Right, Wrong and Indifferent

"There is no right way to do a wrong thing." I came across this pseudo 'Yogi ism' somewhere in my dark, demented past...For all I remember, I may have cracked it out of a fortune cookie. For some reason though, I took it to heart and have kinda stowed it away for use in times of uncertainty. Now don't get me wrong, I by no means live by this mantra! Lord knows I do plenty of wrong things, some with total cognition beforehand. Recently I attended a meeting where a something similar was shared..."If you ask yourself if you should be doing this, then you shouldn't be and you need to stop." "This" of course, being anything from tying your shoes to committing major felonies. Good advice, I'm sure. If you can take it.

Here's the thing. In our interconnected social universe, what is right for me is certain to be wrong for someone else. The ripple sent from my actions or words is sure to cross someones path with negative effects. I may or may not know, nor realize it but it's bound to happen. On the other side of the coin, the things I do that are right for someone else may come back to bite me square in the backside. So here is the dilemma, do we always do right by us, showing the total selfishness that we innately know? Or do we always try to do right by the other person with the full knowledge that there is a chance that it may come back negatively on us? Or do we, as I like to think that I do, try to find some middle ground, taking into account all factors, in order to find the biggest need as well as the most successful path to follow?

Or, when it's all said and done, do we blindly accept the direction of higher ups, be they parents, scout leaders, or corporate executives? Surely giving away all our self empowerment, and in the process maybe our true self worth. You know, I'm not so sure I can do that. Just a thought.

Blow Your Own Horn!

Okay, I can't blow my nose in the shower. You know, the way many people will clean their sinuses by blowing into their hands...Can't do it. I know people who have no trouble with it. A roommate from years ago swore that he could heal a sinus infection by standing in a super hot shower until all the mess in his head broke loose, then simply blow it out. I have this recurring picture in my head of a plumber blowing out a clogged water line. I can do lots of things in the shower. Been known to pee there when the need strikes. Now who among us hasn't gotten in the shower and realized that they suddenly need to pee? Farting in the shower is no big shakes either. Just can't seem to get past having my own mucus running down my arms...

I was sitting in one of the chairs in my living room the other day. I'm sure I was busy killing brain cells by watching some inane show on television...That's a topic for another day. From my chair I could look out my front door into my quiet neighborhood. You know the kind, not quite Cleaveresque but very nice none the less. I could see my neighbor across the street taking out the garbage, and a jogger trotting past, goofy bastard, as well as any number of other relatively tame things you see in suburban America. At some point, however, I glanced up to see a couple walking their dogs down the street, I assume in an effort to get some exercise for all four of them. The gentleman had a large breed dog in tow, some sort of boxer by the look, while the lady was walking the family lap dog, a Chihuahua no less. Nothing of note really stood out until the crew of man and canine approached my front lawn. At which point the lady shooed the lap dog into my yard and right before my eyes allowed it to relieve itself on my mailbox post. Obviously it must have forgotten to pee in the shower earlier that day!

I will say this now, I am not an animal hater! I'm not an animal lover either, I can pretty much take them or leave them. I grew up with animals, none of which were allowed in the house. Our Labrador Retriever was left to his own devices, which generally entailed fighting with strays that found their way onto our small farm, and disappearing for weeks at a time in search of female company. I can honestly say though, that in sixteen years I never once found myself stepping in any of his leavings. It strikes me that not only has the human social construct begun to erode but that of the canine as well! I sat there slack jawed for a few moments and even felt a muscle twitch as if I were going to step outside and say something to the couple. Just as the spasm occurred though I realized that it wasn't as if she were going to 409 my mailbox post, and from the way she never broke stride, that she saw nothing wrong with the actions of the dog. Just then another thought crept into my head and I wondered about the correlation between the act of pissing on a post and where we have gotten to in our world. How have we come to be so careless in the treatment of our neighbors property? Is this all really that big of a deal? Probably not, but it was rolling around up there and now it's here...

Welcome to My World!

I'm not a smart man by any stretch of the imagination. And I'm ok with that. What I am is just a guy who enjoys the interactions between people, and making observations about these interactions. The purpose of this blog, this "exercise" is simply to put some thoughts down to see if other people may have the same perspective as I. Or even better, a different perspective. I love that we all have opinions, but love even more that we have different opinions. I invite any reader to share their thoughts on what I may have to share, whether agreeable or not. I don't, however, invite anyone to try to force their perspective on me. I appreciate all thoughts shared, and ask that any reader provide me with the same. Thanks for checking it out and I look forward to this journey.