In no particular order, here are things I'm thankful for at this very moment:
1. My crock pot.
2. My snuggly cat, even when she wakes me up in the middle of the night.
3. The fact that my aunt and her family, who live in Misawa, Japan, were unharmed by Friday's earthquake and tsunami. That's not to say they weren't affected, but no one is missing or in the hospital. Hooray!
4. Neighbor Dave, who always clears snow from my driveway, yard, and sidewalk. He doesn't expect anything in return, but I buy him books as thank-yous. The guy thinks he's taking advantage of me.
5. Daylight savings time. Getting up an hour earlier takes some adjustment, but once I'm used to it, the spring and summer evenings in Minnesota are so very worth it. Plus, it's a sign of spring!
6. Starting over with someone I got off on the wrong foot with.
7. Surface friendships that go deeper than the surface over drinks.
8. Pandora for BlackBerry.
9. Watching a friend take steps to further their career, even though it means I don't see them every day any longer.
10. My cute little house and people who come visit me in it.
11. People who stand up and protest when they're being wronged.
12. Living in a country where people can stand up and protest when they're being wronged, and not have to worry about being shot or run over by a tank.
13. Job security.
14. Learning new skills.
15. Having enough, but still wanting to move forward and improve myself.
16. Facebook. I've had two reunions with people I with to grade school with - grade school in another state, mind you. I love reconnecting with old friends. You get the old friend - the person they were when you first knew them; and a new friend - the person they are now. It's even better when you discover that you still have things in common.
17. Forming a theater club with my co-workers, and experiencing the Twin Cities theater scene on a regular basis.
18. Microbrews.
19. Watching Dexter with a good friend and feeling totally refreshed by the time we were done. (Not sure what that says about me...)
20. Singing at the top of my lungs while I cook for the week (see Pandora and crock pot, above).
21. Knitting scarves.
22. Friends who successfully defend their dissertations; and other friends who are beginning to write theirs.
23. That so many people I know, myself included, are pretty well-educated.
24. That I live in a country where my friends, male and female, can become well-educated.'
25. Death Cab for Cutie, Metric, and Pete Yorn.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Things I wish I understood, part 2
My thoughts and prayers are with the the people of Japan. I'm very thankful that my aunt, Tracy Rowe, made it from Tokyo to her home in Misawa and is now safe with her husband and two daughters.
It's been interesting to watch the conversations on Facebook over the past few days. Many people have posted notes about their shock and sorrow, and others have made comments to the effect of "We couldn't have done anything about it, it was a natural disaster, and there's no sense in wasting energy or even much empathy on it." Call me stupid, a bleeding heart, or any number of other things, but I don't understand that at all. Anything I write about that is going to turn into a rant, particularly because someone in my family was directly affected, so I'll cut myself off. But really? No empathy at all? Come on!
On a lighter note, what is it with people and their GPS systems? Full disclosure: I'm blessed with a pretty decent sense of direction. Except for one memorable instance in southern Missouri and another couple in Eden Prairie (hate that city!) I can usually figure out where I'm going and how to get there from where I am. Call me lucky - whatever. I recently saw someone - someone who has a better sense of direction than mine - use a GPS to determine a route from another person's home to the nearest major airport. The person using the GPS had been going to the other person's home on a regular basis for over 25 years, and driving to or from the airport in question for almost as long. He's a really sharp guy, and I'm pretty sure he could have found his way to the airport with his eyes closed, even on the windy back roads. It made me giggle, and then it made me wonder: can't anyone read a map anymore? I guess it's different if you're in an unfamiliar city, but in general, really, is it necessary to turn on the GPS to go from home to the grocery store? I wish someone would explain it to me, because I don't understand the obsession.
Here's something else I don't get: the proliferation of vampires. I've had a part-time job at a bookstore for about 3 1/2 years. For the most part it's a pretty good gig. My schedule is set (one night a week), I work with some fantastic people, and I get a great discount on books. Our teen section has a fairly new addition called "Paranormal Romance." I don't understand why a) adding a vampire (or werewolf, zombie, alien, etc.) to a story seems to be a recipe for an instant bestseller; or b) why aren't authors content to write about real issues that teenagers face, like bad skin or bullying or sex? Maybe it's just me, but if some guy who I knew was dead started trying to love me up, I'd be freaked out, not turned on. Call me crazy. Or maybe I'm just old.
Speaking of old, the best way to make myself feel old is to look at a gossip magazine. More disclosure: I despise celebrity gossip. Whenever someone around me is watching reality TV I can feel the IQ points leaking out of my brain. Last week before I went to the gym I went to go buy a Rolling Stone. Normally, the stuff in that magazine can keep me occupied for a good two hours on the elliptical, and since I'm trying to spend more time exercising these days, it seemed like a good purchase. Then I saw that Snooki chick on the cover. Please explain this to me: What does she do, exactly, that merits a cover shot on what's normally a fantastically well-written and insightful magazine? Why is she so famous? What does she contribute to society? Maybe I should have bought the damn issue to find out, but I just couldn't stomach the idea.
