by Richard Timothy | Aug 30, 2010 | My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, When I Was a Kid
Work is, well, it can mean a lot of things really. It can mean employment, or house work, or labor, or manual labor, or wage labor. Some would say work is the amount of energy transferred by a force. In thermodynamics I believe they define it as the quantity of energy transferred from one system to another. In a religious perspective Christians refer to work as acts of charity. Regardless of what avenue you play on, a fairly safe generalization is that work is the process of doing something.
Now I have done a lot of something’s in my time, so in an attempt to create a bit more of a finite perspective on this topic, I’m going to be using the word work in the context of performing a function for a person/company in which they exchange the time I spend working for them for green paper, which are commonly referred to as dollars, bucks, cash, mula, dough, bread… well you get the picture. The common everyday word for this exchange is called a job.
Over the years, let’s just say I’ve had my share of jobs. Sometimes even two or three at a time, sometimes four or five different ones in a year. Not because I was a bad employee, but because I was in a perpetual state of change. A change which meant I would be moving in just a short amount of time. I always find it mildly entertaining to look back at all the jobs I’ve had in the past and to see what I’ve learned from them. I believe this will be in mostly chronological order… mostly being the key word there:
Worm Picker
I learned that pouring garbage can after garbage can filled water and a chemical that makes worms freak out and race to the surface is a creepy and disturbing way to make $5/pound for worms. I also learned that I really don’t like holding worms, they are kind of gross. Recommendation: Skip it, unless you enjoy pulling slimy, wiggling worms out of the ground with your bare hands.
DJ for School Dances
I learned it’s really easy to become a DJ at 13 if your dad has a side business where he owns a mobile light show and sound system for putting on school dances. I also learned that you will never be able to make everyone happy, and if ever stuck on what song you should play next, go with the song that makes the person you have a crush on smile. It won’t do any good in helping you score a kiss, or even getting them to agree to slow dance with your, but at least you’ll get them smiling because of something you did. Recommendation: Worth the experience, but stay away from radio. Besides, it is fun for a while.
Fast Food Peon
I learned that flipping burgers at a fast food place is just was horrible as selling worms to fishing shops. I also learned that at 15 I was willing to do a 3 hour commute every day for the summer just to make $4/hour so I could buy my own school clothes. Recommendation: Skip it, unless you are required to do 100 hours of community service and serving burgers is one of your options; or unless you are 15 and it’s the only place hiring.
Grocery Bagger
I learned I hate asking, “paper or plastic?” Likewise, waking up at 5am to unload groceries from the back of a semi and stocking the shelves as fast as possible before leaving at 8am to get to school is one of the closest things to hell on Earth I can imagine… or could imagine while I was in high school. Recommendation: If you do mornings well, go for it.
Ice Cream Scooper
I don’t mean I was an actually ice cream scooper used to scoop ice cream, but the scooper that scooped ice cream using an ice cream scoop for people who wanted to buy it. I learned that I really don’t like ice cream that much. I also learned that when your co-worker is the 15 year old grandson of the owners, you should never comment that the grandson just clocks in and leaves work for the day, getting paid to do nothing. Because at that point you are the one that gets yelled at by the owners for being a bad employee. Recommendation: Buy some Ben & Jerry’s and skip the job interview.
Resort Jack of all Trades
I worked at a small resort where I cleaned room, mowed the lawns, tended the gift shop, took dinner and room reservations, waited tables, was a prep cook, was the breakfast and lunch cook, did construction… and served the occasional drink. I learned that if you have no friends in the area to distract you and have a boss that does not believe in overtime, but will let you work as much as you want so he doesn’t have to hire more people. It is possible to work close to 80 in one week. Recommendation: If they are good people and have an endless supply of stories and treat you well, it’s really not a bad way to spend the summer when you’re 18. Plus because you are working so much you end up saving most of your money instead of spending it during your free time… mainly because you don’t have any free time.
