What I did This Week

So, I had the flu. At least, I think it was the flu. You know, achey, stuffy, generally cruddy feeling,.... I wanted to go dancing. For those of you who know me, I know this is really odd, but I'm taking square dancing. You should try it, and I won't defend myself further.

Anyway, it was Monday night, and I went to the hall where lessons are given, but I relly didn't feel up to dancing. Besides, there are elderly folks involved, and I didn't want to play "Typhoid Mary." So, I didn't dance. I tried to go home.

I got about halfway there, and pulled into a left turn lane behind a silver SUV. The SUV was continuing into the intersection, so I checked the lights and found that all three lights, both through traffic lanes, and the left turn signal, were green. So, I continued into the intersection behind the SUV.

I noticed a car stopped at the intersection in the turn lane to get onto the street the SUV and I were turning from, and the SUV came to a complete stop in the intersection. I thought the car might be blocking the lane.

I heard a horn blow, and the SUV was hit in the front by a black sports car, hard enough to turn the SUV about one hundred fifty or so degrees. I pulled around the SUV and off the road to see if I could offer some assistance.

Thankfully, there were no injuries. The story gets pretty strange, though. The driver of the SUV was a young man in his late teens. The other driver was older, maybe in his late twenties, but certainly not as old as me.

I approached the driver of the sports car first, as he was closest, and asked if there was anyone injured in the car. Then this guy throws a temper tantrum, right there on the side of the highway, complete with pounding on the telephone switch boxes. I went to find out if the other guy was okay.

I took some pictures of the scene, and talked a bit with the driver of the SUV, exchanging my telephone number for is e-mail address. I just had a funny feeling about the whole thing.

Later in the evening the driver of the SUV calls me. He wants to know if I can send copies of the pictures. I told him that I would send them straight away, but he didn't get them.

I sent them another time later inthe week, but still, my technology was not up to the task, and the pics did not go through.

I recounted the story, much as I have here, to the insurance company of the driver of the sports car, the insurance company of the driver of the SUV, and to the Florida Highway Patrol, the latter of whom had issued a citation to the driver of the SUV.

I guess that got my hackles up. I've recently been through a situation where parties who were supposed to be impartial really cost me dearly. I coudn't see that kind of thing happen to this young man, and I guess I took it upon myself to justly protect his interests.

This evening the young man called me. He still hadn't recieved the photos I'd tried to send to him. I printed the photos, and copied them to a disk, and put the whole shebang into an envelope, and drove about fifteen minutes to a local store to give the pictures to the man. I was glad to do it.

The young man thanked me several times. He told me how much help I had been. He helped me understand the Spanish expression, "De nada." It is for nothing I have done this. It is a beautiful thing to feel. I recommend it to everyone.

Here is that link I promised. Some of you might remeber, but if you don't, there is a reference back there, some where.


http://adamusatlarge.blogspot.com/

So, the question may come to mind: Why am I disappointed? Or: Why do I rant? Simple. As society progresses we are supposed to learn from mistakes we (as a species) have made in our past. It is the fashion by which real progress is made. I can give you a couple of examples

Doctors used to do surgery without washing thier hands between patients. A lot of people died due to "complications." Now there is a thing called Universal Sterile Procedure. Fewer infections are caused by cross contamination, and more people survive the trauma of surgery. Doctors learned from past mistakes.

Here's a clue: I have friends who pay $200 or $300 a month for cell phone service. These same friends complain that they are paid too little, have no money, and can't seem to "get ahead." Wouldn't it occur to a member of an evolved species that the wasting of money by talking endlessly on a contraption which, it is common knowledge, costs money to operate keeps them from attaining those goals? My question to these people, "Is what you have to say right now worth forty five cents a minute?" I often get a blank stare.

Here's where I started, again. I am disappointed by the lack of effort I see toward some actual progress, and the results keep coming from all directions. I don't just see the result of this lack of initiative in the behavioral patterns of folks with whom I am acquainted, or in the news, but I see it also in people with whom I have closer relationships.

Okay, I'm venting, but there's good stuff in here, because I tend to see things pretty clearly most of the time. For those of you who know me, this is a good time for jokes about eye surgery, however you can fit it in.

The reason for this post hits pretty close to home, for me. This is the jest of the whole situation. I was recently in a long term relationship with Godzilla. Or maybe she was Nessy. Either way, she was controlling, manipulative, mean, overly opinionated, conceated, coniving, backhanded (or underhanded, I'm not sure which applies better here), two faced, and generally difficult to live with. Needles to say, I've got some baggage which makes me a little edgy.

A really big button with me is games. You know, the games people play with one another's emotions to make themselves feel better, or someone else worse. Those really juvenile, backstabbing, stupid games that just hurt people's feelings are the big switch for me. I will not, under any circumstances, put up with games.

Now, understand that I am a technician. I have a technician's brain, and a technician's job, and a technician's outlook on life. As a tachnician, when I identify a problem, I fix it, quickly and permanently. There's no sense in having the same problem hang around, bothering you again and again, interrupting your TV time, harrassing the dogs, you get the idea.

So, I'm dating this girl, or I was, at least. I told her from the start that I do not play games, and I don't put up with games, either. She claimed she didn't play games either, and there was a ray of hope in my shriveled little heart. We dated for a few weeks.

Last week there comes this situation where she asks me a "trick" question.

Alright, listen here, ladies. Let me first tell you that I am sick of the inbred notion that men are stupid. We are, if stupid, equally as stupid as you. Don't get me wrong, I believe that a woman should be treated with respect and kindness. I believe that a man who has found a good woman should thank his maker, and the woman he is with, for the bounty of his luck. A woman in the same situation should make the same efforts, and if she cannot she should be removed from her good fortune. Just a little nudge toward equality, there.

I can't figure out any other place to put this part in here, but one of the things I can't figure out is why ahyone would want to ask a question which would make themselves angry.

Back to the story. She asks me this "trick" question. That was her choice of a word. Now, people play tricks, tricks are a kind of game. This particular trick was used in an effort to make me feel that I had done something wrong.

Let's examine the verbage here. She said "trick."
"Tricks" are "games."
This was a "game" about how I "feel."

I do not play games. I also do not date this particular girl, anymore.

The short morals to the story:
Ladies, when the man you are trying to build a relationship with says, "No games," don't play him. He could be the best thing ever for you. On the other hand, if he isn't so good for you, dump him, and save everyone a lot of trouble.

Men, do the right thing, and stick to your guns. You can't get more respect than if you respect the way you behave and treat others.

People, don't play games. It's like Miagi said about fighting. "Someone always get hurt."

Not that you should believe everything I say.