Crucify

I am becoming alarmed at how quickly we as a society are to crucify a person.The recent banning for life of the Clippers owner Donald Sterling is just another example of this. He is being kicked out of the NBA and told he needs to sell his team. Why? because he made some comments in the privacy of his own home and was recorded saying these comments. Granted his comments were not nice as they were racist in nature but none the less he again made the comments in his own home. He has never publicly said anything racist. He's an old white man in his 80's. At this point in his life you are not going to change his thoughts. He seems to have issues with blacks and hispanics. Lots of people do. Lots of people have issues with people who have different beliefs regarding religion. The question is do we persecute someone for it?Yes most definitely if it is a public statement but if it's done in your private life. I would think not.

Another example that recently made headlines was the the Mozilla FireFox and Brendan Eich. Brendan was basically forced to resign from his CEO position. Why? not because he was running the company into the ground. He was forced to leave because years ago he made a $1000 donation against Proposition 8.  This had nothing to do with his work at Mozilla or his ability to be a CEO of the company. It was something he did privately years ago. Someone who works at Mozilla obviously did some sleuthing and brought it to the attention of everyone. Why he donated or the fact he donated in my opinion is irrelevant. His views on the subject of same sex marriage may be totally different from when he made that donation years ago or maybe not. The fact of the matter is why was everyone so quick to crucify him?

I think with Google Glass coming our way soon. This will become an even bigger problem. Anytime you are out in public you are subject to being filmed, recorded or photographed. The only place you'll be able to talk freely will be in your home. Well then again maybe not... look at Donald Sterling.

Time

I read this thought in a book I was reading the other day. A reflection on TIME

Time, 
Today I will not waste you.
Time,
Today I will not take you for granted.
Time,
Today I will make the most of every second you have to offer.
Time,
Today I will be thankful.
Thankful that you have not run out on me.
Not yet, anyway.
Because I know full well that you can.
And you have
for some precious souls who thought they would have time tomorrow
to kiss, to laugh , to hug, to dance, to run, to play, to live.
But time ran out.
So today I will be thankful for the Time I have.
I will use it for good.

Author: Rachel Macy Stafford

Facebook Thoughts

I'm a big fan for Facebook for many reasons. I love that I have been able to re-connect with people I would otherwise would of lost touch with. I like that I can see little glimpses into what people are doing with their lives on a day to day basis. I enjoy a good freebie post if someone is giving away tickets to an event or there is a free special going on like a free yogurt day.You can also get lots of opinions or advice if you ask. I like to use FB for networking too because sometimes it's all about who you know when it comes to opportunities in life.

I have rules for accepting FB requests. I only connect with people I have actually met in person. I have to be able to say with confidence that if I was walking down the street and saw you I would know who you are. With that in mind I find myself caring a lot about the people I am connected with. I rejoice with them when they are happy or are sharing good news. I " like" posts constantly because if someone is posting something it's obviously important to them and people often find validation in how many likes a post gets. I also find myself being sad with people especially when they share the loss of a loved one, a pet, a job or something that is just bringing them down. It can be emotionally draining to care so much about people and their lives. I often find myself checking in with them days or weeks after their sad posts to see how they are doing. I don't mind though most of the time because I know people want to feel that others care about their situations and I honestly do. I honestly want to be vested in their lives and will help if applicable.

Now for my vents about FB. Since I am constantly liking and commenting on people's posts I find this can be a one way street. There are some people that never say one word back or never reciprocate the likes. There are people who post something then people respond to their post and the poster never acknowledges or interacts with the comments. I don't get that at all. You started a conversation but don't respond to people who join in. If I post something and someone responds I always like their comment as a way of acknowledging I read it. I also respond to comments if it warrants a response.

Now many people would just de-friend these people as obviously they don't seem to care about having any sort of relationship. I however am always torn with the de-friending. I personally do not like being de-friended and every time I am I usually find out who it was. I then will write them a private message to inquire if I did anything that caused the de-friending. Sometimes I get a response and usually some blah,blah blah type answer ( down sizing my friend list, just family etc)or more often I get no response at all. In the latter I'm actually glad they de-friended me because they can't even reply with a response as to why they did it. I guess they don't deal with communication issues in general so in those cases good riddance. I like open communication and when I feel there are issues I prefer to communicate rather than avoid.

Other ways to deal with these FB friends who never interact with you is to hide them all together so you never see their posts. You can also choose to hide your posts so they never see anything you post either. If you do both of these then I guess it's like de-friending but without actually de-friending right?

I personally can't do that either because I feel guilty hiding. I feel guiltiy de-friending. So instead I simply continue to  like their posts knowing it's a one way street. I may not comment but I still will like. I friended them for a reason and I will continue to love on them even if it's a one way street. We are supposed to love the un-lovable right? De-friending is the easy way out. Staying is the harder route.

 There are days when I want to just de-activate my account because like I said it gets emotionally draining to care about so many people. I never can do it though, because when I go to de-activate I find myself often focusing on all the positive interactions I have on FB and all the people who do reciprocate and really do care about my life.

Being a Smurf

I recently came across a brief story I wrote back during my teenage days. I was a smurf at an amusement park. It was actually one of my more favorite jobs in life. I made friends that I am still in contact with today. We have character reunions from time to time and we all have fond memories of our time working in the character department. Here is the story I wrote.