Day Care Worker/White Power Ranger
I learned that when you are working with a bunch of three to five year olds and you have long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and it’s the mid 90’s, you are going to play Power Rangers every single day at work and you are always going to be Tommy, the White Ranger. I also learned more about the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers than I ever thought was acceptable for an adult to learn… I even found myself watching some of the episodes for “homework” purposes. Recommendation: For a semester, definitely… little people are always a good resource for making you laugh, especially when they don’t mean to.
College Dorm Room RA
I learned that working at a college day care was much more worthwhile than being in charge of babysitting a floor of college students that were only a year or two younger than me. The kids were much easier to deal with… plus they never arrived at the day care drunk. Unlike almost everyone on my dorm floor. Recommendation: It was a lot more work than I expected, but it wasn’t that bad. Besides, being an RA meant that I did have my own room, so in that regard I’d say yeah, it was worth it.
Assistant Pastry Chef
I learned that in resort cities you don’t need any experience to become an assistant pastry chef; you just need to be willing to wake up at 4am each morning to get to work by 5. If you were reliable enough to do that, you were reliable enough to be trusted with baking things in the ovens. Recommendation: Definitely a fun summer job. You meet an endless supply of crazy people, most of which think you are more nuts than they are because you work as a baker. Also, if you’re lucky, you have a job waiting for you when you go home for the Winter break before the new semester starts again.
Clothes Seller and Human Eye Measure-er for the GAP
I learned that the prospect of meeting cute girls diminishes quickly when they demand they are a size 4 and you know that they are a size 6… or 8. Recommendation: As a second job for the summer months between college semesters, yeah it’s really not that difficult. Plus you get a great discount on school clothes. Also, if you become friends with the window decorator, you can actually help create a Smirkable window display every now and again. My favorite was when the mannequins had a snowball fight using rolled up boxer shorts.
Video Rental Store Clerk
I learned that when one of your coworkers is dating your sister, he really doesn’t care much when you meet his aunt at a bar and take her out a few times. I also learned that it’s helpful to have a co-worker related to the bar maid you’ve just taken a fancy to, to learn that she’s still married, but separated. (Yeah, I stopped asking her our when I learned that little nugget.) Recommendation: Yes, when you are going to school, having an endless supply of free movie rentals does come in rather handy.
Subway Sandwich Artist
I learned that when you work with a kid who smokes pot in the back cooler, he has a tendency to eat a lot of the food when things are not busy. You do spend a lot of time up front keeping an eye on things though, because of all his trips to the back cooler. I also learned that just because you wear a button that says Sandwich Artist, you’re really just some guy that makes incredibly mediocre sandwiches. Recommendation: If it allows you to keep out of the volatile living situation for eight or so hours a day, yeah it might be worth it. Otherwise, find a local sandwich instead.
Precook at a Steak House
I learned that working with your dad in a kitchen can be a lot of fun. But if you boss (which is not your father) is an unrelenting drunk that keeps disrupting your work and then yells at you for not working, it’s a job that you don’t need. Recommendation: I might be ok to learn a few things about working in a kitchen, but don’t be afraid to walk out on the drunk.
Door to Door Sales Man
I learned that people don’t like to be interrupted at their homes by strangers trying to peddle them something they really don’t need. I also learned that the truly crazy ones are the one that will actually invite you in. Recommendation: For the sake of having a lifetime of stories about really obscure people and situations, by all means yes, just don’t make it a life time vocational choice. The experience is worth it as long as it ends.
Coffee Shop Deli Boy
I learned a lot about a product that I hate… coffee. I also learned that I really only like customer service when I can make food for people I like instead of everyone who comes in asking to be fed. I learned that working with your best friend can be a lot of fun, but also make you want to put their head in a Panini grill every once in a while. I also learned that you can barter meals for a bmx bike or even hypnotherapy sessions. Recommendation: Yes, you meet a lot of great people, who, when they remember to tip, are downright sweethearts, also if you have a thing from baristas, you stick with the job long after you should have moved on to bigger and better things.
