I am an uncontrollable internet geek and I do spend time on the message boards. And common message board structure is somebody says something and somebody responds to that comment. The responses really stretch the boundaries of acceptable human behavior though, making everyone in the online community feel like a middle schooler based on the lack of effort we put into even saying something. Rather than simply agree, or even not respond, a person will give a one word response... "This"
"Breaking Bad is an excellent TV show and I believe it is up there with The Wire."
"This"
"This"? THIS WHAT? Are you so fucking lazy that you can't even extrapolate a thought out of that tiny brain of yours. It's like you're actually de-evolutionizing right there on this section of the internet. The more time you spend trolling the web looking for other people as stupid as you, the stupider you all get. We can't even think anymore? We can't even form thoughts so we just give one word responses? And it's not even like it's a one word answer. It's a form of agreement. A complete and utterly unnecessary form of agreement. You not only didn't add anything to the conversation, you subtracted from it by proving that people that agree with that statement are retards.
The only thing that could drop you further down the evolutionary chain would be to do "+1" These people, these +1 people, are so far the dumbest of them all. I don't need anyone to assign point values to my thoughts. Especially not a single point. Every +1 you give out on the internet, is a -1 on your IQ. Where did you get the idea that anyone cared about your point values or needed validation from an idiot like yourself? Would you go to class as a kid and every time a student said something you agreed with you held up a finger to show everyone in the class that you believe that was a good point that the student just made? And if you did do this, what finger would you hold up as I broke that finger for you being such a useless waste of square footage on the planet?
If you agree with what I've just said, please respond with "This"
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
My Breaking Point
I'm not very good with crowds. I am very neurotic in that sense and though I wouldn't consider myself as claustrophobic, the idea of being in a crowd of people really gives me chills. I don't go to a lot of festivals or concerts because I just need to know that I'm free to get where I want to be in a reasonable amount of time without having to worry about the pace or sparseness of others.
I was on a plane once and we landed. We landed. And we were waiting for the plane in front of us to finish hauling their sheep off of the plane and to get out of the fucking way before we were able to finally taxi up to the fucking tube and be able to cart ourselves off. I remember sitting in the window seat and waiting 30 minutes before we actually moved. This was the first time I realized I wasn't good at handling this situation. I knew that I was different but then all of a sudden you find this emotional center of yourself that you didn't even know existed or at least it came out so rarely that you pretend it doesn't exist.
I'm just sitting there in coach with a couple sitting next to me, probably in their 50s and at a certain point I huddle over myself with my head between my knees and its 15 or 20 minutes in without moving and I've got my hands over my ears because not only are we not going anywhere, not only is my 6 foot 6 body dying to stretch out over a long flight and the fasten seatbelt light is still lit so I can't move around, not only do I have to go to the bathroom, but somewhere in this godforsaken sardine can is an incessant beeping noise that nobody else seems to hear or care about and it's driving me insane.
The thing that bothered me the most was that I was stuck there and unable to do anything about it. Not being in control of where I was or where I could go was absolutely frustrating and annoying beyond anything I've ever felt and I'm crouched in a fetal position hugging my knees and trying to pretend like none of this is happening and wondering if time really had stopped forever.
It's usually only in moments like this that you can remember that last time you felt so crazy and that indeed it wasn't the first time and probably won't be the last. That we all have breaking points but some of us simply have a higher threshold than others or just weird nerve centers that when you touch them they freak out. Some of the nerve centers are common, like a broken heart. Others are weird and abnormal and you'll see those on a mid-day talk show talking about how toilet paper scares them to death.
I found mine in being stuck in an airplane when we've already landed and unable to just stand up and go home, when I could literally see my destination and do nothing about it. That doesn't seem so weird when I put it like that.
I was on a plane once and we landed. We landed. And we were waiting for the plane in front of us to finish hauling their sheep off of the plane and to get out of the fucking way before we were able to finally taxi up to the fucking tube and be able to cart ourselves off. I remember sitting in the window seat and waiting 30 minutes before we actually moved. This was the first time I realized I wasn't good at handling this situation. I knew that I was different but then all of a sudden you find this emotional center of yourself that you didn't even know existed or at least it came out so rarely that you pretend it doesn't exist.
I'm just sitting there in coach with a couple sitting next to me, probably in their 50s and at a certain point I huddle over myself with my head between my knees and its 15 or 20 minutes in without moving and I've got my hands over my ears because not only are we not going anywhere, not only is my 6 foot 6 body dying to stretch out over a long flight and the fasten seatbelt light is still lit so I can't move around, not only do I have to go to the bathroom, but somewhere in this godforsaken sardine can is an incessant beeping noise that nobody else seems to hear or care about and it's driving me insane.
