what is right".  Did the person you voted for lie?  Do you not like what is going on in our political world?  Did you not vote?  "I will vote.  I will run for office.  I will find someone to run for office that I trust.  I will work to get the people elected that I think will make a difference.  I will protest the injustice of our economy".  

 

It's all about choices.

Own. Your. Shit.

The world will be a better place.

That is all.

The Second Coming of Socks

I rarely participate in Black Friday.  Once in a while, I will venture forth into the time between light and dark when the forces of evil have overtaken the whole consumerist world.  This was such a year.  The battle was epic and long, but I fought off my pillows and blanket to shut off my alarm clock.  I staggered out of bed and wondered, not for the first time, just when I had lost my damn mind.  Clothes, food, and most important of all at 4am, a cigarette.  Beth looking refreshed because for her, this is sleeping in.  (I know, right?)  I stumbled to the outside stairs to await Becca and inhale my blessed nicotine.  Off we go, the Dynamic Duo with our trusty sidekick, Tonto.  We arrive at Fred Meyer and inhale yet another courage lifter.  

We, being of slightly more sound mind than the rest of the shoppers, waited until the store opened and the surge of chaos had passed (or so I thought) to go inside.  I needed a few things to round out my holiday shopping.  With the exception of 3 small gifts and stocking stuffers, I'm done.  Yes,  you may hate me.  

I was amazed at the Super Shoppers leaving the store at 5:07am with a cart full of items.  7 minutes.  I almost bowed to them because that is incredible.  However, the logistics involved....well, let's move on shall we?  I'm smiling and taking deep breaths while trying to control my anxiety at going into a store for only the second time in three months.  As I rounded the corner, I saw him.  He was beautiful.  He took up a huge part of the apparel entrance to Fred's.  I couldn't believe his magnificence....I couldn't believe that he looked like 10 bins and 6 racks of socks.  I pictured him taller somehow.  More human-like but who am I to question the will of Him.  The people were worshiping at his altar.  Although, worshiping looked a lot like shoving, grabbing, and I'm pretty sure I saw hair-pulling.  I let everyone worship in their own way.  I don't judge.

Oh hell.  Now you know I'm lying.  I judge frequently.  Everyone does.  If you say you don't, now you're sitting in judgement and you're a freakin' liar to boot!  These people were I N S A N E!  I've never seen anything like it and I've watched Platoon, people!  They were socks.  I repeat, socks!  Not the second coming of Christ, an appearance by Barbara, or the Sea Hawks making the Super Bowl.  SOCKS!!!!!!!!!

Resume your normal life and check your socks carefully for any indication of holiness. 

That is all.

I Deserve

 

I deserve to be treated with respect.
I deserve to be acknowledged when I speak.
I deserve to be treated better than I have been.
I deserve to be loved.
I deserve to be trusted.
I deserve honesty.
I deserve truth.
I deserve a good life.
I deserve to be cherished.
I deserve to be appreciated.

 

I wrote this in August of 2008.  It's still true today.

Germs

Tis the season to be....no, not jolly, paranoid!  Yep, that's right, I'm a freak about germs.  If someone is coughing, my daughter and I are walking the other way and if they are sneezing, forget about it.  Yes, it could just be allergies.  If that's the case, I'll apologize from across the room.  

 

Why am I a bit obsessive and freaky about germs?  It all boils down to immune systems.  Some people have great ones and some people just don't.  My daughter had a great immune system until about 4 years ago.  

 

If the average person gets the common cold, it sucks.  They feel like crap, they're tired, and they have some mucus issues.  My daughter doesn't get the common cold.  She gets a cold which 90% of the time ends up with her having bronchitis.   She has to do nebulizer treatments and a lot of the times, ends up on steroids.  We spend a lot of time with B and her family.  Her oldest daughter has a worse immune system than Kim.  If she gets sick, it's always nebs, sinus rinses, hoping she doesn't need steroids but knowing she probably will, and usually antibiotics.  It's every 2 hours day and night, doing a 20 minute nebulizer.  It's listening to her lungs and deciding if they are getting better or worse, and occasionally, it's the hospital.  Fortunately, Becca has been trained to deal with almost everything that needs to be done so the hospital is rarely necessary anymore.

 

So yeah, I'm paranoid.  We're paranoid.  We can't put them in a bubble and we have to let them live their lives.  We can't make them so afraid of germs that they won't walk out the door.  (Although sometimes I wish we could).  What we can do is make them aware, ask people who are sick to go away, and keep the massive germophobe inside from sanitizing every single surface that another human being touches.  

 

You would not believe the rude and nasty things people have said to me.  So before judging me and calling me an overprotective, anally retentive, obsessive-compulsive freak; look at it from my point of view.    Just look at it from over there if you're sick please!

Happy Birthday Baby!

You take my breath away with the beauty of your soul

American Idiot

I do the pick up for my daughter and her two best friends for dance, which works because I can spend time with them on the drive home and find out how they are doing.  Last night, I pulled in to the parking lot, parked, and turned off my car.  It was 5:10pm and getting dark.  There were about 15 other people in their cars waiting for their kids.  I turned on my overhead light, pulled out my Kindle, and started reading.  After about 5 minutes, I turned off my Kindle and light.  I started to look around.  I started to listen.  I started to get mad which did have the bonus of keeping me warmer than I was.  15 other cars sitting and waiting for their young occupants.  13 of them with engines running, headlights on, and (I'm sure) heaters running.  What the fuck?  We're not talking about 2 minutes and the kids are running out to jump in either (although, they shouldn't even be idling that long).  We are talking about 10 to 20 minutes of idling.  10 to 20 minutes of wasting fuel.  Fuel made of oil.  Oil that keeps us in the middle of a selfish war.  10 to 20 minutes of heating the earth up just that much more.  10 to 20 minutes of pointless consumption for the sake of convenience.  Goddess forbid we should put on a fucking jacket and gloves to stay warm.  I'm not sure what stopped me from getting out of my car, knocking on each window, and explaining to these disgusting and lazy people just what the consequences of their actions are.  I think it was the fact that they probably don't care.  I'd say they probably didn't know, but unless you are a complete idiot, you have heard about the evils of idling.  Unless you're a completely self centered, clueless......oh wait!  I have a song for you!

 

I Miss You George Carlin

Warning:  Some may consider some of the language "foul".  So, if you're easily offended, what the hell are you doing here?

This is from George Carlin's last HBO special in 2008, four months before he died.

I miss his wit, his insight, and his ability to tell people the truth.

*All rights to this video belong to HBO*