Random Thoughts 16: “Somebody had to do it” edition
- Thread starter Ms3r4ISU
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This is a remarkably thoughtful post for 2:42am. Thanks for posting.After being inspired by the musings of a fellow RTT-er I decided (against my better judgement) to wander into the cave to see how the discussion on today's political topics of the day are unfolding. All I can say is LOL, and not in the "haha that's funny kind of laugh"; oh no, this is the "I have to laugh so I don't cry kind of laugh".
I find it truly amazing (and heartbreaking) how folks who claim a moral and empathetic superiority will talk to their fellow human when it's through the confines of a computer screen - even leaping to damning conclusions about a person's personal beliefs, without so much as sharing eye contact (let alone an actual discussion or experience) with their fellow human. It's almost as if the person on the other side of the screen isn't battling the same struggles of a "daily grind", which they themselves might be facing.
I typically don't wade into political discourse, especially on the internet, because I don't think anyone has ever read a message board (or shared a conversation) and become inspired to have their political views changed. Rather personal experience seems to be what changes one's mind on such topics, and personal experience is a collection of hundreds (if not thousands or millions) of life events which you and you alone know/understand. I don't intend to start today, here or now. But as I lie awake restless, thinking about my venture "into the darkness" earlier today - I'm also thinking about my evening where I started a new part time job in retail; being the "face" of a brand to our customers. How I was standing at the cashier's stand interacting with them and asking how their day went - how I wasn't looking at them based on their political views, or their religious identity, how I didn't care the color of their skin or their socio-economic background - I simply saw them as people. People, who like me, who were probably battling the challenges of today one at a time, but who were blessed to be "pushing the dirt down instead of up".
i think so often in today's world we are consumed by what's happening in politics (or the news), we "miss the forest through the trees" - we get so wrapped up in red v. blue, republican v. democrat, Trump v. Biden, R v. W, etc.; we fail to see our fellow humans as just that - human.
Life comes at you fast - I was reminded of this fact over the weekend, when I found out my parent's 90-ish year old neighbor, a real "salt of the earth" kind of guy, a retired farmer who lives on a nice 20-acre property, and until this past week, mowed the lawn, ran a chainsaw, and would move snow with his loader tractor for my parents who are 20+ years his junior. I learned this neighbor had an accidental fall while eating lunch in town and injured himself to the point where (last I'd heard) he had no feeling below where he'd injured his neck. He was, in an instant, quadriplegic - he will never return to his home, his acreage which he cared so deeply for - life as he knew it was gone in an instant. My Dad put it best when he said "they don't make neighbors like (insert neighbors name) anymore." As if this tragedy wasn't enough, I also learned upon return to work from the weekend away, of a co-worker who suddenly lost his young daughter and another who learned his brother was diagnosed with terminal heart cancer and will soon be exiting our world. You see EVERYONE faces these types of tragedies (and even greater ones) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It's part of "the human experience" we suffer and in some sense we're blessed to suffer. It doesn't matter what these folk's political ideologies are, which "side of the fence" they sit on, in regards to a particular issue or candidate, their tragedies are no greater, nor no less tragic based on their political views.
i guess my long-winded, sleep deprived rant is really about this - I was raised that you should never go to bed angry, or without telling those who you mean it to "I love you", because you never know when your time on this earth might come to an end. I pray (in my sleep deprived lunacy) that maybe, just maybe, some of you who make it to the end of my post might decide to share in an extra smile with someone you wouldn't normally smile at tomorrow, or ask (and listen) about how another's day is going, or even just see the co-worker (or family member, or maybe even simply screen name) you don't always see eye-to-eye with on political issues on, not as "the other" but as a human battling through "the human experience" just as you are right now. I challenge you to make sure you don't end your discourse in anger and malcontent, trying to "get in the last word", even if that means holding back on firing off the comment or Twitter post you had lined up, because you never really know, you never truly understand the challenges in another's life (the human on the other side of the screen) until you recognize them for exactly what they are, your fellow human - with their own flaws, failures, hopes, dreams, family, friends, beliefs, experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.
