Patience

There is an idea in this country that everything has to happen "Now".

"He who hesitates is lost."
"We are a puny folk. Avarice, hesitation and following are our diseases."
"Audacity augments courage; hesitation fear."
"On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, at the dawn of decision, sat down to wait, and waiting died."

Hesitation on the dawn of decision is never a good thing, but the lack of patience is quite another. The culture of humanity is speeding along on a runaway track of perpetual motion. Standing still is abhorred. If you aren't going forward, you are going backward. There is no time to just stop and appreciate anything.

There are ups and downs in life. The biggest thing is that there is nothing wrong with having a "flaccid moment in your personal history" as my favorite author outside of Joyce put it. It's a struggle especially if there were much more exciting parts of your life, to let things slow down around you.

Humans and Elitism

I think everyone needs to feel some sense of superiority over other human beings. In most ways, this manifests as a need to see the inferiority of others somehow. Putting others in an inferior position is something else entirely and shouldn't be tolerated. But I'm talking about observing people in inferior situations to remind us that we all are lowly human beings and no one is a perfect celestial being.

My outlet is reading sports forums. They annoy me to no end, but I get endless entertainment out of how stupid people can be. I have known people who are obsessed with celebrity gossip for just the same reason. Others compare themselves to everyone they see on the street. Others compare themselves to everyone they work with. Who knows what other options there are? I'd go so far as to say that everyone has some method of looking down their nose at someone just to pick themselves up a bit. The human ego seems to need it every once in a while.

I've toyed with posting in the forums themselves, but I tend to be too verbose and I always have the feeling I used to have when I tried to briefly join a debate club in my youth: argumentation with strict rules based on the media used is never about the content but about the method. Argument obfuscation rules the day rather than logic. So I've gone back to simply reading them. Even though I get astounded and frustrated at most of the content, I still get enjoyment out of the stupidity of the majority of people posting. I understand it is simply because I feel superior to stupid people writing meaningless forum posts. There might have been a time I felt guilty about that, but I simply accept it now as part of my humanity. It also helps me accept it when I see it in others as well.

Rusty Faucet: Part III

He reaches below his chair and feels for his pipe. He pulls the ancient-looking bowl from its hiding place and holds it in his lap. He turns it over in his hands, slowly inspecting its curves and crannies. He draws his fingers along the myriad of bumps and digs time has carved into the mahogany-colored wood As always, his gnarled knuckle finds its way to the only artificially made nooks for the finale of its tour. Niall’s eyes wince close as the wrinkled pad crosses over the inscribed lines. His bottom lip drops ever so slightly and quivers once before he opens his eyes and quickly reaches for his pouch of tobacco.

Niall methodically rocks back and forth as he packs the pipe full of dried tobacco leaf. He coughs twice before lighting the leaf with a long, wooden match. The tobacco draws a clear line of aromatic smoke and dances into the misty morning air.