Sunset

         So when was the last time you took time to watch the sunset? Sunrise? When was the last time you took time out of your life to do something for yourself? It’s funny that where I am “currently” in my life I actually have a lot of time to do things for me. Back in a “real” life I don’t really take time out of my busy schedule for the little things. I’m not really sure why I don’t, maybe because I get caught up in the day-to-day mentality that “ I am busy”. Why is everyone so “busy”? Back in the day people weren’t as busy as we are today, were they? I thought that computers, cars, internet, prepackaged food, in door plumbing, electricity and phones were supposed to make us more productive while lessening, the work load. So when was the last time you “stopped and smelled the roses?”

Snooze………

For most people that have never had the opportunity to sleep in a room with 20 to 60 people you probably wont understand. Have you ever been awakened from a dead sleep by an alarm clock? That wasn’t yours!! The purpose of an alarm clock is to wake the person up that sets it, right? Does that person turn it off as soon as they hear it, you would think they would since they are sleeping in the same room with so many other people. How many times do they hit the snooze button, to do they just let it go off for like an hour? Is their clock set cast so they “trick” themselves into thinking it is later than it really is? If so, how much faster and do they just, over time, chalk that up to extra sleep time? Wouldn’t you think that a grown ass person would be able to get up in a timely manner? If it is a problem with not getting enough sleep couldn’t they go to bed earlier? It would at least be nice if their alarm device would get tended to quickly, because if I tend to it they seem to get broken, then I usually have to pay for them!!

Act your age!!

Ever been told to act your age? If you have what were you doin at the time? I bet you were having fun or causing someone to laugh or just being a jackass. Is that wrong and why does someone think they have the right to have an opinion on your life and tell you about it? You didn’t ask them. Why do we have to grow up and act a certain way? To be like everyone else your age would be pretty boring, wouldn’t it? I don’t consider my age to be old but a lot of people my age already have wives, kids, careers, homes, and bills and how do they act? Grown up? Do they have as much fun as me? The ones that are around me sometimes do, and for that I get called a bad influence. My single friends call me a fun influence and not once has a “single” friend ever told me to act my age, only the married ones tell me that. Ever had someone younger than you tell you to act your age? Haha!!

You asked me!?!

What’s your opinion on this? What do you think about…? Heard that before huh? People always want to be accepted by others or have their attitudes and judgments reaffirmed by someone else. So they ask these questions. Then why when they ask you for you opinion do they get mad when it doesn’t coincide with theirs? Not everyone has the same likes and thoughts. So why even ask someone’s opinion? I don’t think the person asking really even cares about your thoughts; I think they are more or less talking just to talk. Would you be able to decifer whether or not they did care or do you just assume that you “friends” care and the people that aren’t your “friends” don’t care??

My dad can beat up your dad!?!

Even as adults we sometimes feel the need, when around others, to let everyone else know how much better our families are than any other. Does it really matter what kind of family you came from? Rich families must be stuck up, poor families must be dumb, and you know the stereotypes. Why? Why, because you can trace your family back a few generations to another part of the world and I can’t, or haven’t tried, do you think you are better than me? Are you? Does anyone these days actually sit down and ask themselves was/is my family happy? Forget about the “stuff”, where you live, your job, the schools you went to and just think about it. Am I happy? Not am I happy with a certain thing, place or person but am I happy to be me? Am I enjoying life? Can you do it, without thinking about some “thing” that makes you happy? Honestly?

Eve’s droppers??

Have you ever been having a conversation only to look out the corner of your eye and see someone staring at you or listening intently to “your” conversation? When you do notice someone doing that, what do you do about it? Continue talking and act like nothing is wrong, stare back at the person, start talking about something absolutely disgusting to make that person stop. Should you have to do anything, is it illegal for them to do that? I have no clue if it is illegal, although it would not surprise me if there were a law out there about it. Do the people that are listening in on conversations they are not involved in really have such boring lives they have to try and get into someone else’s? Have you ever listened into some else’s conversation? Bet you have. What’s the most interesting conversation you have heard that wasn’t yours? Maybe its just human nature to be nosey. Yeah probably not. Are your parents nosey? Maybe that’s where most people get it. Is it considered rude if you are not caught?  If you are caught? When your caught can you just start talking like you were always part of the conversation, because maybe you know more about the subject than the people discussing it. Are there rude enough people out there that would actually but into a total strangers conversation? YES there are! 