I already said I don't wade into politics, because I don't think you can change someone's mind on those types of issues so easily; but I truly believe, if we ALL practice just a little more empathy for our fellow humans, our world will become a better place - regardless of our political leaders actions (or inactions). I'll jump off my soapbox now, thanks for stopping by
P.S. I'd just like to add the disclaimer -- I'm an openly admitted moron, who learns best by making mistakes; who in my 30 year's on this earth recognizes I've learned less than many other's have forgotten and I'm trying, one day at a time - to be just a little better than I was the day before, knowing full-well, I am FAR from a "finished product". Good night y'all.
As an optimist, I do believe that most of the posters in the cave are more respectful IRL than they are in that forum. That being said, allowing for some true dialogue instead of immediately dropping to insults and name-calling would be a nice change.
Basically if it turns into Facebook where everyone needs to announce where they are and post a bunch of pictures of how awesome their night was when it really wasn't like that.
Obviously it's still a choice on if someone does that but it was one big thing that drove me away from FB.
After being inspired by the musings of a fellow RTT-er I decided (against my better judgement) to wander into the cave to see how the discussion on today's political topics of the day are unfolding. All I can say is LOL, and not in the "haha that's funny kind of laugh"; oh no, this is the "I have to laugh so I don't cry kind of laugh".
I find it truly amazing (and heartbreaking) how folks who claim a moral and empathetic superiority will talk to their fellow human when it's through the confines of a computer screen - even leaping to damning conclusions about a person's personal beliefs, without so much as sharing eye contact (let alone an actual discussion or experience) with their fellow human. It's almost as if the person on the other side of the screen isn't battling the same struggles of a "daily grind", which they themselves might be facing.
I typically don't wade into political discourse, especially on the internet, because I don't think anyone has ever read a message board (or shared a conversation) and become inspired to have their political views changed. Rather personal experience seems to be what changes one's mind on such topics, and personal experience is a collection of hundreds (if not thousands or millions) of life events which you and you alone know/understand. I don't intend to start today, here or now. But as I lie awake restless, thinking about my venture "into the darkness" earlier today - I'm also thinking about my evening where I started a new part time job in retail; being the "face" of a brand to our customers. How I was standing at the cashier's stand interacting with them and asking how their day went - how I wasn't looking at them based on their political views, or their religious identity, how I didn't care the color of their skin or their socio-economic background - I simply saw them as people. People, who like me, who were probably battling the challenges of today one at a time, but who were blessed to be "pushing the dirt down instead of up".
i think so often in today's world we are consumed by what's happening in politics (or the news), we "miss the forest through the trees" - we get so wrapped up in red v. blue, republican v. democrat, Trump v. Biden, R v. W, etc.; we fail to see our fellow humans as just that - human.
Life comes at you fast - I was reminded of this fact over the weekend, when I found out my parent's 90-ish year old neighbor, a real "salt of the earth" kind of guy, a retired farmer who lives on a nice 20-acre property, and until this past week, mowed the lawn, ran a chainsaw, and would move snow with his loader tractor for my parents who are 20+ years his junior. I learned this neighbor had an accidental fall while eating lunch in town and injured himself to the point where (last I'd heard) he had no feeling below where he'd injured his neck. He was, in an instant, quadriplegic - he will never return to his home, his acreage which he cared so deeply for - life as he knew it was gone in an instant. My Dad put it best when he said "they don't make neighbors like (insert neighbors name) anymore." As if this tragedy wasn't enough, I also learned upon return to work from the weekend away, of a co-worker who suddenly lost his young daughter and another who learned his brother was diagnosed with terminal heart cancer and will soon be exiting our world. You see EVERYONE faces these types of tragedies (and even greater ones) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It's part of "the human experience" we suffer and in some sense we're blessed to suffer. It doesn't matter what these folk's political ideologies are, which "side of the fence" they sit on, in regards to a particular issue or candidate, their tragedies are no greater, nor no less tragic based on their political views.