The thing that bothered me the most was that I was stuck there and unable to do anything about it. Not being in control of where I was or where I could go was absolutely frustrating and annoying beyond anything I've ever felt and I'm crouched in a fetal position hugging my knees and trying to pretend like none of this is happening and wondering if time really had stopped forever.
It's usually only in moments like this that you can remember that last time you felt so crazy and that indeed it wasn't the first time and probably won't be the last. That we all have breaking points but some of us simply have a higher threshold than others or just weird nerve centers that when you touch them they freak out. Some of the nerve centers are common, like a broken heart. Others are weird and abnormal and you'll see those on a mid-day talk show talking about how toilet paper scares them to death.
I found mine in being stuck in an airplane when we've already landed and unable to just stand up and go home, when I could literally see my destination and do nothing about it. That doesn't seem so weird when I put it like that.
A Cynical View of LA
I come from a suburb of Seattle and I can tell you that as a person who never really went into Seattle and stayed in comfy confines of the suburb, I never even had to think about parking. Whether you are going to a bar, or a friends house, or HOME, I never had to think about parking. It wasn't anywhere in my consciousness and why would it be? You go somewhere, you park there. That's it. Theres no consideration about parking and it was lovely but I took it for granted because now I live in LA and when you're going somewhere the first thing you have to think about is traffic and the 2nd thing you have to think about is parking.
What you're actually doing when you get to your destination is like the 8th or 9th thing that you consider when you live in LA. This is why people go nuts when they live in LA.
After I moved to LA I was having trouble sleeping and I would stay up for 2-3 hours wide awake and my heart beating and I didn't know why, my mind was just racing and I thought maybe this is it. Maybe this is what the days leading up to a heart attack are like? And so i kept on like that for a few months until I finally had to go see a doctor. Not for my racing heart mind you, but for something entirely different that had to be looked at immediately. If it was just chest pains, I would have probably just let it pass or died, and not gone to see the doctor, because I guess that's just how I view my life I suppose. I would rather have a racing heart beat, and chest pains, then actually have to call a doctors office, make an appointment, fucking go there... it's all too much. But when I had a painful hangnail on my thumb, I had to bite the bullet and go see the doctor.
So while I'm there, and I figure "fuck I might as well make the most of this" I told him about my inabilty to sleep. Now, the first thing I think about when I say this is "This fucking guy is going to think I just want a pot card." This is california man and I already can tell that everyone is going to the doctor complaining about stress, anxiety, insomnia, just to get a pot card and legally buy pot. And they're fucking it up for the rest of us, because i cant see any doctor taking me seriously when i say "man, i need help relaxing" when I'm a 28 year old white male. They just won't buy it.
Luckily, I was wrong and he did take me seriously, probably just by looking at me and seeing i probably would have chest pains, and he asked me "did you move ot LA in the last 6 months to a year?" and I'm like "Holy shit, how did you know that?" and he says, "well its very common for people who just move here, to freak out and have panic attacks because of how stressful the city is." and I'm like "Holy shit, are you serious?"
This is what LA does to people. Everyone talks about the traffic and the smog, but the thing that kills you is all the fucking people and expectations and hipsters and it's all just a mad fucking dash to be better than the person next to you, even if you're not trying to do that, you don't realize that you're trying to do that. Even if you came here to be a physicist and not an actor, you just take form of a Los Angelean without knowing it. All of a sudden you're judging yourself against the person next to you because self-awareness is thicker in the air than the smog.
The fact that most people who live in LA are transplants just adds to the fact that most of us are aware of a better life, yet we choose to continue living here. We know that we could find that happy medium in another city, not a place to rural and yet not a place like LA.
The doctor gave me some medication to relax and sure enough I slept like a baby and then when the medication ran out I didn't refill it, I just started sleeping better. But then as time goes on and I want to do more with my time in LA, the stress has returned. Except now instead of my heart racing, I feel like there isn't anything going on in my chest. Like I've just become a zombie and this is what it's like to be the walking dead, just going through the motions while doctors put a stethoscope up to my chest and look at my strangely like in a movie like "I can't find the heartbeat"
Yeah, that's because I have accepted the fact that I live here and the body realized that the heart was no longer necessary.
What you're actually doing when you get to your destination is like the 8th or 9th thing that you consider when you live in LA. This is why people go nuts when they live in LA.
