Drops in a Puddle

January 11, 2013

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  Prompt for January 11th, 2013: When was the last time you remember laughing so hard your sides hurt, your smiling muscles were sore, and your eyes were tearing up? What were you laughing at?
Please keep in mind that I often find humor in the most mundane things. The last time I remember laughing that hard was a couple of years ago. I was at work, and I had gone outside to smoke with one of my coworkers. She was very shy and tomboyish.

We worked on the second floor of a building, and when we went outside, we could see the parking lot of the building below us. I was standing in a little cubbyhole close to the door and, while I could peek around the corner and look down to the parking lot below, the people below were unable to see me. My coworker, however, was leaning against the building (there's a deck around the building that we were standing on), arms crossed in what I'm sure she thought was a cool stance.

I looked down to the parking lot and spied a man bending over to get something out of his car, and I immediately noticed that his Incredible Hulk boxers were exposed. Bored with the monotony of work and just a bit mischievous in general, I yelled "I like your underwear!" and hurriedly returned to my cubbyhole. I heard a startled "Umm, thank you?" from down below, and I could only imagine what he thought of my coworker, arms crossed, looking all nonchalant, boldly saying that to him.

She and I were good friends, so she quickly forgave me (and paid me back later - a story for another day), but it took me an hour to stop laughing. You had to be there.

"Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum"  January 11, 2013: What childhood lesson has always stuck with you?
This one is a bit tough, because most of the lessons I learned in childhood have stuck with me. Treat others how you want to be treated. Always put forth your best effort. The list goes on. However, I think the lesson that has benefited me the most is "Money can't buy happiness."

I remember being upset as a child when my parents couldn't afford to buy me the latest hundred dollar jeans that many of my friends had been flaunting. My parents sat me down and reminded me that those jeans didn't make my friends better or happier people. While that didn't mean much to a frustrated thirteen-year-old, years later, it would become very beneficial.

I have had opportunities to advance at the expense of others. But, because of that childhood lesson, I didn't take advantage of those opportunities. What good would that advancement provide if I couldn't sleep at night? I know that I could have a flashy car, a big house and all of the latest gadgets, but how much could I really enjoy those things if obtaining them had caused someone else pain?

I am sometimes naive, and it is obvious that some people weren't taught that lesson or didn't choose to take it seriously. As a result, I have been one of the "others" many times, being used to help someone else advance. Still, I believe that I have made the right decisions, and I would rather not have something if I have to hurt others to obtain it.