There is another of the “tell us stuff we don’t know” blog chains going around. I don’t know who the idiot is who started this one but I thought the first one (”5 things”) was good enough. Still, these “things” have a life of their own and the odds were good - sooner or later - I’d get tagged.

Let me start with the fact that my “5 things” represents a pretty good start so I will cheat a bit and reuse those.

1 thru 5. - repeats

6. I prefer GSM phones.

It has very little to do with GSM. As a matter of fact, if you look at GSM in the United States from a geography perspective, it is poor at best for the majority of the country. Of course statistics are funny things. If you look at it from the perspective of population distribution, GSM has pretty good coverage.

No, I prefer GSM because I HATE feeling trapped. I’m not even talking about actually being trapped or locked in or pigeon holed, but just the concept of being told which phone I will use with my cell service totally irks me. With GSM, I can decide to go out and buy a new phone and I don’t have to tell my service provider. I can use a sleek RAZR when I’m out on a date and I can have a personalized Windows Mobile smart phone when I am on road trips and I can grab a diminutive keyboard phone when I know I’ll be text messaging on a pub crawl. The whole “trapped” phobia trickles through the rest of my life as well. I’m a bit like Marty McFly when he gets call “chicken”. His first reaction is to go right out and take the challenge - even when he knows it is totally wrong, stupid, ill advised. Fortunately, I’ve got a better “analysis engine” than Marty. These days I contemplate the likely bad outcomes. I also check the old “anxiety meter”. If I don’t find negative side effects, then I tend to take on the challenge even (or especially) when the “anxiety meter” is registering danger danger danger. (My philosophy is “if it scares you, it’s probably the right thing to do.”) “Options” are good. We all need options. The trick - there is always a trick - is “choosing” wisely.

7. I don’t believe in “soul mates”.

Before anyone goes ballistic, let me ask two questions. If you answer “yes” to both, then go on and read the rest of my explanation. Otherwise, just skip this point. Here are the two questions:

1. Do you believe, in the billions of stars out there, representing possibly billions of solar systems and thus billions of planets, and an inhabitable planet has millions of species, that there is intelligent life in the universe ?
2. Do you believe there is one person on this earth you are meant to be with - aka a soul mate ?

If you answer “yes” to both of these then consider for a moment that this is a number game and the odds are not stacked in your favor. The earth today has an estimated 6,601,389,903 people. If you have a soul mate, then that leave 6,601,389,901 people who are not you or your soul mate. If you only speak English it will be difficult to interact with people who do not speak English. There are less than 600,000,000 English speaking people in the world - even when you take into account English as a first, second, third, etc. language. So there is a 1000:1 chance our soul mate does not speak your language. Next consider geography, If you live and travel a lot, you might be lucky to visit 1000 places in your lifetime. If you met 10,000 people in every city you would only have met 10,000,000 people in your lifetime. That gives you less than a 1/100th of a percent chance of meeting your soul mate. I could go on, but you get the picture. It’s a “mathematics” problem.

Having said all of that, I am not implying everyone is doomed to a life alone or marrying the wrong person. I know many very happy couples who have been together for decades. I am only suggesting the “one-to-one” premise of believing in soul mates leaves a lot of rocks unturned.

8. When asked if I am a “cat person” or a “dog person” I have been known to reply, “some might say, when prepared correctly, they both taste good”.

This too will touch off many if not most readers. I say it partly to stir conversation but also to make a point - “you can not project your views onto others”. For me personally, I am not planning to go out and dine on cat or dog. I have a very loving canine companion and have encountered many more. The thought of eating one would bring up lots of disturbing images and would likely lead to a lifetime of therapy. With that said, I must temper my view a bit. I traveled a while in Asia and, while I can not be 100% positive, I suspect I encountered at least one meal where I did not know exactly what was on the plate and I could presume to having eating “like the locals”.

Different parts of the world see animals differently. Some people consider Kangaroos as beautiful creatures while others see them destroying crops and farm infrastructure. The cow is holly in parts of the world and fast food in others. Snakes, dogs, cats, rats, whales, buffalo, deer, crocodiles … the list goes on. Add to this the observance that eating any flesh is wrong and you can imagine what a vegan things of the rest of us.

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I thought a while on whom I would list as the victims of this latest blog chain. Two people came to mind. First, I tag Libby and second I tag Douglas.

I don’t really expect either to pick up on being tagged. Libby has a lot of projects on her plate and I would guess being tagged is not high on her “to-do” list. As for Douglas, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even read this blog. That’s OK. If you look at the “8 things” chain from a reader’s point of view rather than an assignment for the writer, you can still learn 8 things. Go read “The Other End of Sunset“. You will learn a lot more than 8 things. Better still, you will discover it’s a really good read. At times it seems he is channeling Jack Kerouac while at other times you think you’ve sat down at an outdoor cafe on a Tuesday afternoon - when the weather is warm enough that you don’t need a jacket and dry enough you don’t stick to the chair - and you are hearing about a cool bunch of characters who have seemingly escaped the negative trappings of this “American way of life.”

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Posted in Coffee, Dogs, GSM, Intelligent Life, Jack Kerouac |

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