TWO POSTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE…
1. WAAAAAH!
I just saw a story on Yahoo called, “Men In Heterosexual Marriages Will Never Understand.” The waaaah factor was incredible.
This woman was exasperated by how difficult it was to change her name everywhere after marriage. She had to jump through hoop after hoop.
Yup! But you only do it once … that is, unless you divorce and re-marry. It also makes life more convenient because you can pick up each other’s prescriptions without an explanation, the bank has no problem with YOU signing HIS checks for deposit in your joint account, the school doesn’t bat an eye when one parent shows up to pick up the kid on Monday, but another shows up on Tuesday. Same last name gives you ease of function for the rest of your life.
But, wait! Most of the things she is crying about both men and women must DO as well every time they change address. In fact, we just had our estate plan re-written (after moving to a different state because the laws here are different than there), and guess what! Yessir! Same crap!
For one, to change the details of beneficiaries on my life insurance policy … it took 4 hours because the company’s website only accepts changes from ONE browsing platform (but they don’t tell you which one). So after failing to get the changes three times, I was forced to call (think 30 minutes on hold), after which they sent a secure email thingy which had poor instructions, 45 minutes filling it out and returning it. But, there’s more. Got a letter that said they couldn’t make the changes because they needed more info… Waaaaah! (Should I do a TikTok video to complain?)
At my point in life, just moving across the street means I have to contact roughly 100 businesses, utilities, county offices, voter registration, driver’s licensing, investments, banks, etc. Like I will say in the next paragraph, it doesn’t get any easier for adults. Most want proof of who you are, documents, signatures, confirmations, bills at the new address. It can take weeks. Get used to it…this is what adults do.
My point is: Suck it up! You are an adult now (one hopes). Life never gets easier once you join the adult world. No one, except royalty and the very rich, are “special” and they merely pay others to do the crappy stuff for them.
2. MAGICAL SELF BELIEFS
I know many who have magical beliefs, myself included.
For instance, I met a teen who had no fear of water. He saw others swimming at the deep end of a pond, so he jumped in. First, he couldn’t swim. He had never learned. Second, he had never been in water that deep before. That’s how many teens die, by the way. One non-swimmer died in a small lake near our home in 6 feet of water. However, this particular teen, out of lack of fear, just floated to the edge … then did it again. And again. He magically believed that he could not sink.
Dogs (and other animals). There are many who magically believe they are God’s gift to animals. They “know” that dogs love them. I once had this magical belief, too. It is easy to imagine. Your own pet loves you so, you imagine, all dogs will love you. Those people never met my mother-in-law’s dog. It despised everyone and only tolerated us because we fed him. Unfortunately, we inherited him when my MIL entered a nursing home. He was oddly cute, and, almost everyone who met that dog imagined that THEY had a magical ability to relate to him. They would bend down, face close to that snarling animal and reach out a bare hand to pet it when its hair was on end and tail was not wagging. We repeatedly warned people to ignore the thing. We knew that one day it was going to bite someone. Yes. It did. To the bone.
People magically imagine they can pet wild animals, like bison and elk and beavers. It is a foolish belief. Some have died. Many rued the day. And, many paid fines. Leave the wild animals alone!
Directions. Almost everyone, except my wife and three other people I know*, magically believe they cannot become lost. (*One of which never drives anywhere she has not been before.) I visited my college daughter in Phoenix years ago. I had never been there before. It is an odd city where many surface streets run in a grid, but almost none of the 4-lane ones do. It was late in the day and my daughter drove us on the winding paths out to a park on the rim somewhere (it took 45 minutes). I pointed in a particular direction and confidently said, “Campus is that way.” Of course I was correct. I have a magical sense of direction. Or do I?
We have been living in our new home for over two years. Unlike the majority of homes in this city, it sits correctly on a compass (north, south, east, west walls). Yet, I never point in the correct direction when talking about something south, north, east, or west of us. Is this house in a “twilight zone?” My magical sense of direction does not work here.
Magical thinking is everywhere. Lots of people (maybe you, too?) have magical thoughts about “being able to hold one’s liquor,” money, child rearing, mental health, and the ability to balance on the edge of a cliff while taking a selfie. Just ask them.
Copyright 2023 Donald Whelpley
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere. ~ Sherry]
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