Banana Republic Stock-Boy
I learned that hanging out in a cool basement running closes up to the main floor for customers that you would not be helping in any way is a nice customer service job that keeps you away from the customers. I learned when it comes to spending the summer in San Francisco; there are worse places to be than at work in a clothing store. I also learned that San Francisco is the town of a thousand smells, and it’s a nice place see, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Recommendation: It’s an ok distraction and gives you some cash to buy sandwiches while you are spending the summer in San Francisco to write.
Newspaper Opinion Columnist
I learned that writing a liberal opinion column for a mostly conservative campus paper is a good way to get voted as the most hated person on campus. I learned that editors are very useful things to have access too. I also learned that some people do not handle negative criticism about their negative criticism well. For the record I only had to call the cops once due to threats. Recommendation: Definitely, getting paid to share your opinion is one of the sweetest gigs I think I’ve ever had.
Writer of Technical Documents
I learned that I can get a job with an English degree that doesn’t require me to teach a class. I also learned that when you tell someone that you are a technical writer, about 98% of the time they will ask you, “What’s that?” Recommendation: It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you can do it and after 8 years you feel fine towards it… I figure that’s a good thing… well, it’s not bad anyway. Also, if you’re lucky you just might meet that special someone that asks you to marry them.
Blogger
I’ve learned that for me creative and satirical writing is the cat’s meow, the marshmallow in my rice crispy treat, the Sangiovese grape that makes my favorite wines my favorite wines, the K in MST3K, the little crack you feel when stretching your back that makes everything feel better… I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Recommendation: Absolutely. If you enjoy writing, then write. I love it. Also, when others tell you that they love it as well, well then that’s a whole new sentence of obscure analogies which ultimately mean, “it’s pretty damn cool.”
And there you have it, my job list. I think that’s all of it. Nineteen jobs in 36 years… I’m not sure if that is excessive or pretty standard. Still, it has been a collection of life experiences… and well worth it.
What were some of your more outlandish jobs?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: work, high school dance, bagging groceries, day care, SNL GAP, sandwich artist, working at coffee shop deli, newspaper columnist, and blogging.
by Richard Timothy | Aug 26, 2010 | I Think There's a Point, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, Visual Smirk
Because family has arrived in town and my current Smirk is taking much longer than I expected, here’s another installment of “A Brief Moment in Human Ingenuity”. I hope you enjoy…
Lessons 16 – 20.
A brief moment in human ingenuity… Lesson 16: How new Apple toys can breed really bad fashion designs.
A brief moment in human ingenuity… Lesson 17: How to surf the web and drive… ask a plumber with a degree in mechanical engineering.
A brief moment in human ingenuity… Lesson 18: How to use your new keyboard (or mouse) with your old PC.
A brief moment in human ingenuity… Lesson 19: A ripe fix to a rotten situation.
A brief moment in human ingenuity… Lesson 20: How to build your own GPS mount in any car… works great as long as you don’t need to perform any u-turns.
Image Sources:
An e-mail from a friend.
by Richard Timothy | Aug 23, 2010 | I Do Suggest, I Think There's a Point, MST3K, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, Reviewed and Recommended
So last Thursday, the 19th, I and a few of friends, made it to the RiffTrax Live! performance at one of the local theaters. Now usually when I mention RiffTrax I have to give a brief history about what RiffTrax is. If you already know, feel free to skip the next paragraph. If you don’t, a little history never hurt anyone… except all the people that were harmed in the making of the history involved… right! So about the history of RiffTrax, in order for me to do that I need to first tell you a little about their origins.
