A Funny Thing Happened In The Supermarket

Well, I'm not sure that it was actually funny but what I observed at the supermarket today certainly had me scratching my head. As I put my groceries through the checkout a family at the checkout opposite me caught my attention. The father appeared to have his hands full with four small children as he loaded the bags into his shopping cart. One of the children, a little girl probably six years of age had helped herself to a packet of lollies and had wandered out beyond the checkout with them to where her father was. She asked him if she could have the lollies to which he replied, "no, put them back". The little girl ignored her father, sat down on a seat, and proceeded to peel the wrapping from the pack.

I watched as the little girl made a complete mess of the packet of lollies, making it impossible for them to be put back on the shelf for re-sale and wondered when the father was going to take the lollies and put them through the checkout with the rest of his groceries. To my amazement he, his wife and the remaing three children left the supermarket after paying for their groceries, leaving the little girl still sitting on the seat with her demolished, (and unpaid-for) packet of lollies.

Once the little girl realised that the rest of the family had left without her, she ran out in a panic desperately trying to catch them up, her precious packet of lollies still in hand. Her father turned to her, saw the lollies and guess what he did. Nothing. Instead he continued on to the car park and said nothing to his daughter.

I just stood there in bewilderment. Now those lollies probably only cost about a dollar but that's not the point. The little girl is too young to know that what she did has a name for it. It's called shoplifting. The father knew and chose to do nothing. So what sort of message does this send to his child? It's ok. Take what you want whenever you want, even if your parents tell you not to because there are no consequences.

I'm sure he was stressed doing the shopping and taking care of the kids and it was probably more a case of giving in because he couldn't be bothered dealing with it at the time. It's still not right in my book. Whether it's a packet of lollies or a plasma screen television, the principle remains the same.

So what are we teaching our children? Was this a justifiable act on the parent's part or am I beginning to sound like a cranky old man with nothing better to whine about? What do you think?

Friendships

Some friendships last a lifetime. There are people I've known since my school days, (some thirty years ago now), who will always be there. It doesn't matter if we don't talk for a year or even years. We can always pick up the telephone and pick up where we left off. It goes without saying that if either of us ever was in need that we could count on the other for help and support.

But friendships come in varying shapes and sizes and not all friendships last a lifetime. There are friends we socialise with but never divulge our innermost secrets too. There are friends we run into occasionally by accident who are probably more like aquaintances but still we stop to take the time to say hello, swap stories and then have no contact until the next time we run into each other at the shopping mall and feel obliged to give each other the time of day. There are also friends who've played a significant role in our lives at some point but for one reason or another are no longer a part of our lives and will never ever be so again.

I think back to milestones like my thirthieth and fortieth birthdays and recall the people who were there to celebrate with me. The funny thing is that no-one from my thirthieth was there to share my forthieth. Transient friends? Friends who were couples break up. My own marriage disintegrated and couples who were friends went one way or the other. Things change and people move in and out of your life. That's how it goes.

Let's not forget the social networking revolution. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, and now Twitter have spawned new friendships with people from all over the globe. These are people we've connected with, shared intimate details of our lives with, but often never met in person. Some of these people, too, have come into our lives and made a brief impact only to disappear likes ships in the night, never to be seen or heard from again.

Only time will tell but I believe everyone comes into our lives for a reason. We may not be immediately aware of their purpose but we learn from our experiences and our interactions with our fellow human beings. Life is a series of lessons and we learn much from the friendships we forge along the way.

Boredom.

"I'm bored". It's something you've probably heard your kids say a million times and you roll your eyes and wonder how on earth that could be. After all, there's TV, DVD's, Playstation, X-Box, Nintendo, computer, books, board games, music and of course just getting outside and engaging in a physical activity of sorts. Anyway, that's what we tell our kids but here am I sitting at home alone tonight and guess what? Yep, I'm bored.

Ok, it's cold, wet, and windy outside so we can rule that out straight up. I don't want to watch TV, or play video games, or watch a DVD, or surf the net, or read a book, or play my guitar, or call my mum, or catch up with a friend. I don't want to do anything. Why? Because I'M BORED!

Then I had a bright idea. Why don't I write a blog about it? So here it is. I'm still at a loss to explain this feeling of boredom when there are so many options available to me to ensure that I don't go stark raving mad. Is it laziness? Have I been working too hard and I'm tired...but not tired enough to go to bed? I often use this word to describe the feeling....BLAH!

