When Life Hands you Lemons

I missed December’s post. Sorry.

I had quite a few ideas about posts I could write, but none of them were very jolly. It didn’t fit with the holiday cheer that was going around me at the time, so I didn’t bother to sit down and write them out. Here’s a few things I wanted to write about:

1. The American school system is outdated and doesn’t fit our societal needs as they stand today. There are a lot of ways it can be improved (and I’d be writing about proposed solutions).
2. I’ve noticed that people grow up physically but very few people actually grow up mentally / emotionally.
3. Free will doesn’t exist (in the way we think it does), but it’s okay. I’d be talking about why it doesn’t exist.
4. Why do I have friends? This one is a bit more personal. But it’s still a valid question and I think I’d enjoy writing about it.
5. My (and everyone’s) circle of influence is far greater than I (or anyone else) can even begin to imagine. Even the people with seemingly small circles and very few friends… have huge circles of influence.

I had about three others but they’re gone now.

But I’m curious to know what you guys would want me to write about. There’s a pretty good chance that I’ll be writing about all of these eventually. Just let me know which one to write about first.

In other news, my Quote of the Day page is running for 2018. If you want your words to be immortalized, be sure to talk to me. Looking forward to all the great conversations I’ll be having all year.

Ciao!

Thanksgiving. You stuff yourself full of turkey, take a quick nap, get up and go out with your family to eagerly wait in line to buy new stuff at steep discounts. You drive around the mall and see crowds of people roaming around, chattering, sometimes running. It’s cold. Dark. You don’t like being around all these people and you have a feeling you’re not the only one who feels that way; yet, somehow, for some reason, here you are. You figure that this one night of discomfort is worth sacrificing for the new TV you’re going to get. You’ve been waiting all year for this night and you won’t have an opportunity to get a brand new TV until next year.

—

Every year when Black Friday rolls around, I’m stuck between two feelings: as a consumer, I’m happy that I can buy things at discounted rates and finally give myself an excuse to get things that I’ve been putting off; as a human, I’m extremely sad as I hear about people lining up outsides stores and getting trampled when the rush begins.

I didn’t notice until recently that it’s never the affluent parts of the country where these rushes happen. Rather, it’s the areas where people are closer to poverty, where people literally can’t afford to make these kinds of purchases at any other time of the year.

I used to scoff at the idea that people would hurt others just to pick up a few material things. “What capitalism, what materialism. I am above that,” I would tell myself. But I’m only able to have this thought because I already have all the stuff I want. I’m able to live without more things because I don’t need more. But some of these people have so little that they’re getting their first chance to get something nice in a very long time, or it’s the only time in the year where they’re able to get gifts for all of their kids.

Sometimes I drive around the poorer parts of Tacoma and I wonder why there are so many nice cars there. I used to wonder what the owners of those cars are doing in Tacoma; they certainly don’t belong in a place where their cars obviously don’t fit, right?

Not so. One thing I learned recently is: people close to the poverty line also have nice things. They work incredibly hard to make ends meet and save up for many years before they can buy their dream car or toy or game console. It’s the one lighthouse in the dense fog that is their lives. It’s the one thing that brings them joy. They cherish it more than any of the other things they have because that’s the one thing they have.

So if you see someone (especially a child) with something nice and you know his family’s not doing well financially, don’t judge. Don’t scoff. Don’t approach and berate him for having one nice thing despite the rest of the family having nothing, because chances are, there’s a story behind that thing and you’ll never be able to hear it, and you’ll never have to experience it. If you associate a negative emotion with the thing, you’re also taking away the one thing that brings that person the most joy.

Instead, ask about it. Show him that you see its worth. Don’t let him think that you hate him for having it. He’s probably getting it from elsewhere.

Let him be happy with what he has.

As a patriotic American, I regularly hear two songs that I despise. My dislike for the two songs come from similar reasons. Allow me to explain:

1. “Happy Birthday”

The melody of this song is sung around the world hundreds of times a day, and I’m sure that everybody and their grandmothers know how to sing it. Have you ever wondered why it’s not used in movies or TV shows?

It’s because it’s been copyrighted by Warner Bros (or at least, it was until January 2017), and that is unapologetically American.

