Pleasing Our Parents

Growing up is a spectrum of emotions, challenges, accomplishments, and changes that is completely different for everyone. The one thing most of us have in common is different periods in our lives where pleasing our parents is the general focus. Now of course I mean no offense to anyone who lack parents, but even most of that group have a parental figure that still fits the bill when it comes to what I am talking about. When we are toddlers and small children, it is a joy to interact with our parents. We show them every stripe of Crayon, want their undivided attention, and inevitably ask them why at least a million times. Then we enter our teenage years and young adolescence and it seems like no matter how much our parents try to connect, they “just don’t get us” and we almost shut them out with a sign on our bedroom doors. However, the circle meets at the other end by the time we become a full-fledged adult. Then it becomes a race to see how successful we can become so we can visit for Thanksgiving and brag about our accomplishments to our parents. One kid becomes a doctor, while the other becomes a sports pro. The awkward middle child becomes a millionaire because everyone laughed when she bought some crypto using her college fund. Throughout it all, our parents stand by and watch as their kids go through this and do not seem to bat an eye when it all works out. I am not a parent, but I don’t think I could ever have that kind of patience, but then again, most people would say that forever is a long time. Besides that, it would make my parents overjoyed if I was to become a parent. It is part of the reason I am rambling about this now, because pleasing my parents is also on my bucket list. If only I could make them understand how hard it is to please my significant other. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

2.4 With a Job

A while ago, I was helping my cousin write a resume for a job she was applying for. Why I was chosen to help her still baffles me, because writing resumes is a chore no matter who you are. However, since I have taken a class on it, I guess, by default, I was the best option. Anyway, her goal was to get all the information about her on one page so that when turning it in, it was not a pamphlet for the employer to skim through. One thing I learned during my resume class, and knowledge I imparted on her, was that your GPA is not needed on a resume. This came as a shocker to the 4.0 genius cousin. She thought a resume was a list of accolades for a future employer to see so that they know how accomplished you are. Sadly, this is never the case. Employers don’t care how smart you are, they care how much experience you have. Things like prior customer service, time spent on a telephone explaining things to people, or even the ability to not puke if cleaning a bathroom. What is that old saying about “C’s get degrees.” In other words, even if you are a complete moron, can you get the job done without being babysat. Lest we forget that a barely C student has become president of the United States on more than one occasion. Needless to say, her resume was drastically shortened when her GPA, valedictorian-ship, and other grade-based information was removed. It was heartbreaking to have two pages worth of “study-time” relegated to a one page summary of all the volunteer work she had done. However, I encouraged her. She still was able to fill an entire page with summers and spring breaks spent running herself ragged to help people and organizations. This is what employers want. Go-getters with a mindset for proving yourself. In the end, I let her leave the fact that she was accepted into some pretty top-notch universities on her page. Hopefully she will look at this resume on her computer in the future and realize that a summer job was just a stepping stone to a very educated future full of financial security, even if her future employers don’t care about her extra credit GPA. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Easy to Laugh in the Dark

I have recently found a new comedian that I find absolutely hilarious. His name is Nate Bergatze and his jokes just ring home with me, as he is also from the south. He also does not fill his comedy with curse words, which is refreshing. While I don’t mind profanity in a stand-up routine, it is nice to know there are still a few funny people out there that don’t have to rely on them to be humorous. However, he is deemed a “clean comedian,” which I do not understand. The reason. He tells a lot of jokes about death, dying, and other sorts of jokes. What is affectionately called in the comedian world “gallows humor.” I love gallows humor, but I don’t necessarily see it as clean humor. Sure, you can tell a joke about a dead horse without coming even near Samuel L. Jackson’s style of speaking or without mentioning how much “rigor mortis” has set in, but it is still a joke about a dead horse. If you further the joke by talking about how you would dispose of said horse and accidently snapping off a limb, throwing up while doing so, or mutilating a body in any sense, it kind of goes off the rails of the “clean humor” train, doesn’t it? Maybe I am just overthinking it a little. Maybe it is possible to be a clean comedian while also slightly grossing out the audience and making them tear up. Of course, my favorite clean joke is how Tommy likes to take a bath with Bubbles and we all know how clean that joke is. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Over-celebrating is Just Annoying

With the recent ending of Independence Day, I have had an epiphany: people over-celebrate holidays. I am not just talking about having too much fun or spending too much, which are potential problems in themselves. What I am talking about are the people who take a concept of a holiday and blow it out of proportion. Like on the 4^th, fireworks are great. The booms and pops are cathartic to our idea of celebration. If nothing else, they break up chest congestion from summer allergies, but they should be done on the 4^th and no other time. However, what usually happens, as with this past week, is it is a 10-day long affair of every night being kept awake by those very same booms and pops. To put it into perspective for those who cannot legally buy and set off fireworks, it would be like if you had to have candy ready for the entire week of Halloween. Which may sound great to the candy-collecting gremlins, but most everyone else would have the thought of, “Why can’t we just celebrate this on one day and move on?” That is the way all holidays should be. 1 or 2 days and move on without any leftover effects. It would be like if we painted our houses green for St. Patrick’s Day. We may love St. Patrick’s Day, our Irish heritage, and even drinking, but we don’t want our houses green all year. Or if Christmas was an entire week of giving presents every day. I’m pretty sure that is already a thing. So, next year, when the anniversary of the U.S. having a Twisted Sister moment comes around, let’s all make a pact to only buy enough fireworks for one night and one night only. Because I for one will enjoy the extra sleep this time next year. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Hopping on the Dragon Bandwagon

All of my friends have their favorite shows. They all want me to watch them so they have something to talk about when we see each other. I have a problem, though. My stubbornness gets in the way of me enjoying things, not just TV shows, but a lot of categories. I refuse to buy into the hype. How could this new piece of technology be this useful? How could a restaurant’s food be that delicious? How could I possibly enjoy a TV show about a set of families fighting over an all-ruling throne? It is just a show about dragons and boobs, right? Then I actually took a minute, bought a Max subscription, and burned 3 months watching all of Game of Thrones. I hate to say, my friends were right. I actually got into the story. It is not the greatest show I have ever seen, especially the last season or two, but I enjoyed it. I should know better by now. I did the same thing with Breaking Bad. I avoided it for years. Bryan Cranston was Malcolm’s dad, and I didn’t think I would enjoy seeing him as a drug dealer. I was wrong. It is now one of my top 10 shows. Rick and Morty was the same way. I like adult cartoons, but am not a huge fan of Back to The Future. However, Rick and Morty is hilarious. I finally broke the habit and instead of being 5 seasons late, I caught up on The Bear after season 3 dropped. I now understand that my friends know good TV, and I should listen to them. Not every show they suggest is going to be a banger, but I will at least get some exposure to some new content and will understand the references like when someone talks about how Starbucks are everywhere, including Westeros. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.