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I'm sure a lot of you have inspirational music you listen to in order to keep you fueled. Whether it's the power of Jesus or the fire of an electric guitar, music lovers not only appreciate music, they derive energy and inspiration from it.
There's a song by Meatloaf called "A Piece of the Action" about a guy breaking away from his crappy little life and chasing a dream, and in it is a line that says "I finally found the man that I'd rather be". Well, recently, I found the man I DO NOT WANT TO BE EVER! The sad part is that I'm probably going to be this guy if I continue on with life the way I'm living it. He was like the ghost of grocery store futures.
For some odd and disturbing reason, Ralphs grocery stores had a Christmas sale two weekends ago. Although we were barely out of September, the pumpkins were sporting Santa hats and the sample lady was filling up little cups of egg nog and sparkling cider. She also had a bottle of brandy on the table, and I asked if she was handing out samples of that. "I wish," she said. You and me both, lady.
In the soup isle - while I was trying to read labels on the top shelf - a voice entered my head. It was the voice of disappointment mixed with a modicum of anger, and it came at me with the predictable scratchy tone of the stereotype of crotchety. I turned to see a man in his 80s, who locked eyes with me, intent on me paying attention to him. He went into a diatribe about how ridiculous it was that the intercom system was piping Christmas tunes into the store. By his tone, you would have thought it was poisonous gas.
I did agree with him that it was ridiculous. I'm not a holiday person AT ALL, and that includes birthdays. They're just not my thing, so I steer clear of them. But, I'm not going to trample on other peoples' cheer... as long as they keep it in check. I have the same policy for most things. You want to blare your music, smoke whatever or do nasty things with ugly people, do them where I don't have to share the experience with you. I'll show you the same courtesy.
I finally broke the conversation with the old man because I could see that it would go on indefinitely if I didn't walk away. He was angry and probably lonely, and that's a dangerous combination when you've on the receiving end. Still, I walked away with a lesson: I don't want to be that guy. It was negative reinforcement at its finest.
I have heard a lot of people talking about Christopher Reeve lately. Not only did he do a lot for people in his condition, but he was also inspirational to able-bodied people as well. He would make people feel guilty for leading pathetic lives, inspiring them to make the most out of what they had. Easy for him to say. He was good looking, famous, stinking rich, had a gorgeous wife, and by the time he had his accident (he was 44, I think) he had lived a better life than any 20 average people. Still, he had a point.
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