Life Unraveled

Here is the scenario:  a young man drops a stack of books as he is walking by you.  He may or may not have been distracted by his cell phone as they come crashing to the ground.  Maybe he was just in a hurry, who knows.  Do you: a) Stop whatever you are doing and help him pick them up, b) Observe it all but still keep walking, or c) Have no reaction completely. You missed the whole thing.  Heck, you have your own crap going on! Such was the social experiment being conducted for a psychology class by a collegiate friend of mine and her fellow classmates earlier this week in busy downtown Honolulu.  One member of the group would walk along innocently and get distracted, dropping his books and papers into a messy pile on the sidewalk.  Then the real fun begins.  Time to observe the reactions!  I sat and watched probably ten rounds of this little "candid camera" moment.  What did I see?  Well, more often...

There is so much to be grateful for.  I love when I realize it at the strangest times. Yesterday was a typically hectic Friday morning at work (does everybody want coffee on Fridays or what?).  So there I was taking orders, chatting with our regulars, and swinging back and forth between probably ten different tasks when I bent down to open the small refrigerator that holds our breakfast sandwiches.  As I opened it, a singular thought scrolled through my head, as if someone was actually whispering the words directly in my ear, loud enough to be heard over the music and din of conversation that was erupting all around me.   It was this: I am so grateful to have this job.      Wow, I thought.  I  am grateful. This realization helped keep me focused and light all the way through the morning rush, long after my espresso buzz had ceased.  ...

I didn't know Steve Jobs.   In fact, before today I hadn't given him much thought.  Of course I knew he was the Apple guy.  I also knew he was the Macintosh guy back in the day, when I was a precocious second-grader and would spend hours playing "Lemonade Stand" on one of his bigger-than-a-breadbox creations from the 80's.  I knew he was a rich man, perhaps the richest of them all.  But today upon hearing of his passing, I read some of his quotes.  It was then that I realized, hey, maybe I do know Steve Jobs.  Maybe we all do.  And no, I'm not smoking anything.  I heard the news of his passing via Facebook.  That is pretty much how I get all of my news these days.  I looked at Facebook on my smartphone, and while I do not own the iconic I-Phone, the device I used was undoubtedly inspired by Mr. Jobs' creations at Apple.  I scrolled through many of my friends' posts, all wishing him godspeed.  ...

Last Thursday, I was strolling into work mid-morning when I heard a regular female customer make the following announcement upon seeing me: "There he is!  We were just talking about you, Paul." To me, that is never a good thing.  It almost always implies guilt on the part of the speaker, especially when no further explanation is offered up.  Such was the case this time, and so I smiled and nodded a quick "oh really?" response, and kept on trucking to the back room.  When I came back out onto the floor to start my shift, I was pulled aside by my co-worker Corona, who had been a part of this little conversation about moi.    "You know what that customer just said about you?" she asked.   I looked at her.  Not a clue.  But now I had to know.    "She was just asking me what you were going to do with the rest of your life." Oh, really?   Or should I say (more appropriately), OH REALLY???????!!!! ...