Tuesday

It is Tuesday and I am at the office (coffee shop). I am doing my usual drinking 1st my Americano and then my black coffee. To be clear it isn't always black, sometimes I add cream and Splenda to my coffee but never to my Americanos.  The other thing that I do is listen to or eavesdrop, if you well, on other customers orders.

What I do after that, concerns me a little bit. Because I often will hear someones order and then my brain makes some giant sweeping generalization about them. I mean this happens instantaneously. I can't seem to control it at all. I sit here and one part of my brain says, "Hey! You are being a jerk. You don't know that person at all. Just knock it off." Meanwhile the other part is going ahead and building a reason why those people are lame and are just worthy of my condescension.  I think my being aware of it is actually more frustrating to me then my actually doing it. It would just be easier to live a life of unawareness. Things are so much simpler when I am not second guessing myself and my motivations for my behavior.  But...I suspect, that if I was not this way then I would not be doing much blogging. Now I know some of you would say. "Good! We would all be better off." But, I don't think you would be. Think of the emptiness in your lives, if you didn't have me to dispense my nuggets of wisdom for your edification. It would be horrible for you. Actually more horrible for you then life already is. Just face it. I bring you great joy.

I have to be honest, I bring lots of people great joy. They love having me around. I think I either make their life look better  by comparison. (Wow! That blonde lady is tall and gorgeous!) Anyway, keep it together lance. Back to what I was saying...this is what happens when I am free writing. I sometimes totally lose my focus and I just did. I might have crossed the threshold where coffee becomes not so much a stimulant as a handicap because my brain is firing away and the wires are all crossed up. I should stop. But I can't! I will not and you can't make me!! COFFEE IS KING!!

A Moment of Compassion

This was a rough weekend. There was entirely to much death and entirely too much politicizing of the gun control issue for my taste. What happened was a horrible thing and really extending your condolences to the families involved and expressing your shock and horror at what happened is all that needs to be said. The rest is just you climbing up on your soapbox be it pro or anti gun control and speaking to hear yourself heard. 

I do not need to hear it and I do not think others do either. I love Facebook because it allows me to keep in touch with so many people from all over the world and allows me the ability to dialogue with them on numerous issues. But it feels like increasingly it is becoming a tool for the loudest of us to angrily proclaim our position as a "right-thinking" person. I realize that I am as guilty of this as anyone and in some cases I am probably works then others in my actions. But this is something that I intend to work on. 

So, I plead with you. Can we just take a moment among the increasing volume of rhetoric that is being thrown about as we all try to recover from this horrible event. Can we just take a moment of silence and think about these families and how this holiday season is going to taste like horrible ash in their mouths. Can we take a moment and just try to understand how painful that must feel and also recognize that we hope it never happens to us or anyone that we know. Can we take a moment and realize that all of the yelling about the right to control or to bear arms does these families mourning their dead children and parents not a whit of good at all. Can we take a moment and be compassionate of others for a change. Because as one of my friends pointed out "those kindergardeners didn't die to make anyone's political point."