RiffTrax is essentially the love child of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and short lived Film Crew. MST3K made a cult name for itself doing the very thing that we all do when watching something “sort of” to “epically” lame on the television, which is… making fun of it with your own open commentary. MST was a show about watching people watching bad movies while making fun of it. After the show ended, the three guys that finished the series started a new venture called the Film Crew. After a few hang-ups there, namely MST owner Jim Mallon (who, in my opinion, is kind of a douche bag) told the distributor of the DVDs that he would pull all future MST title distribution unless they passed on the Film Crew series, the Film Crew ended and RiffTrax began.
I know, it’s a lot of exposition just to get to the point, but I think it helps those who have no idea what RiffTrax is. A RiffTrax Live! event is where the RiffTrax crew do a live performance in a theater where you get to watch them on stage making fun of a movie. In some cases they broadcast this live event to a bunch of other theaters across the country. This is what I went to and enjoyed last Thursday.
Having been to a few of these broadcast events now, and being an MST3K fan that treads somewhere around of the edge of the “devoted” to “ludicrous” waters, I always know I’m in for a good time. One of the best things about these events is that you are surrounded by like-minded and like-humored people, people who are there because they too love MST. The audience is full of that ready to laugh energy. It’s infectious and it makes the whole event that much more entertaining. The experience did offer two new additions that I had not experienced before, namely Frank and Dwight… two of the friends that join me for the show were pretty much MST virgins.
Ok, so maybe Dwight had gotten to second base with an MST episode or two before, but that’s about it. Frank had heard about it, but I don’t think he’d ever had a full and true MST experience… which, technically, he still hasn’t, but he will. I can say that neither are RiffTrax virgins anymore. Not that it was ever on their “bucket list”, but at least now they can now put it on the list and cross it off at the same time. Also, both are newly devoted fans to the riffing on movies experience. I must say, there is something incredibly satisfying about introducing friends to one of your favorite things in the world and having them become fans of the art that is MST.
It felt a little like saving the Oompa-Loompas’ from total destruction and introducing them to a new life filled with songs and candy… and what really kind of comes across as slavery… hmmm, ok bad example. I guess you could say it’s more like smoking… minus the disgusting, smelly, smoky, cancer causing affects. What I mean is when a smoker meets someone who is also a smoker there is a sort of bond, an unspoken connection to that other person, I guess the same could be said for scrap booking… and I know I feel the same way when I learn that someone loves MST3K.
So what did we watch? Reefer Madness… in color no less. If there is one thing this 1930’s propaganda film can teach you about pot, it’s how to laugh at people who smoke too much of it. It really was a grand time, accompanied by a few really crappy special effects and some “crazy eyes” camera angles that will keep you giggling for a good two or three days after. Frank and Dwight loved it, which I loved because, guess what that means? Yep, I’ve got some MST/RiffTrax/Cinematic Titanic parties to plan. One universal truth about MST is that, even if they are fun to watch, they are so much better when you are watching them with friends that are enjoying them as well.
The point I wanted to make with all this is this… tomorrow, August 24th they are doing an Encore performance of the Reefer Madness RiffTrax Live! event. If you are a fan, but missed it, or didn’t even know about it, tomorrow is your chance to check it out. If you enjoy MST3K at all it’s well worth the price of the ticket. I just hope you live in a town that will be showing the Encore performance. Hope you can make it.
Click here to check and see if it’s playing in a theater somewhere close to you.
If you did happen to make it to the show, what did you think?
Google Images, key words: RiffTrax Live, second base, and Reefer Madness.
by Richard Timothy | Aug 20, 2010 | I Think There's a Point, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking
I think the suggestion behind this Smirk originated from the up can coming Eat, Pray, Love film starring Lyle Lovett’s ex-wife, which is a bestselling novel of the same title that does not star Julia… which I never did read. So the suggestion was to take a look at a few of those everyday things that most of us do every day. The idea was to take a look at things that all of us experience on a regular basis, and since the Pray and Love concepts are no concepts that everyone seems to adhere to, the alteration of them to Work and Sleep seemed a logical fit. It’s clear that this topic is a touch to vase to make into just one Smirk, so let’s take a look at each one of these topics, one at a time.