After I moved to LA I was having trouble sleeping and I would stay up for 2-3 hours wide awake and my heart beating and I didn't know why, my mind was just racing and I thought maybe this is it. Maybe this is what the days leading up to a heart attack are like? And so i kept on like that for a few months until I finally had to go see a doctor. Not for my racing heart mind you, but for something entirely different that had to be looked at immediately. If it was just chest pains, I would have probably just let it pass or died, and not gone to see the doctor, because I guess that's just how I view my life I suppose. I would rather have a racing heart beat, and chest pains, then actually have to call a doctors office, make an appointment, fucking go there... it's all too much. But when I had a painful hangnail on my thumb, I had to bite the bullet and go see the doctor.
So while I'm there, and I figure "fuck I might as well make the most of this" I told him about my inabilty to sleep. Now, the first thing I think about when I say this is "This fucking guy is going to think I just want a pot card." This is california man and I already can tell that everyone is going to the doctor complaining about stress, anxiety, insomnia, just to get a pot card and legally buy pot. And they're fucking it up for the rest of us, because i cant see any doctor taking me seriously when i say "man, i need help relaxing" when I'm a 28 year old white male. They just won't buy it.
Luckily, I was wrong and he did take me seriously, probably just by looking at me and seeing i probably would have chest pains, and he asked me "did you move ot LA in the last 6 months to a year?" and I'm like "Holy shit, how did you know that?" and he says, "well its very common for people who just move here, to freak out and have panic attacks because of how stressful the city is." and I'm like "Holy shit, are you serious?"
This is what LA does to people. Everyone talks about the traffic and the smog, but the thing that kills you is all the fucking people and expectations and hipsters and it's all just a mad fucking dash to be better than the person next to you, even if you're not trying to do that, you don't realize that you're trying to do that. Even if you came here to be a physicist and not an actor, you just take form of a Los Angelean without knowing it. All of a sudden you're judging yourself against the person next to you because self-awareness is thicker in the air than the smog.
The fact that most people who live in LA are transplants just adds to the fact that most of us are aware of a better life, yet we choose to continue living here. We know that we could find that happy medium in another city, not a place to rural and yet not a place like LA.
The doctor gave me some medication to relax and sure enough I slept like a baby and then when the medication ran out I didn't refill it, I just started sleeping better. But then as time goes on and I want to do more with my time in LA, the stress has returned. Except now instead of my heart racing, I feel like there isn't anything going on in my chest. Like I've just become a zombie and this is what it's like to be the walking dead, just going through the motions while doctors put a stethoscope up to my chest and look at my strangely like in a movie like "I can't find the heartbeat"
Yeah, that's because I have accepted the fact that I live here and the body realized that the heart was no longer necessary.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Really Cheesy: Fortune Cookie Messages
In accordance in what I just said about pursuing my dream and playing poker and doing comedy. Here are the 6 fortune cookie messages I've accumulated recently that I've kept at my desk for no good reason at all. I've ordered them in the way I think appropriate:
Gee, aren't you laughing at this horribly cheesy and stupid post? Fuck it.
- You shall attain great wisdom with each passing year.
- Gentle hints will help you decide the best answer.
- Wise men learn more from fools, than fools from the wise.
- You will discover an unexpected treasure.
- Hold tight to your dreams.
- You will touch the hearts of many.
Gee, aren't you laughing at this horribly cheesy and stupid post? Fuck it.
I have to do it.
At some point in your life, you realize what it is you want to do.
At some point in your life, you make a plan on how you will accomplish that.
At some point in your life, you make the first step towards doing it.
What I want to do is write. I want to write comedy and be a comedian. I want to make people laugh.
This isn't something you apply for and hopefully you get the job and then they're paying you while you work towards your goal. This is something you have to sacrifice and plan for.
I am a good poker player. I have to become a great poker player. If I am a great poker player, I can have that be my full-time job. While I make my own hours, I can write comedy and do stand-up and take classes at the UCB. Poker, if you are good at it, is a unique opportunity to set your own hours. I am good. I need to become great.
Step 1 - Improve your poker game so that you can make a minimum of $50,000 a year playing.
Step 2 - Build a bankroll large enough to play poker full-time.
Step 3 - Write, Write, Write.
Step 4 - Sign up for the UCB.
This is what I want my life to be. This is what I'm starting now.
At some point in your life, you make a plan on how you will accomplish that.
At some point in your life, you make the first step towards doing it.
