Some birthday, some angst, some love

[pphaneuf]

Reservation has been taken, a few silly individuals who thought that money was more important to me than seeing them on my birthday party have been enlightened, it's all going according to the program and should be rather nice! Looking at the people who RSVP'd, I'm rather happy, as it is a rather diverse mix of my friends from various places, it should be nice mingling.

Heard from the woman at the Romados take-out counter, while azrhey was picking up chicken (which is awesome, by the way!): "Your husband looks famished, I'll put in an extra leg!". This is wrong on so many levels, but hey, got free chicken and a good laugh out of it, all for the best!

Yesterday, talked with a good friend about stuff, as she was pretty angsty. It's terrible how many people are around us and are just mindless zombies. I was walking downtown, looking at the concrete, steel and glass towers around me, trying to count up quickly... A hundred person per floor, twenty, thirty, fourty, fifty floors, anywhere from two thousands to six or seven thousands for the really dense buildings, many tens of thousands of people working around downtown... And most of them mindless zombies. And they're happy. And they think it's right. I'm scared, and I don't know what to do, sometimes.

Even at my workplace, which is supposed to be a creative place, there's some of these tendencies. It's not so bad, really, it's pretty much one of the best place I've worked at, but you see the tendencies creeping around, people trying to fix problems with "no thought required" non-solutions, lack of proper communication...

I also encountered an issue I don't particularly enjoy, where I would have liked to see two of my favourite people, but it just wasn't possible and I had to pick. I never like doing that, because really, truly, honestly, I like them both! But decisions have to be made. I looked at what I wanted, and figured out that I wouldn't get what I wanted with one no matter what, so I went where I could get what I wanted. And what do you know, I got it and spent a very nice quiet evening for my (actual) birthday. Making choices like that might be difficult sometimes, but I'd rather have to make them than have everything already picked out for me, things to be automatic, assumed, not conscious. I seriously considered both choices, and neither of these persons are "filler", who are "just there". I might not handle it perfectly all the time (like last sunday, for example), but I do my best.

I might be repeating myself, but despite some more practical issues, my life is so great!

Comments

[serendipity-wpg.livejournal.com]

hahah!

reminds me of 'office space' and the reference to hawaiian shirt day.

my theory on how many of them actually liked wearing hawaiian shirts? hard to say! i wonder if they happened to be in style at the time and place that they were? or they could have been immitating the boss? if immitation is supposedly the greatest form of flatery, then maybe they were trying to flatter the boss in order to get on their good side...? or perhaps they were being 'sheep'... it's really hard to say specifically. i can come up with a bunch of ideas, but i wouldn't want to put any forward as the likely truth.

but this discussion makes me think of my veganism (or even vegetarianism)... for example, many people aren't even aware of the horrors of the meat industry, the conditions under which animals are raised and in which they live; the hormones and drugs they are given, their impact on the environment, etc. etc. they never question it because they have been brought up to eat meat and to believe that animals are mere commodoties to be used as we please. but, if you inform someone about various negative impacts and facts related to the meat industry, and they still decide to eat meat because they just like the way it tastes too much... i dunno... to me, it seems like there's a similarity between that and the person who "chooses" not to think from your example. although... a large difference between the two examples is that with the animals, a third party is involved. since animals don't have a voice of thier own and can't argue for their own freedom, i have chosen to not impose on animals by choosing to not support the use of animals as mere commodoties and refusing to buy or consume products that related to using animals as commodities.

but then again... more and more, people are viewed as mere commodities in our society; therefore, i attempt to support companies that put into use fair trade practices. similarly, the environment is often viewed as a mere commodity as well, so i try to support companies that practice sustainable methods, buy organic food, etc.

sorry i went on a big long rant. but in my mind, all these things are interconnected.

[serendipity-wpg.livejournal.com]

i just wanted to say sorry if i went over-board there.
i wasn't trying to lecture or anything, it's just what came out i suppose, and later i realized that it might be considered as rude or offensive / righteous, which is the last thing i want to be...

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

That's okay. :-)

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

If I recall correctly, investigations by the executives that were trying to promote creative thinking revealed that most of those employees just didn't know what to do and what to wear, and figured they couldn't go wrong by doing the same as the executive. So some form of "sheep" thing.

There's a common thread of awareness. You can't really choose anything without being aware of the choice being there. I suppose that's the problem overall, lack of awareness.

But while I understand a bit if you're not aware of how the meat industry works, you need a whole whackload of lack of awareness to miss out on the idea that having bathroom breaks authorized is ridiculous.