7.4.14 Friday Frivolous Foolishness

Ahhhhhhhhh.  A non-work day.  A later-than-normal-alarm-set day.  It is greatly needed, as the work week was incredibly demanding, covering a co-worker for PTO, in addition to my normal duties.  Plus, the Boss was also off.  Fun times!

As such, there was not much frivolity this week.  More like frustrations, vexation and the like.  But, there WAS humor.  So you get a little humor, plus some of my humorous (if you’ve a weird mind) musings on a few tidbits about random things.

My professional life is in I.T., not really a humorous realm. We’re really a fussy, logical, stolid bunch of people; all about rules and processes.  Why I am in this line of work sometimes fascinates and amuses me.  But that’s navel-gazing, and Friday’s are for frivolity and foolishness! 

From a ticket in our work processing system, submitted by a notoriously non-humorous, basically nasty human that appears as an engineering life-form, representing one of my clients. I’ve written about my Freudian slip regarding this individual in the past, here.  Normally, tickets opened are quite dry and technical, but they all require a business reason for the work.  This appeared as the business reasoning:

The whiz-bang super cool Ricoh RPD servers would totes love to get some super sweet awesome secure SFTP access to the totally rad new Ricoh printing facility in the wicked crazy cool city of XXXX. 

I literally burst out laughing! This is from a person that has made grown men sputter gibberish in outrage. He’s made me have to leave a professional conference call due to a fear of being unable to restrain myself verbally in a professional setting.  And by that point in the day, laughter was sorely needed. It also reminded me that even assholes have a sense of humor (sometimes). 

From one of my daughters, lamenting the responsibility of adulthood, via text: (yes dear, I tried to tell y’all not to rush it…)

Credit: thefunniestpictures.com

 

Now on to musings:

Do you ever see those “Men Working” signs by the roadway with the one dude with a shovel, and wonder where the rest of the workers are in that representation?  You know, the group watching the dude with the shovel? I’ve never, ever, seen one guy working without a gaggle of observers. Ever.

Recently I saw a bus coming the opposite way on my trip across the bridge that sported a sign across the header “Out of Service“.  Do you ever wish people had that option? To display one’s current state of being to others? I know, Mood Rings.  They just don’t cut it. I suppose some of those gaudy, crystal-studded belt buckles might suffice at times. 

On labels:(while this might not appear as humorous, bear with me ’till the end)

Humans are so into labels. It is how we sort people. Everyone seems to need sorting these days. Political. Orientation. Mental disorder. Educational achievement. Certifications held. Ethnicity. Religion. Food preferences. Relationship status. 

I’m thinking of creating a body sash that people can wear, with nifty buttons with metal n’ magnets, so that we can just put on our sash before we go out the door each day; kind of like the things Brownies or Girl Scouts wear. Then we don’t even have to bother talking to the ones sporting buttons that we want to avoid.  Because, if you remove the sash of labels that we all don, then you are left with just a human being. Fallible. Frail. Equal. Who are YOU without your label sash? Imagine all of the things one might learn from others if labels weren’t so important to us. The reason that the buttons are removable and magnetized, is because humans change – we grow, we learn, we modify. At least, that is the hope. 

Without language, we could not label. I mean, how would you represent a serial killer ‘Wanted’ poster in hieroglyphics?  A line of stick people with busted heads, some dude holding a rock, with the international NO symbol across his face? In fact, without language, we can’t form thoughts. You get basic instinct – hungry, thirsty, tired and so forth.  Watch an infant. Then watch his four-year-old sibling, who has a grasp of language. Then watch an adult (oh wait, I already said four-year-old). It is amazing, our transformation through life, via language skill acquisition.

Today in the States, it is Independence Day (love ya Brits!) Lots of people will gather with family they secretly can’t stand, or neighbors they talk about behind their backs, and act sociable; because, you know, it is what the label calls for. A holiday. Festivities. Booze. Brats. Flag-waving.  Yes, as human beings, we are all interdependent, not independent, although we like to espouse such. We depend on every other person to do what is necessary to ensure we all get through this day alive, like any other day. Don’t drink and drive.  Don’t drink, drug and handle a gun (or knife, axe, pitchfork, rock, snow-globe, trowel). Don’t use too much lighter fluid on the grill and set the house afire. Handle fireworks carefully, lest fingers or eyes be lost. 

So my Frivolous Foolishness challenge to you today is:

Drop the labels on ONE person that you interact with today. View them as if you never met them before, as an equal (Don’t try this if it is an officer of the law and you’re being pulled over, ‘k?). See them as simply another human being.   Be frivolous and foolish. And have FUN!

Change you, then others will appear to change. Accept. Smile. Give.

~SE