One last thing I don't get: why are there tip jars everywhere now? I worked at a fast food restaurant in high school, and there were never tip jars at the register. If someone had tried to tip me I doubt I'd have known what to do. I was in and out of a fast food restaurant with some friends a few weeks ago, and all four of the registers had tip jars. The person at the register is not making me a fancy coffee, they're not delivering food to my table, they're ringing up stuff at a cash register and putting said stuff on a tray. Servers are different - I'm generally a good tipper at a sit-down restaurant - and I can pretty easily justify tipping when I go to Caribou (which is not to say I always do tip, but it seems to make at least a little bit of sense). Since I did the fast-food thing (and since I've had a part-time retail job for most of my adult life), I get that dealing with people is difficult, and you don't make a lot of money in that kind of a position. It strikes me that the people who should be tipping people at registers (and anywhere else) are the ones who won't tip - or who will tip very little. But where does it end? When I buy my 20-oz soda at the convenience store, should I tip the guy who rings me up? Do I toss an extra couple of bucks at the postal clerk when I'm mailing a package? Will I eventually be expected to tip when I go through the check out like at Super Target?
The world is such a confusing place.
It's been interesting to watch the conversations on Facebook over the past few days. Many people have posted notes about their shock and sorrow, and others have made comments to the effect of "We couldn't have done anything about it, it was a natural disaster, and there's no sense in wasting energy or even much empathy on it." Call me stupid, a bleeding heart, or any number of other things, but I don't understand that at all. Anything I write about that is going to turn into a rant, particularly because someone in my family was directly affected, so I'll cut myself off. But really? No empathy at all? Come on!
On a lighter note, what is it with people and their GPS systems? Full disclosure: I'm blessed with a pretty decent sense of direction. Except for one memorable instance in southern Missouri and another couple in Eden Prairie (hate that city!) I can usually figure out where I'm going and how to get there from where I am. Call me lucky - whatever. I recently saw someone - someone who has a better sense of direction than mine - use a GPS to determine a route from another person's home to the nearest major airport. The person using the GPS had been going to the other person's home on a regular basis for over 25 years, and driving to or from the airport in question for almost as long. He's a really sharp guy, and I'm pretty sure he could have found his way to the airport with his eyes closed, even on the windy back roads. It made me giggle, and then it made me wonder: can't anyone read a map anymore? I guess it's different if you're in an unfamiliar city, but in general, really, is it necessary to turn on the GPS to go from home to the grocery store? I wish someone would explain it to me, because I don't understand the obsession.
Here's something else I don't get: the proliferation of vampires. I've had a part-time job at a bookstore for about 3 1/2 years. For the most part it's a pretty good gig. My schedule is set (one night a week), I work with some fantastic people, and I get a great discount on books. Our teen section has a fairly new addition called "Paranormal Romance." I don't understand why a) adding a vampire (or werewolf, zombie, alien, etc.) to a story seems to be a recipe for an instant bestseller; or b) why aren't authors content to write about real issues that teenagers face, like bad skin or bullying or sex? Maybe it's just me, but if some guy who I knew was dead started trying to love me up, I'd be freaked out, not turned on. Call me crazy. Or maybe I'm just old.
Speaking of old, the best way to make myself feel old is to look at a gossip magazine. More disclosure: I despise celebrity gossip. Whenever someone around me is watching reality TV I can feel the IQ points leaking out of my brain. Last week before I went to the gym I went to go buy a Rolling Stone. Normally, the stuff in that magazine can keep me occupied for a good two hours on the elliptical, and since I'm trying to spend more time exercising these days, it seemed like a good purchase. Then I saw that Snooki chick on the cover. Please explain this to me: What does she do, exactly, that merits a cover shot on what's normally a fantastically well-written and insightful magazine? Why is she so famous? What does she contribute to society? Maybe I should have bought the damn issue to find out, but I just couldn't stomach the idea.
One last thing I don't get: why are there tip jars everywhere now? I worked at a fast food restaurant in high school, and there were never tip jars at the register. If someone had tried to tip me I doubt I'd have known what to do. I was in and out of a fast food restaurant with some friends a few weeks ago, and all four of the registers had tip jars. The person at the register is not making me a fancy coffee, they're not delivering food to my table, they're ringing up stuff at a cash register and putting said stuff on a tray. Servers are different - I'm generally a good tipper at a sit-down restaurant - and I can pretty easily justify tipping when I go to Caribou (which is not to say I always do tip, but it seems to make at least a little bit of sense). Since I did the fast-food thing (and since I've had a part-time retail job for most of my adult life), I get that dealing with people is difficult, and you don't make a lot of money in that kind of a position. It strikes me that the people who should be tipping people at registers (and anywhere else) are the ones who won't tip - or who will tip very little. But where does it end? When I buy my 20-oz soda at the convenience store, should I tip the guy who rings me up? Do I toss an extra couple of bucks at the postal clerk when I'm mailing a package? Will I eventually be expected to tip when I go through the check out like at Super Target?
The world is such a confusing place.
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