Wonder No More

I can't believe I was actually wondering why I wasn't getting good enough sleep. Set aside the fact of hot, groggy weather with no AC, but also add in getting woken up around 6:30-7am thanks to student workers who think that, because they have to get up and do work, they should wake everyone up with slamming beds one floor above me. For crying out loud, I get enough to keep me from sleeping, I don't need the sound of bricks slamming against my door, too.

I'm a twinge crabby, as I'm not feeling 100% up-to-par, and I think it may have to do with the fact of getting small sleep, but also feeling as if I'm being slowly roasted in an oven, my innards boiling in this godforsaken heat with no AC while I'm on the 7th floor. Last night, Tanya, her sister and I jumped in the lake to cool off. And I keep wanting to do fancy stuff with my long hair, but most of that means the hair is on my neck, as I don't want to have my hair up all the time.

I also got a little miffed at Gamestop while talking with my boss. Not so much at him, but just in general. We were talking about how the actors guilds may or may not go on strike, which led to the why, which led to the how, which led to the sales of DVDs, to how "actors need to eat, too", to, inevitably, how they were handling the interweb, with people watching the television shows for free, some people even downloading them.

My boss said that there were a "team of scientists trying to come up with an Internet 2.0" where they could have laws and make people unable to do some of the things they were doing now. I argued that it's the 'world wide web' for a reason, and if they took that away, that'd just be ridiculous, and shouldn't we be more concerned about other things, rather than the idea of getting those few million dollars in their pockets, where they're already rich enough as it is? I didn't say this, but I was thinking "we've got wars, hunger and people going into debt every day, yet we're worrying about how to control everyone on the internet?"

I finally said, "Why do we always do this? Put up laws and stop people from doing things? I mean, it never really works, does it? We made marijuana illegal, and did that stop anyone? I'm pretty sure I smell or see it at least once a week (especially working in retail). It reminds me of Megan, the girl who committed suicide when a fake friend on Myspace belittled her." I've written before on that matter, but I still have to wonder why it's so hard for people to see...

I went on to explain how it's not just supervising your children, but think about it. Every single time something bad happens, we immediately put up a law or barrier to stop it, and we all nod our heads in agreement that that is the right decision--how else would be stop someone from doing something?

Is it really that hard to pay attention? To raise our children with knowledge of what's right and wrong, rather than placing rules and assuming that the rules will have people abide by them? Just because it's a rules doesn't mean that it doesn't need explanation. I mean, if it were enough, we wouldn't have the bible, which explains (I haven't read it, but from what people keep throwing at me) why we should believe in God, and why the ten commandments are so important to live by. And even then, some people don't truly understand, or try to understand.

A silly argument, as this is why I believe it worked so well for me, but my parents didn't just say, "No drugs or alcohol before you're of age! You can't do this and this and this because I said so!" I mean, they used the "I said so" phrase a lot, but that was only when we didn't really listen to their explanations. Besides the point. What I'm trying to say is that they instead said, "Listen, we've had our experiences with drugs and alcohol, and, believe us, you don't want to be involved." Condensed version of what they said, anyway.

And you know what? I believed them. I still do. We have a (forever thankful for this) trusting relationship. Remember that word? Trust? How often can you say you put trust in your kid? Isn't the old saying, "Treat others the way you want to be treated"? That applies to everything. Respect. Trust. Love. If you only give out so much, people aren't stupid--they're going to see through. And it works for the positive aspect, as well. When a teacher decides to drop formalities and be casual, a student is more likely to do the same.

I still stand by the fact that everyone will always be a bit fucked up--it's inevitable, and, to be honest, it gives a sense of interesting life. But you can still be fucked up and have good morals--what do you think Lifetime is?

After I explained my thoughts to my boss (in less words), he didn't really reply, or say much else on the matter. I'm not sure if he agreed or didn't know what to say. I mean, what else can you say? It's a little hard to refute the fact that we could put as much effort that goes into making these "rules" into actually raising our children and making ourselves and society better, making a real difference. And I do believe on some subjects that by making things simpler, we've just made things harder for us in the long run.

Random Facts: non dairy creamer is flammable