Work Harder!!!!

Have you ever been told to that hard work will get you to the top? Or work harder and you can go home earlier. I bet at some point in your life you have been told something closely resembling those. In the military does it really matter if you work harder? When I first joined the Army I use to think so. If I work harder then my NCO’s will notice me and reward me somehow, whether it was through time off, going home early, an award of some kind or a really cool detail that was fun. As I spent my time in the army I noticed that it didn’t matter how much harder I worked than my peers, we all got the same treatment. We all got the same awards for being deployed whether we had gotten demoted or promoted during the time the award covered. We all got paid the same, same time off, and same details. The only difference that I noticed between the “dirt bags” and those of us that worked harder was that we got more work. Logically I don’t think that is right, do you? The “lazy” guy that does the bare minimum gets off the same time as me and does for example half the work. When I finish my tasks early because I work hard and fast, I just get given another task or rewarded by being left in the desert longer because I am one of those guys that can be trusted to get the job done. Does that mean that I am just not good at time management? Is the “lazy” guy better at time management because he can make a simple hour-long task take until C.O.B.? Your leadership will probably say it will show on his evaluation, but does it? Is your evaluation any better than his? And who really determines which is better? In civilian life maybe working hard does get you noticed, and better pay checks, and promotions. I don’t really know that side of the house because the few jobs I have had outside the Army were crap anyways. So really in the Army hard work has taught me better time management because now I can make an hour-long task take about seven or so hours, although it is incredibly painful for me to do that. Is it wrong to think that way? 

Look at my stuff!!!!

“Hey check out my new”…fill in object here. I bet some time in your life you have heard or said that phrase. Why? I bet you were proud of your new object whether it was a stereo, pair of shoes, a car, a jacket, new bike, new watch. Was it because you just wanted someone to know that you had something better than him or her? What’s the purpose of a house? Is it a building that is made for people to live in and raise a family so it then becomes a home? That’s the definition that I found but as far as a lot of people it is just a place to keep their stuff and the only reason they ever need a bigger house is to keep more stuff. Because if you have a better house than someone you are that much better than them? You automatically have better stuff? More stuff? Why do we care? Cant we just be comfortable and satisfied with what we have and live within our means? Everyone talks about this “recession” our economy is goin through and the reason it is happening. I hear a lot of talk about oil being the reason, but if you listen to the analyst’s that are looking at the big picture and not the guy sitting next to you talking during the news, the reason is because Americans as a whole are living outside their means. A home that is 5 to 10 times their annual income, borrowing 10,000 dollars against a credit card, multiple credit cards maxed out to say 25 grand a piece and the economy, banks, wall street have all just grown to accommodate this life style. Now we have maxed out the countries credit limit and no one can afford to pay it down. Wow I sure am glad I got some new stuff!!?? :) 

Volunteer…who me?!

“Hey everyone I need a volunteer.” And no one raises a hand; no one says I’ll help. Some people even ignore the fact that it was just said. Why is that? Why is it so hard for some people to give up some of their time, part of a day, sometime in the next month, over the next year for free? I don’t believe in karma so for me that is not a motivator at all. I mean I could give up an hour on a Saturday to help someone or an organization, which would otherwise be spent getting fatter in front of the TV. Couldn’t you? Do people shy away from it because in the past they have volunteered and gotten shafted, or because they are lazy, or some other reason that I am too simple to point out? When I first joined the army I was told by someone that had only been in about a day longer than I, to “never volunteer for anything in the army because you always get screwed.” Didn’t we both just volunteer for the army? What kind of logic is that? Time has shown me in the army that you have about a 50/50 shot at getting screwed when you volunteer. If you are an optimistic person though you can find plus sides to any of your experiences. Does it make you a better person if you volunteer?

