EVERYDAY MYSTERIES

Random questions from a rambling mind....

Why do people rush like mad to get to work...and then complain about their jobs?
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Why does anyone take up smoking anymore? I can sort of understand people who are in their 40's or older smoking. I still remember the Marlboro man, and still recall the jingle, "Winston tastes good...like a cigarette should". I can blame Madison Avenue I suppose and justify folks from my age group and above being addicted.

For the life of me, it's a complete mystery why anyone in their 20's smokes. For their entire lives they have known of the proven dangers of smoking. That doesn't even take into the account the cost. When I was a kid cigarettes where 50 cents a pack; I smoked for many years before quitting in my late 20's. Even then I think I was paying less than a dollar a pack. Now the price for cigarettes has to be close to 3 dollars a pack. If you're a pack or two a day smoker there literally are drug habits that are cheaper.

It's expensive. It makes you smell bad. It turns your teeth yellow, and there's a good chance it will kill you.

Yet I still see young adults everywhere smoking.

Amy and I don't go to many bars, but I recall on one occasion being in a bar playing darts and noticing that every single person in the bar, including the waitress and the bartender, were smoking. We were the only non-smokers.

Maybe smoke clouds your brain.
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Why do people wait endlessly to get into a parking space that is perhaps 30 feet closer to a store entrance than another spot down the row? I see this all the time. I'll drive into a parking lot and there will be someone patiently waiting for another driver to pull out. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes or more, but they'll wait. To the best of my discernment, these people are not handicapped in any way, and there are open spaces only a few yards away, but still there is something about getting the closest spot. What that is, I don't know.

I've given some people the benefit of the doubt, moms with a passel of young kids, older folks who perhaps don't qualify as handicapped but for whom walking is still a chore. I can even justify it if the weather is really bad, although if it's pouring rain, you're really going to be about as wet if you dash 20 feet to your parking space or 80. More often than not though, the weather is beautiful and I wonder why anyone wouldn't enjoy having a few extra moments in the sun before having to deal with the doldrums of shopping or the looming menace of traffic.

I don't get it, but every time I go to a store, there is always someone waiting...waiting for that special spot.

We all need our space I suppose.

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Why do drivers in heavy traffic insist on getting around the car in front of them, when they can see full well that there are a bunch of other cars all packed together only a few yards ahead and this pattern repeats itself over and over and over again for miles?

I've been in a hurry plenty of times in my life...and certainly I've been frustrated in traffic, but this idea that somehow your situation will improve if you can only zip around the guy in front of you seems rather short sighted. These drivers must realize there is another pack of cars right up the road which they'll have to contend with, even if they succeed in bypassing the group that is seemingly frustrating them at the moment.

Maybe they're blind, in which case I suppose I should be happy to concede the right of way.

I'm not talking about getting around the guy who is doing 45 in the fast lane. I'm talking about people who will insist on getting by you, no matter how fast you drive.

I've conducted my own non-scientific studies.
I've driven the speed limit, 5 miles over the speed limit, 10 miles, 15 miles, even 20 miles over the speed limit, and still the car behind me will almost always try to get around me. Oftentimes when they succeed they'll realize how fast they're going and quickly slow down to something within the range of sanity, but not until they have removed the offending view my back bumper.

These days I try to avoid the fast lane altogether because it's apparent you really can't ever go fast enough.

Maybe it's something instinctual - the mentality of the alpha dog in the pack.

I guess one day we all have to learn, no matter how hard you try to get around life, there will always be someone up ahead of you, sticking their tailpipe in your face.