i guess my long-winded, sleep deprived rant is really about this - I was raised that you should never go to bed angry, or without telling those who you mean it to "I love you", because you never know when your time on this earth might come to an end. I pray (in my sleep deprived lunacy) that maybe, just maybe, some of you who make it to the end of my post might decide to share in an extra smile with someone you wouldn't normally smile at tomorrow, or ask (and listen) about how another's day is going, or even just see the co-worker (or family member, or maybe even simply screen name) you don't always see eye-to-eye with on political issues on, not as "the other" but as a human battling through "the human experience" just as you are right now. I challenge you to make sure you don't end your discourse in anger and malcontent, trying to "get in the last word", even if that means holding back on firing off the comment or Twitter post you had lined up, because you never really know, you never truly understand the challenges in another's life (the human on the other side of the screen) until you recognize them for exactly what they are, your fellow human - with their own flaws, failures, hopes, dreams, family, friends, beliefs, experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.
I already said I don't wade into politics, because I don't think you can change someone's mind on those types of issues so easily; but I truly believe, if we ALL practice just a little more empathy for our fellow humans, our world will become a better place - regardless of our political leaders actions (or inactions). I'll jump off my soapbox now, thanks for stopping by
P.S. I'd just like to add the disclaimer -- I'm an openly admitted moron, who learns best by making mistakes; who in my 30 year's on this earth recognizes I've learned less than many other's have forgotten and I'm trying, one day at a time - to be just a little better than I was the day before, knowing full-well, I am FAR from a "finished product". Good night y'all.
Thanks for these pensive, yet respectful comments. I'm generally a "read a lot, don't write anything" person here, and I admit that while part of that is due to my role as a mod, it's true in real life as well. So many times I want to correct someone or call them out, and then I realize it would hurt me way more than it would hurt them.
Is it good for me to hold everything in? Maybe not, although I know how to live with that. It's much better for me, I think, to remember my opinion of myself matters so much more than that of an anonymous entity on a message board. Present company excluded, of course.
This won't make the "posts of the month" lists or whatever they are but I believe it should.After being inspired by the musings of a fellow RTT-er I decided (against my better judgement) to wander into the cave to see how the discussion on today's political topics of the day are unfolding. All I can say is LOL, and not in the "haha that's funny kind of laugh"; oh no, this is the "I have to laugh so I don't cry kind of laugh".
I find it truly amazing (and heartbreaking) how folks who claim a moral and empathetic superiority will talk to their fellow human when it's through the confines of a computer screen - even leaping to damning conclusions about a person's personal beliefs, without so much as sharing eye contact (let alone an actual discussion or experience) with their fellow human. It's almost as if the person on the other side of the screen isn't battling the same struggles of a "daily grind", which they themselves might be facing.
I typically don't wade into political discourse, especially on the internet, because I don't think anyone has ever read a message board (or shared a conversation) and become inspired to have their political views changed. Rather personal experience seems to be what changes one's mind on such topics, and personal experience is a collection of hundreds (if not thousands or millions) of life events which you and you alone know/understand. I don't intend to start today, here or now. But as I lie awake restless, thinking about my venture "into the darkness" earlier today - I'm also thinking about my evening where I started a new part time job in retail; being the "face" of a brand to our customers. How I was standing at the cashier's stand interacting with them and asking how their day went - how I wasn't looking at them based on their political views, or their religious identity, how I didn't care the color of their skin or their socio-economic background - I simply saw them as people. People, who like me, who were probably battling the challenges of today one at a time, but who were blessed to be "pushing the dirt down instead of up".
i think so often in today's world we are consumed by what's happening in politics (or the news), we "miss the forest through the trees" - we get so wrapped up in red v. blue, republican v. democrat, Trump v. Biden, R v. W, etc.; we fail to see our fellow humans as just that - human.
