(This is a repost of an entry on Blogspot.com on December 8, 2011. Mothers day work schedule is kicking my ass.)
You know what I have noticed? I have noticed a world of sheep and sleep walkers. This is a time where independent thought is in danger of extinction, where minds only fill the void in many skulls.
What I have also found is that our society has promoted this occurrence. We live in a society that often chooses easy over what is right, where individuality is a bygone notion. If you have independent thought you are in the minority.
I never really thought of myself as particularly smart—above average intelligence yes. But really smart—not so much. But now in my middle age I see younger generations droning around in their existence mesmerized by technology and the distraction it provides. I have to admit that there are some middle aged folk that pay little attention to the world around them because of the techie bug as well.
I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people walking looking at their mobile device or sending text messages while driving. It was bad enough when I noticed that while in the checkout line shoppers would remain on the phone. Apparently that is something that the checkout clerks have taken advantage of. Because now the clerks carry on conversations that are more important that the customers that they are getting paid to serve.
I understand that there are bosses and subordinates but if I had subordinates I would want them to be self sufficient to a modest degree and to have a modicum of critical thinking skills so they can figure things out. Little things like knowing the difference between biweekly and semi-monthly [pay].
Text babble has become the new sentence structure and I see it when it is not necessary as in Twitter, due to character limitations. It is downright unprofessional, in business email correspondence. It is one thing to send your friends the shorthand but it just plain looks bad in business.
The sleepwalkers are worse in some cases because they are intelligent and often over sensitized to their environment so they will take a pill, prescribed or illegal in an attempt to make their worries go away. The big sacrifice is losing lucidity and the ability to function in a capacity that involves more than brain cells that are loopy.
Somewhere down the line we started buying into the hooey that we as humans are not supposed to have an ebb and flow of emotional states of mind; that the mainstream and accepted emotional disposition is to be flat and unemotional.
Please understand the difference between experiencing emotions and having a meltdown because the stress on your mind and body are too severe. Change your life if you are unhappy; stop eating shit and taking a pill so you don’t care anymore. That is no way to live.
Ried Rants 