Reflections On Day-To-Day Living
Monday: From the get-go, the world was my oyster. Woke up with a "seize the day!" mentality that never waned. Got in a good workout, ate a hearty breakfast and never looked back. Socially, everything just clicked, from amusing small talk and the occasional lightning quick repartee (for those who could keep up) to a heartfelt reunion with a childhood friend I hadn't seen in twenty-plus years. There was plenty of good fortune, too, with seemingly every traffic light turning green on my approach along with a chance discovery of a bill I'd overlooked resulting in me quickly paying it sans late charges. Plus, I somehow lost three pounds without dieting. I even managed to fit in a frame at the bowling alley, tying my personal best. Oh, and for a touch of the sublime, I stopped my car at a busy intersection to assist an elderly woman having difficulty pushing her shopping cart across a pothole-ravaged crosswalk only to be met with applause from a bevy of onlooking motorists. And, the capper, I hit for $200 on a lottery scratch ticket, something I attempt maybe once yearly. So yeah, one hell of a day!
Tuesday: Was the craziest thing; I woke up late (I never wake up late), forced to settle for a cup of day-old coffee as I headed out the door, tripping over my "Welcome" mat and chipping a tooth on the railing in the process. Got in the car and... nothing. An hour later I'm waving goodbye to the AAA guy who installed a new battery, hitting me up for a large chunk of my $200 lottery winnings from the day before. My small talk was smaller than usual, my banter anything but lightning quick and damned if I didn't catch just about every red light possible. And if any old ladies were crossing an intersection that day I wasn't paying attention, put off by my throbbing tooth that had me sitting in the dentist's chair the entire latter half of the afternoon. To think that all of this could be remedied by my hitting on another scratch ticket turned out to be a pipe dream. I gave the state lottery back all they'd staked me and more. So yeah, one hell of a day!
Totally nuts, right, how one 24-hour period can be so drastically different than the last? Even when the variables really don't vary. On both occasions you could be well-rested, feeling carefree, enjoying good health and basking in the same mild, sunny, Chamber of Commerce day, but what plays out couldn't be more different. So, what gives? What's the "it" factor? Amazingly, I have the incontrovertible answer right here, information that will solve this age-old question, once and for all... Okay, so if you even entertained the thought that this may be true it's time to up your meds and seek therapy (at least twice weekly to start). The fact is, it's all a crapshoot. There is no rhyme or reason, no pie-in-the-sky answer, no magic crystal ball. Just another of life's many mysteries, right up there with the questions, "What really happens after death?" and "Which of the Baldwin brothers is the most obnoxious?" (it's Billy, isn't it?).
So yeah, I get that I'm not bringing anything new to the table here. This "every day is different" perception has been going on since God introduced a beautiful, unclad woman named Eve to Adam one day and then kicked him out of the garden for taking her advice the next. It's the ramifications of this realization that intrigue me. That not knowing what's up from day to day creates uncertainty. And with uncertainty comes fear. And when fear makes the scene?... yeah, the sharks can't be far behind. That's right, we're talkin' people (institutions, really) that come out of the woodwork with a warm and fuzzy blanket, offering to cuddle up alongside you and nurse you through that rainy day or protect you from that other shoe about to drop. Yeah, we're talkin' "insurance", i.e., health, life, vehicle, renters, homeowners, disability, business owners, pet and more. Just their way of trying to recreate a better day. Ya know, in the form of compensation based on you paying them monthly. Every month. Year after year. For the rest of your life.
Huh, got a little dark there. Sorry. I'll explain: Today's blog is actually a product of two divergent events. First, that misplaced bill I discovered in time to pay before getting a late fee?... yeah, another damn insurance premium (they just won't stop!). That, coupled with an earlier trip to the convenience store where the clerk had "Groundhog Day" on his TV--the flick where Bill Murray's character, Phil, experiences the same exact day over and over again. Anyway, I got to the counter just as Phil chances upon Ned Ryerson, an unctuous old high school classmate, who's attempting to sell him single premium life insurance and the realization hits me: Because of Phil's "every day's the same day" predicament, insurance would be the last thing he'd need. It'd be totally pointless. I smiled to myself over the aha moment, mildly amused at how two seemingly unattached ideas could dovetail out of nowhere. "Something to write about, maybe?", I thought to myself as the clerk handed me my requested dozen lottery scratch tickets... Yeah, I think I may have a gambling problem.