Life comes at you fast - I was reminded of this fact over the weekend, when I found out my parent's 90-ish year old neighbor, a real "salt of the earth" kind of guy, a retired farmer who lives on a nice 20-acre property, and until this past week, mowed the lawn, ran a chainsaw, and would move snow with his loader tractor for my parents who are 20+ years his junior. I learned this neighbor had an accidental fall while eating lunch in town and injured himself to the point where (last I'd heard) he had no feeling below where he'd injured his neck. He was, in an instant, quadriplegic - he will never return to his home, his acreage which he cared so deeply for - life as he knew it was gone in an instant. My Dad put it best when he said "they don't make neighbors like (insert neighbors name) anymore." As if this tragedy wasn't enough, I also learned upon return to work from the weekend away, of a co-worker who suddenly lost his young daughter and another who learned his brother was diagnosed with terminal heart cancer and will soon be exiting our world. You see EVERYONE faces these types of tragedies (and even greater ones) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It's part of "the human experience" we suffer and in some sense we're blessed to suffer. It doesn't matter what these folk's political ideologies are, which "side of the fence" they sit on, in regards to a particular issue or candidate, their tragedies are no greater, nor no less tragic based on their political views.
i guess my long-winded, sleep deprived rant is really about this - I was raised that you should never go to bed angry, or without telling those who you mean it to "I love you", because you never know when your time on this earth might come to an end. I pray (in my sleep deprived lunacy) that maybe, just maybe, some of you who make it to the end of my post might decide to share in an extra smile with someone you wouldn't normally smile at tomorrow, or ask (and listen) about how another's day is going, or even just see the co-worker (or family member, or maybe even simply screen name) you don't always see eye-to-eye with on political issues on, not as "the other" but as a human battling through "the human experience" just as you are right now. I challenge you to make sure you don't end your discourse in anger and malcontent, trying to "get in the last word", even if that means holding back on firing off the comment or Twitter post you had lined up, because you never really know, you never truly understand the challenges in another's life (the human on the other side of the screen) until you recognize them for exactly what they are, your fellow human - with their own flaws, failures, hopes, dreams, family, friends, beliefs, experiences, challenges, and accomplishments.
I already said I don't wade into politics, because I don't think you can change someone's mind on those types of issues so easily; but I truly believe, if we ALL practice just a little more empathy for our fellow humans, our world will become a better place - regardless of our political leaders actions (or inactions). I'll jump off my soapbox now, thanks for stopping by
P.S. I'd just like to add the disclaimer -- I'm an openly admitted moron, who learns best by making mistakes; who in my 30 year's on this earth recognizes I've learned less than many other's have forgotten and I'm trying, one day at a time - to be just a little better than I was the day before, knowing full-well, I am FAR from a "finished product". Good night y'all.
Well done.
My 18 month-old son has an ear infection and that also lead to his eyes being really watery and goopy. That infection in his eyes got passed onto me this morning which led me to urgent care to get some treatment.
In another patient room was young twin boys getting a Covid test and I could overhear them fighting with each other. They went from "I'm going to die!" at the beginning of the appointment to saying "That was fun! I don't want to leave!" Made me chuckle a bit while waiting for test results.
In another patient room was young twin boys getting a Covid test and I could overhear them fighting with each other. They went from "I'm going to die!" at the beginning of the appointment to saying "That was fun! I don't want to leave!" Made me chuckle a bit while waiting for test results.
Gave up Facebook for lent this year. I found out I don't really miss it. I probably checked it twice since Easter.
Back at the start of COVID and the general dumpster fire that was 2020 I basically dropped my Facebook usage to almost zero. Come to find out, I wasn't really missing anything. I still have it, and check it occasionally, but compared to pre 2020, it's practically nil.
Did that with a lot of social media. Hell, my Instagram feed is basically just pictures of dogs and hiking at this point.
LOL on the OTN being favorite albums released in '62 or '72
Deep Purple released Machine Head in '72 which naturally has Smoke on the Water.
Deep Purple released Machine Head in '72 which naturally has Smoke on the Water.
What're you wearing, Jake from State Farm? j/kChecking in from my living room. Just sayin'.
A 2017 ISU football t-shirt and blue champion sweat shorts, what I slept in last night.
#slothlife
Wish I had thought to "check-in" from Lake Harriet yesterday.
For anyone who doesn't get the reference it is from So I Married an Axe Murderer. A pretty funny and underrated flick if you like what Mike Myers did in the Austin Powers franchise.
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Definitely underrated. Myers nails the father role, that's my favorite aspect, although I'm glad that's a sort of secondary element, even that could get old if it was too much.
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