When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
I sometimes like to get all after school special like I did on my recent post about the uselessness of worrying and overreacting. I don't know why but I feel like relaying some of my opinions on what I selfishly believe to be some of keys to life. Call it Bobbo Philosiphy if you will. Well, I generally don't do it very often. But pardon me because I have another one to throw your way to take in and call me preachy and/or middle school guidance counselor level fruity. So forgive me, but things witnessed today made me just come to this realization, and I feel to share this advice with everyone. Ready? OK.
No matter how bad your day is, there is always someone who is having a worse day.And I don't mean in somewhere in India by some random guy you never have nor ever will meet. Chances are always good that that someone is someone you interact with or will come in contact that day. YOu may think you have it tough, but these people will come in and trump you ten-fold. Take today for example.
##I woke up today late because I forgot to set the alarm on my cell phone, which with it's soul-shattering scream is impossible to sleep through. The hot water was ineffective in my shower. Because I was late, I didn't have time to pull my trash down to the curb so my apartment is still full of garbage. It was flipping cold out which made me late to work because of the need to defrost the windshield. My CD is retarded and won't play certain kinds of burned discs... and I just happened to grab a CD that it didn't like to play. So i drove to Target in silence, which freaking sucks. The workload was obscenely large. And because of the understaffed stock room, we ended up having to pull the batches ourselves. We were ungodly busy causing plenty of customer interruptions. Even after work, I barely had time to relax at all sans an hour of dinner time. And I'm poorer than I was at the beginning of the day.
Synopsis: Stereotypical bad day##
##Jess got into a fight with her good friend and still hasn't made ammends. Her video project which was due days ago still isn't complete because of the ineptitude of her computer, the apathy of her partners involved, and the compiled incompetence of Circuit City's Firedog squad. She goes to school at Pembroke Academy, which is enough to make a day bad in the first place. While on the way to Target, her car stalls which results in hysteria and me abandoning my post to rescue her. Upon further examination, her car's inabilities were as a result of low oil. But her problem persists, which could be one of three things: the oil needing to settle, a sparkplug misfiring, or a damaged piston rod. Either way, it won't be known until tomorrow. She still is without any clue how she's getting to school or work tomorrow. And the loss of wheels is enough to make anyone feel inept and bad.
Synopsis: Damn, that sucks##
##A customer came up to Tony with a problem, trying to return an item. She had originally paid with a check, which already had cleared so she claimed (a believable claim, don't get me wrong). Tony directs her to guest service where they call the validation department of the corporation. After some time of figthing, nothing gets resolved, she walks up to Tony and says, very genuinely distraught, that a Target gift card (which was the only thing they could refund the money as) meant nothing to her, that she needed that money for gas, and that this was the last thing she needed because her brother just died in Iraq yesterday, and it was hard enough to keep the family happy for the holiday because of it. Being denied money you desperately need in an attempt to bring cheer to your family that had just lost a key member of said family? Ouch.
Synopsis: Absolutely harsh.##
##Dave's house just got robbed over the weekend. They took everything valuable, including most of the family's Christmas presents. His wife is increasingly sick. So sick in fact that she recently lost her job because of her mounting absences. With only Dave's income, which at Target is freaking horrid as you could imagine, they can barely afford to pay their bills very nearly losing their heat (and with single digit temps setting in, now's not the time to lose that). Shit rolls downhill for Dave.
Synopsis: Depressingly bad day, enough to drive a man to drinking.##
Comparatively, my day is pretty damn good. At least I still have my car running, my family in tact and happy, and a house unfettered by a stranger's greedy mitts.
Keep it in mind. If you think you have a bad day, know that there are people in your stream of consciousness who are having a much worse day.
No matter how bad your day is, there is always someone who is having a worse day.And I don't mean in somewhere in India by some random guy you never have nor ever will meet. Chances are always good that that someone is someone you interact with or will come in contact that day. YOu may think you have it tough, but these people will come in and trump you ten-fold. Take today for example.
##I woke up today late because I forgot to set the alarm on my cell phone, which with it's soul-shattering scream is impossible to sleep through. The hot water was ineffective in my shower. Because I was late, I didn't have time to pull my trash down to the curb so my apartment is still full of garbage. It was flipping cold out which made me late to work because of the need to defrost the windshield. My CD is retarded and won't play certain kinds of burned discs... and I just happened to grab a CD that it didn't like to play. So i drove to Target in silence, which freaking sucks. The workload was obscenely large. And because of the understaffed stock room, we ended up having to pull the batches ourselves. We were ungodly busy causing plenty of customer interruptions. Even after work, I barely had time to relax at all sans an hour of dinner time. And I'm poorer than I was at the beginning of the day.
Synopsis: Stereotypical bad day##
##Jess got into a fight with her good friend and still hasn't made ammends. Her video project which was due days ago still isn't complete because of the ineptitude of her computer, the apathy of her partners involved, and the compiled incompetence of Circuit City's Firedog squad. She goes to school at Pembroke Academy, which is enough to make a day bad in the first place. While on the way to Target, her car stalls which results in hysteria and me abandoning my post to rescue her. Upon further examination, her car's inabilities were as a result of low oil. But her problem persists, which could be one of three things: the oil needing to settle, a sparkplug misfiring, or a damaged piston rod. Either way, it won't be known until tomorrow. She still is without any clue how she's getting to school or work tomorrow. And the loss of wheels is enough to make anyone feel inept and bad.
Synopsis: Damn, that sucks##
##A customer came up to Tony with a problem, trying to return an item. She had originally paid with a check, which already had cleared so she claimed (a believable claim, don't get me wrong). Tony directs her to guest service where they call the validation department of the corporation. After some time of figthing, nothing gets resolved, she walks up to Tony and says, very genuinely distraught, that a Target gift card (which was the only thing they could refund the money as) meant nothing to her, that she needed that money for gas, and that this was the last thing she needed because her brother just died in Iraq yesterday, and it was hard enough to keep the family happy for the holiday because of it. Being denied money you desperately need in an attempt to bring cheer to your family that had just lost a key member of said family? Ouch.
Synopsis: Absolutely harsh.##
##Dave's house just got robbed over the weekend. They took everything valuable, including most of the family's Christmas presents. His wife is increasingly sick. So sick in fact that she recently lost her job because of her mounting absences. With only Dave's income, which at Target is freaking horrid as you could imagine, they can barely afford to pay their bills very nearly losing their heat (and with single digit temps setting in, now's not the time to lose that). Shit rolls downhill for Dave.
Synopsis: Depressingly bad day, enough to drive a man to drinking.##
Comparatively, my day is pretty damn good. At least I still have my car running, my family in tact and happy, and a house unfettered by a stranger's greedy mitts.
Keep it in mind. If you think you have a bad day, know that there are people in your stream of consciousness who are having a much worse day.