Category: commentary

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No Fair

no-fair-480Fair (adj): free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice.

Wow. I think this is the first time I’ve ever actually looked up that word, but just looking at the definition I can see why one of the most repeated phrases I hear no matter where I am is, “That’s not fair!” Because, obviously, nothing is fair in life. There is always bias. There will always be dishonest people and dishonest practices. And injustice is the one thing that has woven the fabric of history together into the varied quilt it has become. So, why then do we still feel like everything has to be fair for us in our lives? Why don’t we just accept the fact that “fair” is a misnomer and always will be? Wouldn’t we be better off that way?

The simple answer is no. The more complex answer also ends with no, and for a variety of reasons.

Continue reading “No Fair”

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Lost

“If you’re following me, you’re lost too.” – phrase read off the bumper sticker on an SUV. I almost followed it after reading those words. Everyone gets lost once in a while, and some are lost more often than not. We’ve all heard tales of men who refuse to ask for directions, and of women … Continue reading Lost

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Happy Endings

Or do they?

“All this time you were pretending. So much for my happy ending.” – Avril Lavigne

Do we honestly still believe in happy endings, in this world full of so many that go the opposite way? I think about all the young people who die before their time, in house fires set by smoking parents, in the line of fire during a gang shooting, in a car driven by another young person going way too fast, or even by taking their own lives. And I am also reminded of the high number of relationships that go bad and devastate both people who had a huge stake in them, of the drug users who waste away their lives as addicts, and of the natural disasters that destroy families and their possessions, forcing them to try and recover or to completely give up. And yet, despite all of these examples to the negative, and in spite of statistics that say otherwise, I still believe in happy endings.

And you ask me why. Continue reading “Happy Endings”

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Pillow Talk

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I guess I’m a side sleeper.

You know how it is when you’re shopping for a new pillow, right? First, you have to determine what type of sleeper you are. It’s crazy all the types that are out there, like side sleepers, back sleepers, and stomach sleepers. For some reason I don’t remember all of that when I was young. I remember it was just all about hardness or softness of the pillow, and every single one of our pillows was hard. I guess hard meant cheaper, but now there are all these ergonomically correct pillows, this memory foam that adjusts itself to your normal pattern of head placement. And those types of pillows are $35 dollars and higher! Wow, I don’t think those cheap, hard pillows did that much damage to my head that I would consider paying that kind of money for one single pillow.

Except, I did buy one of those pillows. Let me explain. Continue reading “Pillow Talk”

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How to Be Unpopular

I had an afro a long time ago, but after afros were really popular and before they came back into style. I am just such a cool individual that way. Well, at least that’s what I told myself when I was fighting for an hour every morning to keep that thing styled just right without messing it up. Yeah, those were the days. Then I shaved it all off right after the shaved head look died out. I just couldn’t catch a break.

I was never popular, but not for a lack of trying. I respect all those people who say they’re comfortable with themselves and they don’t need to impress anyone, but I think that is just something people say. I at least have an innate need to please other people and to fit in, and when I inevitably don’t fit in or please certain people I feel like a big fat failure.

You can imagine how high school was for me. Continue reading “How to Be Unpopular”