How many times have you had trouble singing it? If you’re like most people, the answer is: almost every time. If a girl starts the song, it’s uncomfortable for guys to sing, and vice versa. I’ve discovered that there’s only one key that’s comfortable for guys and girls (if you must know, it’s Eb, which means that the starting pitch is a Bb).

The most notably difficult part of the song is on the third “happy BIRthday,” in which you have to make a leap of an octave. Not only is that difficult to sing accurately, it’s also quite unbecoming.

I would very much like if we could adopt a new song to sing for people on their birthdays. Here’s one that I like:

2. “The Star Spangled Banner”

A national anthem is a song that “evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions, and struggles of its people.” (Wikipedia) If that’s true, then what good is a national anthem that can’t be sung by a majority of people?

Our beloved anthem suffers from many of the same problems as the aforementioned “Happy Birthday,” only to a much greater extent: it’s notably difficult to sing for the untrained musician; and the range of the melody is an octave and a half (two octaves, if you’re fancy).

On top of this, the lyrics are impossible to memorize and don’t work well with the melody. And it just SUCKS. It’s not fun or pleasant to listen to, and nobody can even sing it.

We should take notes from the Russian national anthem (which is probably my favorite one):

Below is a history and opinion piece of our anthem, expressed more coherently than my own thoughts here:

Do you agree? Disagree? Would you add any other songs to this list? Let me know!

I was having an internal debate about what to write this month, so I’ve decided on this. The other topics can remain unpublished for a few months, I think.

I’m no stranger to unpopular opinions (I think pop music and most movies are garbage) but there are a few opinions that I hesitate to voice because I think they might actually be detrimental to peoples’ views of me. However, I’m here to break down my well-maintained image and speak out because these opinions are important.

I’m also entirely sure that some people in my audience share my opinions and haven’t had the courage to voice them. To you, sir or madam: you are not alone.

1. Forced political correctness is detrimental to cultural progress. I understand that people have different definitions of “political correctness” but here’s how I see it: political correctness demands that we use (or refrain from using) specific words for the purpose of possibly avoiding situations where people may get offended. But in the long run, it doesn’t have any benefit other than bringing us the satisfaction that we’ve possibly avoided offending someone who’s different from us.

   Language changes over time (duh), and the more we use insulting words, the more they lose their meaning. A great example of this is in the word, “lame.” Its original definition is still there, but with a much more toned-down connotation.
   I believe you should be allowed to say whatever you want, but you should still know that you might look like an idiot.

2. I don’t agree with many of President Trump’s actions since he’s taken office, but two things he’s done that I very much appreciate:
   1. Trump has sparked political activity. Though some of it may be violent, the political activity in this country seems to have taken off since Trump took office. I have never seen so many political Facebook posts, Youtube videos about riots and rallies, or in-person openness about political beliefs.

      People are starting to care because they have an opinion on how people should or shouldn’t be treated, and I think it’s a step in the right direction; even though it may have caused suffering to an insurmountable number of people, many more people are hearing of these events and are forming opinions in their minds. I can only hope that citizens of the US continue to be active.

   2. Trump has attacked mainstream media outlets. I’m sure most of you remember when Trump called out the media for publishing so-called “fake news” — I think he actually holds some ground there. The interesting thing about news is that a majority of people get their information from them and don’t realize that the information can be curated. To beat a dead horse: a vast majority of Americans thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win the 2016 election, because that’s what most of the media were saying.

      Anyway, the other scary thing is that these corporations have enough power that they can get together and control what information gets out to the masses. They can also band together and attack individuals, which they can basically do at any time. They’ve been trying this with Trump: just think of how much you see per week and how much of it is really necessary.

      Yes, Trump’s got some stupid ideas and does stupid stuff. No, he’s probably not going to get re-elected. No, he’s not going to get impeached (unless he does something way out of line, which I honestly can’t see happening). So quit wasting our time with this sensationalist “news.” It’s not going to be any different for the next three years. Go report on something that is actually valuable to our time.

If you’ve got some differing opinion somewhere (I imagine that many people will disagree with my point #1), let me know and we can have a discussion.

Oh yeah, also: memes are a huge waste of time and don’t contribute anything worthwhile to society.