What I want to do is write. I want to write comedy and be a comedian. I want to make people laugh.
This isn't something you apply for and hopefully you get the job and then they're paying you while you work towards your goal. This is something you have to sacrifice and plan for.
I am a good poker player. I have to become a great poker player. If I am a great poker player, I can have that be my full-time job. While I make my own hours, I can write comedy and do stand-up and take classes at the UCB. Poker, if you are good at it, is a unique opportunity to set your own hours. I am good. I need to become great.
Step 1 - Improve your poker game so that you can make a minimum of $50,000 a year playing.
Step 2 - Build a bankroll large enough to play poker full-time.
Step 3 - Write, Write, Write.
Step 4 - Sign up for the UCB.
This is what I want my life to be. This is what I'm starting now.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A Hoodie Attitude
Am I the only person who imagines himself a lot? That sounds really vain and self-centered. What I mean is that I picture myself in a place that I will be at or might be at, and I do that a lot.
If I am imagining myself in a situation that I might be in or want to be in, I have an image in my head of myself. My mind is constantly running and my imagination is non-stop. I don't know what causes that. I don't know if that's normal. For me, it just is.
Lately, I am consistently picturing myself wearing a black hoodie. I don't know why but every time a situation comes up where I have to think about myself in a place I will be in, whether it be a date or a night out with friends, I'm wearing a black hoodie.
Not too long ago I couldn't stop thinking about myself having a little mohawk. I wanted to shave the sides of my head so badly but luckily that never really came close to happening. I have a real-life job, and I couldn't just get away with that and I knew that eventually I would look back in retrospect and realize it's not something I wanted either. It was more like a driving force that I couldn't control, telling me to do it. Hopefully not in the way that a dog told David Berkowitz to shoot people. My only crime would have been a bad haircut.
That's changed now. I don't think about the mohawk anymore. It's just a black hoodie. But why? I can only guess that it's because right now I don't want to be noticed. I want to hide my face and blend into the crowd. This isn't always the case with me and frankly it's the exact opposite of a mohawk. A mohawk says "look at me!" and a black hoodie says "don't look at me, I'm going to rob you."
Except my intention in my imagination isn't to rob people, scare people, or even necessarily fade into the darkness. I just want to be in my own world and I don't need anyone to pay attention to me. If I'm in my hoodie, you're welcome to join me in conversation. I'm not saying that I'm anti-social or anti-anything. It's just how I feel right now.
I play poker and you can usually find me in a hoodie. I don't think the hoodie gives me special powers or makes me anything special, and I don't wear it for strategy like some people wear sunglasses. I just feel more comfortable when I'm playing in my own world. Sometimes when I'm in a hand I'll throw half of the hoodie over my face and slowly breath into it. Not for strategy, not to hide anything from my opponent, but more just like a security blanket. And maybe I'm a little superstitious but most of that part of my thinking has evaporated as well. It's just that when I'm playing poker I'm doing it for myself, not for anybody else, so I'll happily live on this island alone.
I don't think that's much different than my picturing myself in a bar in a black hoodie. This is my island and I'm not here for anybody else. I've got my hood up, a beer in my hand, and I'm having just a fine time. I'm not anti-social and I'm probably the most approachable person in the bar because I find people interesting and fascinating and I love to engage in the exchanging of words. But I'm just as fine observing the others patrons here in my black hoodie. It may not be how I come off, but I'm not worried about how I come off; obviously.
By the way, I don't even own a black hoodie.
If I am imagining myself in a situation that I might be in or want to be in, I have an image in my head of myself. My mind is constantly running and my imagination is non-stop. I don't know what causes that. I don't know if that's normal. For me, it just is.
Lately, I am consistently picturing myself wearing a black hoodie. I don't know why but every time a situation comes up where I have to think about myself in a place I will be in, whether it be a date or a night out with friends, I'm wearing a black hoodie.
Not too long ago I couldn't stop thinking about myself having a little mohawk. I wanted to shave the sides of my head so badly but luckily that never really came close to happening. I have a real-life job, and I couldn't just get away with that and I knew that eventually I would look back in retrospect and realize it's not something I wanted either. It was more like a driving force that I couldn't control, telling me to do it. Hopefully not in the way that a dog told David Berkowitz to shoot people. My only crime would have been a bad haircut.
That's changed now. I don't think about the mohawk anymore. It's just a black hoodie. But why? I can only guess that it's because right now I don't want to be noticed. I want to hide my face and blend into the crowd. This isn't always the case with me and frankly it's the exact opposite of a mohawk. A mohawk says "look at me!" and a black hoodie says "don't look at me, I'm going to rob you."
