Please join Now (The Human Race)

Why is it that some people just don’t seem to belong to the same race? I am not talking about unconventional or unique people, but those that just seem to “not get it” in one way or another. There are two types, based on my research:

        1)  Waiting for the invite: Some people are harmless, and friendly enough, they just seem like they need a kind soul to just say, “come, be one of us”. These are the people that walk on the boardwalk in summer wearing UGGS, work shoes and dress shirts with cuff links. These  misguided people use full service gas even though they are not rich and fully able, they jus cant figure it out. They still read physical encyclopedias  and plant tulip bulbs with a spatula.  Once embraced by  the collective soul of humanity , they too will have the common knowledge that we all take for granted.

       2) Not yet evolved: These are the people that may or may not have technical and aesthetic knowledge, but do not value cooperation, civility and respect. These are the people that show up 30 minutes late for the only Barbara Streisand concert in a generation,  and spend it consuming 1000 calories of soda, popcorn and box wine. This primordial group runs the spectrum from those that talk loudly on their cell phones about  stock investments and social diseases to those that would  participate in a hit and run accident. 

 I see dead people when I bike:  Biking the other day, I reached a point where I was riding along the Bethpage parkway for a short while, and I was reminded of Robert Pirsig’s recollections in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  As he rode across country on his motorcycle, he looked at the faces of people driving to work in the morning, and they looked so angry, desperate, tired and hopeless, that he thought they looked like dead people. Is this how some people approach work each day, or each day in general? The answer sadly is yes. What can you do to help, you ask? Remember that each day, in the words of Don Juan, “is nothing but controlled folly”. Yes we may be doing a very serious job, and people are counting on us, banking on us. But we are most productive when we are relaxed, and humor and insightful thought is relaxing. So please do make that joke, reference the high and lofty, take a moment to be kind and complimentary, and people will appreciate it. And success will seek you out. And you will make the office busybody very nervous. 

 The Season of Death:  Yes  you are correct, this is the uplifting section. Although the weather is warm, the growing season is mostly past, so the tomatoes are gone, and the basil and parsley are slowly waning. The parsley has long stalks and flowers, yet the end is near. I look at these herbs that have served us well, and there is a feeling of nostalgia. That hot summer day seems like only yesterday (which was 70 degrees by the way), and within weeks we will be freezing.  And before we know it, the ground will be covered with snow. The days are darker, seemingly shorter, yet the sun and night sky are crisper and clearer. We are changing, adapting, growing….wiser, stronger, closer…How many shopping days ‘till Christmas? 

Peace All