Well, writing this has given me temporary relief at least. I only hope I haven't bored you in the process. Think I'll call it a night.

Twitter: Why Am I Here Again?

Ok, I did it. I joined Twitter. Why? Well, I'm still not sure of the answer to that myself. It seems that everyone's talking about it and if I really want to stay connected then maybe I should be on it too. Hey, I'm already on MySpace and Facebook so why not? If you've read my other blog, music angle, then you'll be well aware that as a musician I'm looking for opportunities to promote my music. I figured that I'd better be on Twitter as well if I'm serious about having an online presence.

So now I find myself with yet another social networking site to maintain. At this point in time the jury's still out on the overall value of Twitter to me both personally and professionally. It appears to be an extremely watered-down version of the other "popular" sites in that all you can do is post a couple of sentences at a time. Hey, I can do that now on those "other" sites. No problem, I'll just search for a few people I already know who may be on Twitter and "follow" them. That's right, "follow"! Not be friends with them, just follow them. Hmmm, maybe they'll follow me too. After all, what's the point in posting these bite-sized updates of my life if no-one is interested in reading them? So far that's not working out so great. I "followed" but that doesn't necessarily mean I will be "followed" in return.

If you're reading this please put me out of my misery and prove to me that someone, someone, is actually taking notice and jump on my bandwagon. If you're on Twitter you can find me at: www.twitter.com/facetheworld

Go ahead, make my day....and as the saying goes, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". See you on Twitter?

Saying "Yes"

I just finished watching Jim Carrey's movie, "Yes Man" for the second time. Now I'd have to say that while this is not one of Jim's best films there are certainly some moments of brilliance and a particularly good supporting comedic role from New Zealand's Rhys Darby. But I'm not here to talk about the film so much as the concept behind it....saying "yes".

Saying yes to everything in a literal sense is obviously crazy and could potentially lead to more trouble than it's worth, (watch the movie and you'll see how). However, while the film is poking fun at the likes of motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins and various religious crusaders, the message of "yes" is not quite as silly as the writers may have you believe. We often overlook opportunities in our lives primarily as a result of fear. We tell ourselves that an opportunity is too good to be true or we don't believe in ourselves enough to even try. Sometimes these things manifest themselves later in our lives in the form of regret.

Life is what you make it. It can be dull and boring or it can be filled with adventure. Next time an opportunity presents itself think about "yes"!

Living In Paradise

It's so easy to take things for granted. Hey, if living in a free country like Australia isn't enough then how about living in beautiful northern New South Wales? That's right. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am.

Yesterday as I was "vegging out" in front of the TV I stumbled across a program featuring Paul Mercurio, (the guy from "Strictly Ballroom"...remember him)? He was roaming about the Tweed Valley spruiking about how wonderful it was, enlightening us with it's history and sampling some mouth-watering local cuisine. My partner, who happens to be Canadian became very excited and proceeded to reinforce to me how fortunate we were to live in this glorious part of the world.

It went something like this:
World-heritage listed national parks including Mt. Warning, pristine golden beaches, rainforests, the Tweed River, sub-tropical maritime climate, peaceful, natural lving environment, etc, etc, etc.

If you haven't visited the Tweed then do yourself a favour, (yes, I know Molly Meldrum probably has a trademark on that saying. Lol). Next time you get off the plane at Coolangatta Airport make a right turn instead of a left and discover the Tweed for yourself. You won't be disappointed....in fact you may never want to leave.

The Joy Of Writing

Well, here I am. I finally bit the bullet and decided to become a blogger. Yes, I've dabbled with a few blogs on My Space in the past but it's time to get serious and start writing! I figured that if I'm here on "blogger" then I've got to write something...something...anything!

The other day while I was going through some boxes in the garage I came across an old schoolbook from the second grade and some short stories and comics that I'd written as a ten year old. As I read through my childhood writings I realised what a creative mind I had once possessed and wondered what on earth had happened to it over the ensuing years. How did I ever think of that stuff back then? Has my life become cluttered by the "everyday" resulting in some kind of "writer's block"?

Writing is fun. It's therapeutic. It's good for the soul. That's the approach I intend to take. That's why I'm here. I'm here for the joy of writing. I hope to use this page as a vehicle of self-expression so who knows where it will lead me or what content will pour forth as I scrape away the rust and pry open the door to my creativity.

The key as I see it is to just write...write....write. Enjoy!