                                           "Characters and Fruit Loops"

A typical day at Great America's character department is definitely an experience. You may be asking " What is a character department?". well it's a bunch of fruit loops who for some reason get a high putting on funny costumes and actually believing they are Scooby Doo or Papa Smurf. " Why would people do this?" there are a lot of reason. Sure those costumes are hot and they pay sucks, but despite that being a character or just escorting them ( to make sure they aren't killed by the public) and helping them get into and out of their costumes is an experience so different than most of us encounter in a life time. When I began working there as a an escort. You couldn't even pay me enough to get into one of those Smurf costumes and have to actually sweat. No thank you!. I was all "yeah I'm going to be escorting a bunch of animals". Well my attitude quickly changed. They train you to be the character and those people do it so well you believe " Yogi Bear" ( even though  you know it's a costume) and working so closely with them makes you feel as if they are your own property. Sure people get to take pictures with them and receive hugs but I got to see them almost everyday. When I cam into the park I'd see my babies ( As I call them) and I got royal treatment. I felt like telling people those people to eat their hearts out and say " He is mine". I also loved getting a bear hug from a gigantic stuff animal. Talk about making a person feel special.

My actual experience of charactering began when I was recruited to be a smurf in our parade. It was definitely harder than I ever imagined. I actually was sweating which was something I vowed I would never do. Here I was in this monkey suit. Why I did it partly because they asked me and mostly because I'd gotten so attached to this animals I wanted to see what they found so fulfilling about it. Well I did, having all those people wanting to see you and hug you. Especially the little ones who truly believed in Smurfs. Now don't get me wrong. It was not all peaches and cream. There are people believe it or not that are mean and non-believers of Smurfs. Since they don't like us they don't mind at all hitting or even trying things worse like setting Captain Caveman on fire!

The character complain all the time( well the people in the costumes) about it being too hot and they want twenty minute walks instead of thirtys ( which is a regular walk,except when the temperature goes above 85). They'll think of almost any stupid reason not to go out on their walk or to go out late. Even though after their half hour walk they have an equal amount of time for break. They tend to be lazy and get away with murder, but over all their decent people, at least I hope so since I am one of those fruit loops.

I loved working there probably the most because of the people I met. We were a large family of 30, but we were very close and we were constantly going out. Even if I never go back to the character family I'll always cherish the memories I have of Great America. So remember the next time you see a character think twice about hitting those characters. That person inside might be me!

Terminal

Recently I have found myself having a sort of anxiety attack before I fall asleep. A brief thought about my demise.  A brief acknowledgement that some day in the hopefully far future I will take my last breath and that will be the end of my existence here on earth. I believe in God and that he made the world. I have to because I refuse to believe this is all there is. I refuse to believe that the universe and planets just magically appeared. There has to be something more but when I have these moments of anxiety I am doubting my beliefs. I am doubting everything. If I only knew for sure that heaven existed and that all that have left before me are there waiting to welcome me when my time comes.

I wonder if as I get older my anxiety will get worse as I get closer and closer to old age. I wonder what 80 year olds or 90 year olds think before they go to sleep at night. Do they say a prayer of thankfulness for a good life in the event they don't wake up in the morning or do they too have anxiety that they will not see tomorrow. Maybe as you get older you look forward to death because you've lost your youth or your health prevents you from living fully. When living becomes challenging then why continue right?

I have always thought that life needed to be finite in order for us as humans to appreciate it. Having a time line keeps in focus that if we want to accomplish things we have a limited time to do it. If we lived forever we would procrastinate and possibly never get anything done because we'd have forever to do it. If  my life is finite I better get out that bucket list and start checking things off. I better make the most of my days and live fully in the moment. We don't know when our days will end. Luckily I've had this view of life since I was a teenager so the bucket list has always been a motivating factor in the choices I make. It guides my compass of what I do and where I go. When my time comes I want to know that I accomplished what I wanted and I have no regrets. I want to feel like I didn't waste my time but rather used it wisely, because yes we are all terminal.

Lean In

I found myself intrigued by the new book "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg. I heard mixed opinions about what she was advocating in regards to women & work. That rather than leaning away we need to lean in to what we are doing so I had to read it for myself.

I must say I really liked this book. I found it to state a lot of truths about women in general. The high expectations that are put upon us to try and have it all. Choosing children and being a mom over having a career. The guilt of working versus staying home. The judgement among women instead of support for the choices we make to work or not work. I think as a woman we have many challenges on all levels and it is ultimately up to us to make choices that work best for our lives. I don't judge women who choose to have a career and have children. Just because you have a child doesn't mean you need to stay home and be a mom. I also totally get women who want to stay home and be a mom because they feel it's important to raise their children. I cast no judgement on anyone's life choices but yet so many women do rather support one another.

 I personally think for myself there needs to be a balance between work and being a mom. Since I have to work to some degree I find that my husband has to pick up the slack while I'm away. If I was home all the time I don't see that happening. He's a team player by default. I also find I need time away from my children. I love them dearly but I also need to be an individual too.

Asiana Flight

On July 5th an Asiana flight crashed landed at SFO. The tail hitting the sea wall and then spinning to a stop just off the runway. The flight attendants immediately got the passengers evacuated before flames engulfed the plane. The airport was shut down for hours following the incident. 3 people died and many were seriously injured including some of the crew. The flights were applauded by the media for their heroic efforts in getting people off the plane. As a flight attendant it was nice to finally see flight attendants get the recognition they deserve. They did what they were trained to do which was to evacuate an airplane in 90 seconds or less. They inflated the slides, commanded their drills and got people off the plane. 

Since SFO is my home base I flew in and out of that airport seeing the Asiana flight on the side of the runway. A little un-nerving but definitely a vivid reminder of what can happen. Later it was moved to a remote area which also happens to be by the employee parking area I park at. Again a visual reminder of what can happen. Although I am reminded visually of the potential hazards of my job I also remind myself how incredibly safe air travel is. I do not fear for what may happen for I know I have no control of the what if's of life. I live each day fully and appreciate each day I am given.