TV talkers…

When your watching TV in public areas do the people around insist on commenting on everything they see?  Next time you watch TV with more than on person pay attention to the people around you just to see if they do. Are they saying things because the show offends them, is it stating facts that are wrong, does the person watching know more than the people that made the show? Is it not rude of that person to talk and interrupt your “viewing pleasure”? On the other side guess some TV shows are supposed to inform you of things and that person the person talking during the show is just better informing you. But then there are the shows that are there just for mindless entertainment, and there are people that think they have to tell everyone “oh that could never happen”, “that’s not how that works” and things of that nature. I’m not saying that some shows aren’t supposed to evoke some kind of thought and conversation, but can you at least wait till the end of the show??

Theatre babies….

            Ever gone to a movie that was rated say PG-13 or higher and expect to go in and enjoy the movie with the theatre experience, only to be 5 minutes into it and hear a baby start crying? You think to yourself he'll quit in a minute so you let it go, and it doesn't stop. You start to think why did those "parents" even bring their kid into the movie? Is it to ruin the movie for everyone else? Maybe they couldn't find a baby sitter, or they thought that the baby would sleep through the incredibly loud movie. What does the "parent" do next? Start rocking the baby to try and calm it while he/she continues watching the movie like the crying kid isn't annoying anyone. Then they pick the kid up and try to calm it that way, the whole time you are just wishing that the kid were out of the theatre so you could actually enjoy the movie. Next they usually get up with the baby and walk down the stairs so they are in the dark alley that leads out of the theatre but you can still hear the baby. OMG just leave and rent the movie back home, or get a baby sitter. Why is it that "parents" are never told they can't bring their baby into a movie because it may ruin the movie watching experience of the others? Do parents even think about it? Am I being too insensitive or am I normal and like to enjoy myself, with out being annoyed by other people. Would that annoy you? How many people would you have to annoy before you were considered a public menace? What if the parents would get a fine every time they did this? Would that be wrong, to make them to partially reimburse the theatre for all those people that complained to management for free tickets because of the baby? After all it’s only partially the theatres fault for allowing it to happen. Maybe there should be a warning that is on the ticket about it or certain times after which people with small kids or infants are not allowed to attend. Would that be infringing on the "parents" right to watch the movie? Personally I don't think so although I don't have kids so I just want to enjoy the movie in peace.

Rude?

            Is it rude to enjoy yourself in public? LOL. I know what you're thinking now but that's not what I mean. Say you're sitting in a restaurant with your friends having a night out. You're not drinking; you're just having dinner and great conversation. You're a little on the loud side but not bad, and the host/hostess comes over to ask you to quite down because you are making the other patrons uncomfortable. Do you really consider it rude to enjoy yourself? I can understand that if your group was drunk and yelling and cursing at each other, it would be rude. If you are just a little on the loud side with laughter and fun, why do people have to rain on your parade?  Ever had that happen to you?

Conversations or not??

Here I am in Iraq, walking to work when I pass by someone who says, "How's it goin sergeant?" I reply with, "Not bad". Pretty normal right? That's what I thought as I walked away, and then I started to think about it. How often do you actually have a "prescripted conversation" with someone that you know or don't know? I bet you do it all the time, although if you don't reply to someone that starts one of these "conversations" you are considered rude, stuck up or just a dick. What if you really just don't have anything to say or you don't want to say anything because that person probably doesn't even know you? Why is it that most people seem to think that it is necessary to actually say something to everyone they walk by? These people should know that not everyone wants to speak to them, yet they insist on speaking. I know that it is considered common courtesy to actually acknowledge someone's existence, and that it is customary to give the greeting of the day to those that out rank you in the military. It's also considered just polite to say something but why do we all use the same form of greeting? For example everyone has heard, "what's up?" "How ya doin?" "Good morning" "Afternoon". When you actually have a conversation with someone do you start with these or do you actually have something interesting to say? I'm not saying I don't use these most of the time, I just wonder why?