There is always going to be occasional breaker of these every day functions and since today is about the eating aspect of our day, let’s begin with a few breakers of this functionality. This list includes but is not limited to:
- Kids on the wrestling team try to make weight
- Supermodels
- Jockeys
- Cheerleaders
- Actors trying to downsize for a role
- People trying to fit into their wedding dress for the big day
- Or those people in South Korea who died playing Starcraft because they were and forgot to eat for a few days
And the list goes on… well it would if I would to continue to keep writing them (feel free to add to this list in the comments)
I do concede that there are some situations, such as authentic homeless people or people starving in Third World countries that could go on the list, but I feel this is a different classification. These are people who want to eat, but have no food, where as the other is people have food, but choose not to eat it.
Traditionally eating is something that people schedule time from three times a day… unless you are a Hobbit (in which case we get that you eat a lot, so please shut the hell up about for the next three hours). Each meal time has its own name as well. First is breakfast… our egg, bacon, and pancake themed meal of the day. Then there is lunch, which for most of us is our get-up-and-out-of-the-office meal or, for management types is the meal-to-skip-so-we-can-go-home-early meal. Finally we have dinner/supper, which is our end of day reflection meal… or the drive-thru sack filled with food-like substances that claim is happy, but in the end is only going to make you sad. Not to mention is a fuel source for assisting people in becoming factories of hideously repugnant odor production. Still, dinner seems to be the one meal of the day that has a bit more of a togetherness feel around to it.
I always smile when I hear people say they are having breakfast for dinner. Oddly though, breakfast is not just a meal time, it also constitutes a very specific collection of food. It seems to be the only one too. You never hear people say, “Let’s have dinner for breakfast,” or “Let’s have lunch for dinner.” Or some other variation, but breakfast is a meal that has the label “breakfast” associated to the food as well, no matter when you eat it.
This does make me wonder about people with different sleep schedules. Let’s say you work the graveyard shift. You get up around 6 PM to have dinner with the family and get ready for work. Now, since that dinner with the family is technically your breakfast, does it become breakfast or is it still your dinner? Which means lunch in your breakfast, and breakfast is your dinner. Do these names change because the meals and meal times change, or do you keep the meal time associated to the traditional time frame they are for? (If you have an answer, please feel free to share it.)
I will state that for the record, I am a big fan of eating… it’s one of those things I enjoy a lot, and as a plus it’s one of those things a do a regular basis that helps keep me alive. Likewise, I accept that if I ever decide to quit eating, then my life expectancy will decrease dramatically. Funny thing about eating, it can also be one of those things that can kill you as well… for example, peanuts are not everyone’s friend.
The thing I am discovering while writing this is that this is a topic that will continue to give me something to Smirk about. Just today I had a potluck at work… and believe me, there is a Smirk already forming in my head about that one.
Eating, we all do it. It’s one of those things that make us all the same… and all different, depending on what it is you eat. As Wikipedia says about the topic, “Eating is the ingestion of food to provide for all humans and animals nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth.” It not so much funny as it is true, but what makes it funny is our interaction with it. Things like pie eating contests, without the use of your hands. That one always strikes me disturbingly amusing to watch. There is the never ending fascination that Americans have with trying to deep-fry everything… and I mean EVERYTHING. There is also the practice of feeding babies new flavors just so you can laugh at their facial reactions.
So here’s to eating, for making us happy when it tastes sooo good. For making us sad, when we eat something that our body did not appreciate. For bringing people together and constantly allowing us to evolve out senses as we explore with trying new things to eat. And finally, for enabling us to make those uncontrollable “Mmmmmm” sounds that expel from our mouths when we taste something so good that only that sound, followed by our eyes rolling into the back of our head can truly convey its grandeur. It is the goal of every great chef to be able to create a dish and demands that reaction from the eater. And when it happens, it is always worth it.
