I looked up the word
opinionated to see if the dictionary could define it any better than how I knew it to be. Well, at least I found out that I could be opinionatedly opinionated in my opinionatedness...or just plain
self-opinionated. And I've always had an issue with people being too hardheaded about ideas that seem to require more room for
adjustment, or at least more room for compromise. But in the same breath I'd have to say that the attitude of
swalpa adjust maadi (Kannada for "please adjust" or "kindly adjust"...often a last resort at pathetic placation) drives me up the fucking wall! But hey, that's my opinion, right?
And all of a sudden I'm reminded of a beauty that I first came across courtesy the
blizzardofoz...it went a little something like this:
Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one. That's a keeper for daaaamn sure!
And I guess I've always battled the need to find a middle ground or a path that falls between both extremes. It's been a struggle, believe you me, but until now it's been a rather headless struggle. Why? Well, for the most part there seemed to be this divide, a sort of un-bridgeable chasm, that exists between the way things
should be and the way things are. This extends to people as well, but the same confusion reigns supreme. And the intense effort that I put into reconciling both of these
ways often gave me a headache. Yeah man, if you've come this far you're probably thinking "What a fucking idiot this guy is". And I agree with you...it hurts, but I agree with you one hundred percent. But it's been a slow learning process, and I guess it was just part of the 'being me' bit that I finally had to get used to.
I'm not even referring to situations where things
(yes, the dreaded but proverbial things that people refer to in an effort to be specifically general) take ages to happen or run on the if-I-didn't-hear-it-so-goddamn-often-it'd-actually-still-be-funny
Indian Stretchable Time. Nor am I referring to how plans that have been made, or even half-baked, seem to always go awry. I'm just referring to how people sometimes don't seem to be motivated to be different...or to work in ways that are possibly, God forbid, more efficient and productive. What? An anti-efficiency campaign? Or worse, people who are opposed to a better way of life? Surprised? Don't be...look around you, it's happening all the time.
There are people you see doing something in a manner that isn't necessarily to your liking, so you adopt one of two ways of changing the
status quo: 1) You try and show the person how to do this better, or 2) You sit and crib to the person, or a neighboring
friendly ear, about how
you/these people will never improve because they never learn...regardless of whether you've actually resorted to Option 1 before, or not. And I kept seeing this day in and day out, and I became that friendly ear that people kept complaining to, and there came a point at which all this information became unbearable. Wait, I guess a more accurate way of saying it would be all the information AND the many many complaints, all my own mind you, tipped the scales in favor of being unbearable. And then the frustration kicked in. Nothing was ever good enough. Nothing seemed to be working. I couldn't see to try and improve the way things were. And if another person came up to me and gave me some shit about "But you can't take a horse to water and make it drink" I'd kill them!
But there's an antidote to this. I'd hate to say that
The Rock, together with
Wyclef Jean, coined a rather apt phrase when he said, "
It doesn't matter!" But he's right dammit! I mean, it doesn't matter at the end of it all. And that's what's important. So some days you find that shit happens. And on other days you find that shit doesn't happen. What does that mean? Nothing. Not a goddamn fucking thing!
I have to say that it feels great to be sitting here with this sudden realization...if nothing else, because I can continue to spew all my opinionated crap and not worry about doing it. On the other hand, I also seem to reserve the right to tell people to
shut the hell up if I'm not in the mood to listen to what they have to say. And that's alright with me. Yes! It is alright with me. Oh, having said that, if you think any of this is "Unacceptable" a la Victor Navorski, then shut the fuck up! Hahahaha!
I don't give a fuck!..."And that's the bottom line!"