Random Ruminations

~ I think politics started out as a fun game long, long ago, when men got bored with life and with peace. The game was probably a lot of fun at the time, until someone cheated and cheapened the whole thing, causing the opposing team to seek revenge or to “one-up the other side.” Before long, the game was taken quite seriously and more and more people wanted to play. More rules had to be set in place.

The game became so popular that they had to break up the two teams and create even more of them. Since the game wasn’t all about fun anymore, players started to refer to the teams as “parties” to try and lighten things up a bit. It didn’t work, but the word stuck.

Spectators would enjoy griping about, or rooting for the different teams, but just from the sidelines; some would complain or cheer louder than others. Some people couldn’t even stand the thought of this silly game so they never got involved at all, and were quite content about that.

Eventually players would die but there was always somebody else to take their place.

What everyone failed to realize was that from the beginning, nobody ever really won anything because just when they thought they had, damned if somebody wouldn’t jump in and start playing when they weren’t even invited. The newbies would bring a whole new set of rules and goals. Nobody really knew how to finish the game, so it just kept on going through time; through level after pathetic level – forever.

Pretty stupid game when you think about it.

~ I believe there are two major causes of my current state of overweight; one is the invention of elastic, the other is our country’s class system.

The most noticeable time when my extra 30 pounds starts to really bother me is when I put on clothes that don’t fit me anymore. How terribly uncomfortable! So what happens? I resort to my stretchy clothes… the ones that give when I sit or move about. Now the way I see it, if I didn’t have any stretchy clothes, I’d have no choice but to trim down so I could fit into my regular clothes. Whatever bastard created the stretchy jeans and elastic waist is a cruel, cruel cuss.

Unless of course, I have a whole lot of money and could afford go out and buy more and more clothes in larger sizes, which never really fit right because my legs don’t get taller and my arms stay the same. So I purchase the elastic waist jobbies that fast become my bestest friend. Whoa … now I have room to spare … let’s eat!

If I had even more money, I could hire a personal trainer who would come to my house and force me, little by little, back into shape. But then too, if I had no money at all, I couldn’t afford to eat the type and quantity of food that got me into this mess in the first place. So there you have it. It’s the invention of elastic accompanied by being middle class that made this happen. Drat!

~ This may have been stated in an earlier post but it merits repeating. I don’t believe people should be permitted to marry until they reach forty. I strongly feel that until you have lived on this earth for forty years, though you may know full well what you’re looking for in a life-partner, you cannot fully know what you are looking to avoid and will not be able to tolerate.

I have married people who I just knew with my whole heart and soul were everything I always wanted in a person. Then, as time passed, I came to realize that although they had some fine qualities, and possibly all the qualities I had hoped for, they also possessed qualities that I had absolutely no tolerance for … couldn’t cope with … couldn’t understand … didn’t want to be subjected to – AT ALL. I’m sure they also found the same to be true about me.

It was unfortunate that everything didn’t just jive, but had there been a law in place forbidding us to marry until forty, a lot of heartache would have been spared. I know this.

So aside from looking for a life-mate based on all your wants and desires, you must also consider all the crap that you will not tolerate in your home, your life and possibly in your future children’s lives. I don’t think most people take the time to really mull this over until they have done a lot more living than twenty or thirty years.

In my opinion, when marriages between younger people work out well ~ it’s truly a blessing; consider yourselves quite fortunate. When marriages between over-40 people work out well, it’s a testament that they have used their noggin based on life experience, and used it well.

~ Lastly, I would like to know who “they” are. You know … the “they” that decide what foods are no good, what colors match best, what causes disorders, what cars we should drive, what roads we should travel, what pills we should or shouldn’t take, what faith we should follow, what things to teach our children, what books we ought to read, what should or shouldn’t be considered “art,” what criminals to punish … I could go on forever.

This “they” comes up in so many conversations; we hear it all the time. It should be banned! Unless we can quote someone specifically, we should not be allowed to even use this word. I do it, you do it and you know everyone else has done it.

“They say when the cows are lying down, it’s going to rain”
“They say too many carbs are not good in the diet”
“They say purple and orange don’t work well together”
“They say an aspirin a day keeps the heart attack away”
“They say children are better schooled at home”

The list is endless, but how often do we really get to the bottom of who “they” are? The danger lies in that many people hear these types of statements and take them to heart without so much as questioning how such determinations were ever made or better yet, who made them! Sometimes people live their whole lives based on the decisions made by “they” without ever knowing who they are.

We should all demand citation from now on. Next time you hear someone use the phrase “they say,” stop the speaker in his or her tracks and ask “WHO says?” Whether or not the statement is right or wrong isn’t the issue here … it would just be interesting to observe how many people truly haven’t a clue who they’re quoting.