So, what are some of your feeling about this whole eating habit?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: eating, breakfast, may contain nuts, deep fried pickle, and savoring food.
![Doppelgangers and Smirky Suggestions]()
by Richard Timothy | Aug 17, 2010 | Any Suggestions, I Think There's a Point, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking
If there is one thing about the world wide series of tubes that we call the web, it’s that it makes it much easier to find your doppelganger. In my case, he was the one to invite me to be his friend on Facebook. Well, maybe he’s not exactly a doppelganger, but when I first saw his name on my invite list, I did have to wonder. His name is Timothy Richard, and… well, I think that’s about all the doppelness involved. I mean we look nothing alike and since he’s really a nice guy, and not evil in any way, it pretty much blows the whole evil twin element out of the doppelganger connection.
In fact, he doesn’t even have a goatee. I mean come on, if there is only one universal truth that we should all have learned from the Mirror, Mirror episode of the original Star Trek series it’s that your evil twin has a goatee. And, since I’m the one with the facial hair I know that this Timothy chap is in no way a doppelganger… ahhh, damn it! I guess based on Star Trekian logic that makes me the evil one.
I suppose that’s the problem with facial hair. You’ll always be mistaken as the evil twin… if you happen to have a twin. Although I’m not sure how that works with the opposite sex. I don’t remember any evil goatee toting female twins on that episode. Maybe their hair is the exact opposite color instead?
So this Timothy guy (with the doppelgangish name) sent me a message the other day. No, he has no intentions on taking over the world… but, since he’s the good one I guess it would be more accurate to say he has no plans on establishing world peace and blaming it all on me. Does the evil twin thing work like that? In the whole cross dimensional playground of life, does your evil twin, if you are the evil one, do acts of kindness in your name? Thus doing things you would never have done and blaming you for them?
Makes you wonder… I mean in a cross dimension realm of evil twins is there a vegetarian Jeffrey Dahmer who has opened a soup kitchen to feed the homeless? Or a Saddam Hussein who has been received the Humanitarian or the Year award. Or how about an Ingrid Newkirk (PETA Founder) that owns a chain of Steakhouses. Oh, or a Stephenie Meyers that no one has ever heard of, but writes really good novels.
The point is (I knew we’d get there eventually) Timothy’s message. It was a Smirk request, which I liked on two accounts. I like that idea and I like that he asked me to Smirk about it. I would have started on today if it had not been for that whole doppelganger tangent. Thanks for making the request Timothy. I’ll get Smirking on the suggestion soon.
Timothy’s suggestion did get me thinking. I’ve had people in the past send me a news article, or comment on something, or ask me to tell the story about a random reference I made to them at some point, and a number of these have turned into their very own Smirk. I don’t recall anyone actually making the request to make it one though. I think the request to write a Smirk about a specified topic is a little different experience for me, but I appreciate the interaction involved with sending me the suggestion.
So, I want to open it up and invite any of you motivated to do so to send me a Smirk request, suggestion, idea, tangent, etc. E-mail it to me at: [email protected] or send a message to me via Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing what happens as a result.
Image Sources:
Google Image, key words: doppelganger, evil twin, and suggestion box.
by Richard Timothy | Aug 12, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, I Do Suggest, I Think There's a Point, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking
So I recently accessed the hard drive of my old computer that died about 9 months ago. There were two brilliant things that happened as a result of this. First, I was able to retrieve about 30GB of music that I had ripped to MP3s and then sold the CDs to a used CD shop. The second thing I found was a download of a commercial that I absolutely love.
My brother found it years ago and sent me a copy because he too thought it was well worth the viewing. I remember I use to watch the thing about once a week. As time passed, and eventually when the computer died, this commercial got stored into the spring loaded closet in my mind. This is a closet that we all store memories in, memories that are only lightly or barely forgotten. When something finally triggers one of these memories it is not a subtle “Oh yeah, I think I remember that” experience, but instead it is a sudden jolt or remembrance, which shoots the memory with such an intense remember fondness that you are surprised you had ever forgotten it in the first place.
