When I try and be compliant - do the right things to achieve a specific result and I check everything and then something - like my stupid new phone has other ideas - my world collapses. It’s like when it auto-corrects words and sentences into completely different meanings. I really don’t like this new world; it reduces the need for my brain. In 1983, on our way to orientation in Iowa City from Sioux City, a bunch of friends spent 5 hours trying to figure out what the name was of the wife on Green Acres (it's “Lisa” btw - played by Ava Gabor). It was great - we guessed and wondered aloud different names, now, we’d just Google. Society has stolen our “wonder”. No more. That part of our brain doesn’t need to exist anymore.
When pushed to think outside of the box, a lot of us search the web and instantly come up with a boxed answer. I now YouTube how to fix everything and because of this, if I was stranded somewhere without Wi-Fi, I’d most likely be dead in a matter of minutes**.
Do I become more paranoid and recheck everything more, or do I just throw caution to the wind and ask for forgiveness when betrayed by my phone (FYI, never my fault)? We need to find those areas in our lives where we choose to expend our energies and recheck our steps - and other times just float. Sometimes, the extra effort and wonder are worth it, sometimes not so much. The trick is knowing when.
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This year is leap year so February has 29 days*. I went to school with a guy named Fred who was born on leap day. I’m not sure if I’d like this (having a real birthday only once every four years) … but I think I would. Fred is a unique and interesting guy, probably because his birthday is February 29th.
*leap day: The odd leftover day stuck to the end of a dreadful little month thereby extending the hell that is known as February ... a barren bundle of 28 dark and cold days. Leap day is often celebrated with potlucks and birthday parties for the often unique employee who was fortunate enough to be born on this day. (Definition from Urban Dictionary written by me in 2012)
**(Scene: Western Iowa, no cell service. Steve gets a flat in his jeep and has no YouTube. Reality realized, Steve collapses … dead. End scene.)
