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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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October 15th, 2007 DEBATING THE SUN
It is amazing to me how brief moments in time; microcosms of life if you will; can so perfectly and deftly define an entire culture, race or society. It is for this reason that I enjoy people-watching as a sport. There are few things as rewarding as watching peoples’ quirks, foibles, idiosyncrasies and obsessive compulsions, for these behaviors speak volumes about us as a collective people. America has never before been so simultaneously blessed and fortunate while also being ignorant, arrogant and completely self-involved, and if you watch and listen closely enough, you can see evidence of it every day. On a recent summer Saturday morning my wife and I were leaving a book store perched at the corner hub of a major shopping center in Roseville, California. All of the stores had literally just opened as it was 9:15 and the parking lot was sparse at best; great parking was to be found in front of any store a customer would want to visit. The air was cool and crisp, as while it was a summer morning, it was a mild one. As it turns out that day the high temperature ultimately rested at exactly 91 degrees, which of course, didn’t occur until 5pm that evening. At noon, it was 81. These seemingly mundane points of minutia are vital to understanding what I observed next. As we strode towards our car, my wife and I passed a couple who was preparing to exit their parked vehicle. Their chosen parking spot allowed me to walk past them, reach our vehicle, open the door for my wife and then get in the driver’s side of our vehicle while never leaving earshot of their conversation. Even after my wife and I were safely in the friendly confines of our car the couples’ conversation continued loudly and clearly enough that their words, tone and passion were unmistakable. The couple, a man and a woman in their late 30s/early 40’s were seated in a brown four door sedan similar to a Honda Accord. While it would be unfair of me to define it as a “beater,” it was far from being new, clean or well kempt. The car had a few noticeable dings and scratches, along with a couple of minor rust spots starting. If I had to guess, I would submit that it was a late 1980s model that had seen far better days. The couple themselves appeared nice enough, although still what I call part of America’s pride-less population, dressed as though they were working in their garage, not going out in public. Allow a brief digression; I am certainly not suggesting that people are under any obligation to wear a suit and tie to go book shopping. I am however submitting that our outward appearance, right or wrong, speaks volumes about us as people and how we feel about ourselves. It’s one thing to be so self confident that you desire to be comfortable while out, it’s a whole other thing to wear a t-shirt with grease stains, shorts with holes in them and flip flops that are falling apart and scream “hey, I hate myself and I want the world to hate me too so I dress like a dirt bag,” for example. One of the things that allowed this couples’ conversation to be heard so clearly was that they had clearly just parked recently and had each of their car doors open, as if they were ready to exit (although in the 2 minutes it took my wife and I to leave the store, get in our car and drive away, this couple never moved). The man, in the driver’s seat, was holding a windshield sun shade, not yet unfolded. The rest of the car was a normal American sedan that had been over used; a few pieces of trash, a sweater and maybe a soda can lay in the back seat but other than that, it was just a soon-to-be vacant vehicle. No pets, children, coolers, groceries bags or perishable items of any kind could be seen or heard. Yet, despite all of these absences, the couple was fervently engaged in a discussion involving the proximity of the sun; where it was now, where it would be later and how it would affect their precious vehicle. This was a stunning moment for me. Thousands of thoughts ran through my head and I dismissed each relatively acceptable explanation for this, I came to the conclusion that this sad little couple had been so beaten down by life that they had been reduced to, of all things, debating the sun. Clearly, they were not going to work for the day so it was not as if they were going to be gone for the next 8 hours. Even, by the way, if they were going to be gone that long, the debate over the sun and where to park and where to put the sun shade is meaningless because no windshield covering in the world is going to prevent a car from getting hot during the course of 8 hours in 90 degree weather. This brings us back to the car itself, which is clearly not in any condition to be doted over. It’s not as if they were discussing how to preserve the dash board of their 1966 GTO for the love of cheese and rice. This car is barely operable as it is and a little heat or sun is not going to appreciably affect the condition of the vehicle. These were the conversations I was having with myself as I tried desperately to find a reasonable reason why these two would waste such energy and passion on such a worthless venture. Far be it from me to judge peoples’ interests, as I am the first person to say, for example, that I think jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute on my back is idiotic, but I absolutely respect those of you who find it fun. I am completely capable of both judging a hobby and accepting it all at once, but let’s be fair here. These two are not engaging in rock climbing, knitting or scrap booking, (three of the dumbest activities known to mankind in my opinion, but I acknowledge that they somehow bring joy to others so I simply look away and allow people to live their own lives and ask the same of you), but rather these two lost souls are literally debating the sun. This is not a hobby; rather it is a pathetic waste of time, energy, passion and focus. Perhaps if they invested half the energy to pursue a better life they could buy a better car, nicer clothes or some soap maybe. I guess, at the end of the day, the thing I was most happy about was that I simply have better things to do with my time, energy and passion. Like write insightful columns, for example.
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