It’s a foreign commercial, so I have no idea what is being said, but it is made well enough that you will definitely get the message. Enjoy (click here if video does not play).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzmzL0hALQs]
It’s subtle and absolutely brilliant, and it makes me want to be better and help others. I remember when I first saw this, years ago, I tried to find out what the site was, but all my Internet searches kept coming up as ‘not found.’ Today however… let’s just say it’s amazing what five plus years of internet evolution can do for situations like this. This time, with Google as my search buddy, I discovered a link to the company Friends. They even have a section in English explaining what it is they do.
Turns out Friends is a ‘stop bullying in schools’ organization that was founded in Sweden in 1997. It was set up to help schools create a system for addressing the issue of bullying. To sum them up, I’m just going to give you the following excerpt from their site, “We work with helping pupils to speak up against meanness and injustice, to make them believe in themselves and to respect and care for each other.”
I remember my own being bullied experiences, granted, usually it they were from my older brothers. Winter time was always the worst because I always found myself being attacked by a barrage of snow balls by my oldest brother and his ruffian friends. All of which were at least five years older than I was. Sure I always lost, but every once in a while I hit one of them in the head with a tightly packed ball of snow, which always made for a sweet defeat. There were a few instances though that I remember from grade school that terrified me for a few weeks until the bully found some new victim that couldn’t run as fast as I could.
I have to admit though, that having found out what the organization does helps me enjoy the commercial that much more. I think I appreciate it so much because it’s the subtle, simple acts of kindness that can transform a situation from horrible to passable, dreadful to encouraging, or simply bad to good, or even good to the best day ever. Random acts of kindness, they make the world a better place. Making friends instead of controlling minions seems to be a growing part of our evolutionary approach to others; at least I hope it is. Maybe there will always be bullies, but helping the next generations create a dialogue and experience that reduces that number every year, that’s just pretty damn cool.
So, what did you think of the commercial?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: commercial, anti-bullying, and free hugs.
Work is, well, it can mean a lot of things really. It can mean employment, or house work, or labor, or manual labor, or wage labor. Some would say work is the amount of energy transferred by a force. In thermodynamics I believe they define it as the quantity of energy transferred from one system to another. In a religious perspective Christians refer to work as acts of charity. Regardless of what avenue you play on, a fairly safe generalization is that work is the process of doing something. 
I learned it’s really easy to become a DJ at 13 if your dad has a side business where he owns a mobile light show and sound system for putting on school dances. I also learned that you will never be able to make everyone happy, and if ever stuck on what song you should play next, go with the song that makes the person you have a crush on smile. It won’t do any good in helping you score a kiss, or even getting them to agree to slow dance with your, but at least you’ll get them smiling because of something you did. Recommendation: Worth the experience, but stay away from radio. Besides, it is fun for a while.
I learned a lot about a product that I hate… coffee. I also learned that I really only like customer service when I can make food for people I like instead of everyone who comes in asking to be fed. I learned that working with your best friend can be a lot of fun, but also make you want to put their head in a Panini grill every once in a while. I also learned that you can barter meals for a bmx bike or even hypnotherapy sessions. Recommendation: Yes, you meet a lot of great people, who, when they remember to tip, are downright sweethearts, also if you have a thing from baristas, you stick with the job long after you should have moved on to bigger and better things.
I’ve learned that for me creative and satirical writing is the cat’s meow, the marshmallow in my rice crispy treat, the Sangiovese grape that makes my favorite wines my favorite wines, the K in MST3K, the little crack you feel when stretching your back that makes everything feel better… I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Recommendation: Absolutely. If you enjoy writing, then write. I love it. Also, when others tell you that they love it as well, well then that’s a whole new sentence of obscure analogies which ultimately mean, “it’s pretty damn cool.”
