As I observe some habits or popular trends, I have to scratch my head in puzzlement. What goes on inside a person's head to compel them to do these things? Let's take a look at a few of them:
Tattoos
Whenever I see someone with a tattoo, I just wonder what that person was thinking... or IF that person was thinking when they got it. Here you are going to put an indelible mark on your skin that is supposed to represent your thoughts, feelings or identity. With enough forethought, you can determine that your current thoughts and feelings or life will not be the same 20 or 30 years from now when you are looking at that saggy, ugly skin and regretting getting inked. In many serious professions, a tattoo is considered a "black mark" (no pun intended) on your image. You limit your future career opportunities by desecrating your body. If it's a matter of sending a message to the world (or yourself), why not put that message on a tee shirt or article of jewelry and wear it that way? At least that way you can keep your options open. By getting a tattoo, you are permanently stuck with that image on your skin. One other thing that I have observed is that tattoos seem to be very popular with poorer people. I just have to ponder how a person can afford a tattoo when money for necessities is scarce.
Multiple Body Piercings
This is a case where a little bit is attractive, but you get to a point where it is excessive - and permanently damaging to your body... especially in extreme instances like gauges. Much of the same things apply from the portion on tattoos, so I won't repeat myself. Jewelry can be add to a woman's attractiveness, if used judiciously, but like a strong cologne - a little bit goes a long way. I have to seriously question why a person would have some very private and/or sensitive areas of the body pierced. Maybe I don't want to know. I will have to say that I am deeply disturbed whenever I see a post driven through a tongue. It makes me not want to look at a person when they are talking.
Nuisance Pets
Now, I don't know if it is out of ignorance or an extension of their own obnoxiousness, but some people have a knack for getting the most annoying and/or high-impact animals that you could possibly imagine. I have a neighbor who never ceases to bring home these beasts. For the entire 23 years that I have known these people, they will get one dog after another that barks, howls, chases and threatens people, or gets into his neighbors property and causes damage, yet time after time he will get another obnoxious mutt when the other one dies or "runs away." Recently, this neighbor had several goats and didn't properly fence the yard. I can say with a high degree of certainty that goats are one of the most damaging domestic creatures that a person can own. Why??? There are a few families in our neighborhood who have dogs that bark, bite or chase people. There is one family down the road that has about half a dozen dogs of various types and they all start barking whenever somebody comes by. To make matters worse (not better) the owner is just as obnoxious when she comes out and starts telling them to shut up. There is a common concept that is going around now that if you have a pet, it is a natural stress reducer. I'm just not seeing it in these instances. Tell me how going out and hollering at the dog to shut up or having to deal with angry neighbors or passersby or to field complaints to the Humane Society is going to reduce stress in your life.
Pet Rescue
This all sounds good and nice, but more and more we hear about these crazy cat people who have dozens of cats in their house and not being to care for them properly. The authorities have to seize their homes and condemn the house because it is filled with urine, feces, filth and disease... all because the person who brought them home just couldn't bear to know that the animals were euthanized. So the Humane Society comes in and finds the deplorable conditions that these animals are in and has to euthanize them anyway because they are physically and mentally incurable. I've seen the stories and it makes me sick (and though the ones on the news are extreme - it is more common than one might imagine). I am befuddled as to the motives of "pet rescue" people - who often cannot even take care of their own needs or the needs of their family, yet they get cats, dogs, goats, horses... whatever animals they are trying to save from euthanasia or the slaughterhouse.
Smoking
I am not sure how raspy voice, premature aging, stale smoke stench, hacking and coughing and tobacco stains are supposed to make a person sexy or cool, but some people still buy into this illusion - or delusion. Mostly, I feel sorry for people who are addicted to tobacco. It's a sad and destructive addiction that's very difficult to break. I can understand the addiction part, but what I don't get is the part when somebody thinks it's a good idea to start smoking. After all we have learned about the damaging effects of tobacco, people will still try it anyway. Besides all of the negative effects it has on your body and your opportunities (yes, this is yet another habit that will choke out future opportunities in your life), the price of five to eight dollars a pack for cigarettes is astounding. If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day (at 7 bucks a pack), that ends up being over $2500 a year or around $150,000 a lifetime (if you live long enough)... heck, you could have bought a house with all that money you squandered trying to look cool with your stinky cigarettes!
Weird Food Combinations
We don't have cable TV, so it is kind of a novelty for my son who was traveling with us and tuned into the Food Network while we were staying at a hotel. Maybe it's just me, but I was seriously grossed out at some of the things that gourmet chefs were conjuring up for a cooking contest. I would not like to be one of the judges if actually tasting the food were part of the job. You get these "foodies" now who revel in finding weird ways to cook and bizarre combinations of foods and herbs. Lest you think I am uncultured, fastidious or making a judgement without trying, let me assert that I have tried some of the more tame recipes in some of the fancier restaurants in the local area. I don't get it. You pay good money for stuff that you have to "acquire a taste for" - or in other words you have to suppress your gag reflexes in order to swallow it. What is wrong with just capitalizing on known favorites and cooking to perfection? If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Garbage on TV
While the thought of the Food Network is still fresh in my mind... There is some excellent programming out there in TV world. There are fascinating shows that inform or entertain or there are some that affect our emotions in such a way that it brings us back to watch the sequels. My next career move in the entertainment business is in hopefully becoming a director/producer/writer of some of the future's motion picture entertainment. This is something I have to look forward to. I love being in the entertainment business and producing fun/funny shows or interesting documentaries. That being said... I have to seriously question: What has happened in this world though? Some of the more popular shows out there are simply trash. It's not worth wasting our time on. Honey Boo-Boo? The Kardashian's? Give me a break! I had only seen a few short video clips of Honey Boo-Boo to determine that it was not worth watching, but while I was visiting a relative, they turned that show on and I ended up enduring a whole episode, simply because I was already on the sofa working on my computer and didn't feel like getting up and leaving the room. What the heck is this trash? Better yet, who watches this trash on a regular basis? The only thing I can think is that it's like driving by a horrible car accident... as much as you know you will be scarred for life, you can't NOT look away from the carnage. Maybe it's human nature to be attracted to nonsense. Maybe there is something deep inside that makes us feel superior or at least justified when we see other people's failures or mediocrity. One way it affects me though is that my IQ seems to drop a couple of notches whenever I am exposed to this garbage.
Drugs
I've already trashed tobacco... so now I can trash drugs as well. Maybe I can somehow see the medicinal or therapeutic effects of some drugs (they make you feel good) and why a person might be compelled to start using them. I get that. Not that I condone their use, though some people might have a good argument where marijuana and some other pain-relieving drugs are concerned. But what I am talking about are recreational drugs. People go to a party and take something to get a buzz or have hallucinations. That's a scary concept to me... losing control of your mind or emotions, even if it is merely a temporary condition. I will also include alcohol in this segment, because for all intents and purposes, it acts the same as many other "street" drugs... in some instances, maybe worse. No thank you. I choose to live my life sober, not addicted and I choose not to have all my money going to violent and otherwise vicious scoundrels. I find it ironic how druggies claim they are peaceful people, yet they fuel the worst kinds of violence and torture by squandering their money on illicit drugs that have left a bloody trail and into their self-absorbed bodies and brains. I hate street drugs with every fiber of my soul. I hate what they have done to friends and family and our society. I don't get how people - some of them intelligent - can possibly get tangled up in their grasp.
These are just a few of the things that are on my mind at present time. If I think of more, I will have future installments.
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