Except my intention in my imagination isn't to rob people, scare people, or even necessarily fade into the darkness. I just want to be in my own world and I don't need anyone to pay attention to me. If I'm in my hoodie, you're welcome to join me in conversation. I'm not saying that I'm anti-social or anti-anything. It's just how I feel right now.
I play poker and you can usually find me in a hoodie. I don't think the hoodie gives me special powers or makes me anything special, and I don't wear it for strategy like some people wear sunglasses. I just feel more comfortable when I'm playing in my own world. Sometimes when I'm in a hand I'll throw half of the hoodie over my face and slowly breath into it. Not for strategy, not to hide anything from my opponent, but more just like a security blanket. And maybe I'm a little superstitious but most of that part of my thinking has evaporated as well. It's just that when I'm playing poker I'm doing it for myself, not for anybody else, so I'll happily live on this island alone.
I don't think that's much different than my picturing myself in a bar in a black hoodie. This is my island and I'm not here for anybody else. I've got my hood up, a beer in my hand, and I'm having just a fine time. I'm not anti-social and I'm probably the most approachable person in the bar because I find people interesting and fascinating and I love to engage in the exchanging of words. But I'm just as fine observing the others patrons here in my black hoodie. It may not be how I come off, but I'm not worried about how I come off; obviously.
By the way, I don't even own a black hoodie.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Two Thousand Relationships a Year
I sent several messages to someone online, nothing serious. Just making observations about some things they had posted online and after 4 or 5 messages I said something along the lines of "Most of my relationships go in the opposite direction of this one" as a joke.
The response was "This is not a relationship" and my response was "I was using the term loosely. You have a relationship with a person you're waiting at the same stop light as, on some level."
I guess I had never really dived into that concept before. I had thought about it a little bit maybe, but then I really started to think about it. We do develop mini-relationships all of the time. Most relationships will last under five minutes, but truthfully we aren't always aware of how to identify those.
I get what the person I was messaging meant, and her intent of the message was right; this was not a "relationship" in the classical sense. This wasn't someone I was dating or even trying to date or had even met. This was just a person I had interacted with. We exchanged words. It was no more of a relationship than what you might expect from your waiter at Applebee's.
We start these kinds of relationships all of the time. In the movie (or book if you prefer) Fight Club, the Narrator describes "Single-serving friends." That during his travels, especially airplane rides, it was just a pre-determined amount of time you would be forced into a relationship with the person sitting next to you and then it was over. Of course, this is not always the case.
In Fight Club, it became much more than a single-serving friend. But the gist of the idea is correct, and sometimes a single-serving friend can last even shorter than an airplane ride. How often do you even really speak to the person sitting next to you? Do you ever speak to a stranger on the bus? To the person behind you in line at the grocery store?
Probably not. But once there is a mutual awareness of each others existence you've developed a tiny relationship. You don't have a relationship with Barack Obama. You know of his existence, but he doesn't know of yours, therefore you aren't interacting, exchanging, helping, or deterring one another. However, what if the person next to you on the bus has a heart attack? What would you do?
Whether you help them or ignore them, you're making a decision about this person whether it affects either one of you or not. You are thrown into these mini-relationships constantly and they rarely will affect you, but sometimes they will change you.
Let's say that on average you interact with 5 new people a day. To me, this is a conservative estimate. Very conservative. You might say "I haven't interacted with 5 people this entire week" but is that really your average week? Are you just an eccentric recluse? If you go to the store, go to a restaurant, go to a Starbucks, go to work, go to school, call your credit card company and speak to a customer service representative, leave the house, how many people are you really interacting with? Maybe you spend an entire weekend at home but there will still be days where you might interact with 30 people.
But for arguments sake lets say you average 5 a day. That's 1,825 new interactions a year. I like round numbers and I think I was being conservative, so let's call it 2,000. Two thousand tiny to major relationships and interactions every year.
Let's say that 99% of those mean very little. A nod to a stranger walking down the street. A door you open for an elderly couple. An angry driver that you cut off in traffic. They happened, they past, they'll never come back to you. 99%. That extra 1% leaves you with a full 20 people that won't be single-serving friends. 20 people.
You can never be sure who those 20 people will be. The stranger walking down the street that becomes a friend. The elderly couple that gives you a job. The angry driver that smashes into your rear bumper. The handshake that becomes a spouse. 2000 opportunities to make 20 important relationships every year.
So every time you do interact with another person, how will you treat them?
Every time I make a call into a company for customer service, I try to treat the rep with as much respect as possible. Even if I am angry and call in to complain about a mistake they made, or a misunderstanding, or an interruption in service, I know not only that it is not the CSR's fault, but that they will interact with 100's of people a day. Most of those people probably do treat them like shit. I don't need to add to that. I try to be the best customer that they'll talk to every day, and we mutually benefit. I get fees waived all the time, and I hopefully bring a smile to their face.
If everybody tries to do something for everybody else, then everybody wins. When you take the chance and believe you don't need anyone else to get where you need to be, you're gambling that you're perfect. How many perfect people have you met? If you're 30 years old, and interacted with 60,000 people in your life, I guarantee 0% of those people were perfect. You don't need to be a math major to know the answer to that.
The response was "This is not a relationship" and my response was "I was using the term loosely. You have a relationship with a person you're waiting at the same stop light as, on some level."
I guess I had never really dived into that concept before. I had thought about it a little bit maybe, but then I really started to think about it. We do develop mini-relationships all of the time. Most relationships will last under five minutes, but truthfully we aren't always aware of how to identify those.
I get what the person I was messaging meant, and her intent of the message was right; this was not a "relationship" in the classical sense. This wasn't someone I was dating or even trying to date or had even met. This was just a person I had interacted with. We exchanged words. It was no more of a relationship than what you might expect from your waiter at Applebee's.
We start these kinds of relationships all of the time. In the movie (or book if you prefer) Fight Club, the Narrator describes "Single-serving friends." That during his travels, especially airplane rides, it was just a pre-determined amount of time you would be forced into a relationship with the person sitting next to you and then it was over. Of course, this is not always the case.
In Fight Club, it became much more than a single-serving friend. But the gist of the idea is correct, and sometimes a single-serving friend can last even shorter than an airplane ride. How often do you even really speak to the person sitting next to you? Do you ever speak to a stranger on the bus? To the person behind you in line at the grocery store?
Probably not. But once there is a mutual awareness of each others existence you've developed a tiny relationship. You don't have a relationship with Barack Obama. You know of his existence, but he doesn't know of yours, therefore you aren't interacting, exchanging, helping, or deterring one another. However, what if the person next to you on the bus has a heart attack? What would you do?
Whether you help them or ignore them, you're making a decision about this person whether it affects either one of you or not. You are thrown into these mini-relationships constantly and they rarely will affect you, but sometimes they will change you.
Let's say that on average you interact with 5 new people a day. To me, this is a conservative estimate. Very conservative. You might say "I haven't interacted with 5 people this entire week" but is that really your average week? Are you just an eccentric recluse? If you go to the store, go to a restaurant, go to a Starbucks, go to work, go to school, call your credit card company and speak to a customer service representative, leave the house, how many people are you really interacting with? Maybe you spend an entire weekend at home but there will still be days where you might interact with 30 people.
But for arguments sake lets say you average 5 a day. That's 1,825 new interactions a year. I like round numbers and I think I was being conservative, so let's call it 2,000. Two thousand tiny to major relationships and interactions every year.
Let's say that 99% of those mean very little. A nod to a stranger walking down the street. A door you open for an elderly couple. An angry driver that you cut off in traffic. They happened, they past, they'll never come back to you. 99%. That extra 1% leaves you with a full 20 people that won't be single-serving friends. 20 people.
You can never be sure who those 20 people will be. The stranger walking down the street that becomes a friend. The elderly couple that gives you a job. The angry driver that smashes into your rear bumper. The handshake that becomes a spouse. 2000 opportunities to make 20 important relationships every year.
So every time you do interact with another person, how will you treat them?
Every time I make a call into a company for customer service, I try to treat the rep with as much respect as possible. Even if I am angry and call in to complain about a mistake they made, or a misunderstanding, or an interruption in service, I know not only that it is not the CSR's fault, but that they will interact with 100's of people a day. Most of those people probably do treat them like shit. I don't need to add to that. I try to be the best customer that they'll talk to every day, and we mutually benefit. I get fees waived all the time, and I hopefully bring a smile to their face.
If everybody tries to do something for everybody else, then everybody wins. When you take the chance and believe you don't need anyone else to get where you need to be, you're gambling that you're perfect. How many perfect people have you met? If you're 30 years old, and interacted with 60,000 people in your life, I guarantee 0% of those people were perfect. You don't need to be a math major to know the answer to that.
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