It strikes us that on the few cruises we've taken we find the crew a lot more interesting than the other passengers. I'm not saying the other passengers aren't that interesting - I'm implying it, of course - but that the people who are working on the ship have much better back stories. The people we interacted with frequently this time were from Thailand, the Phillippines, Peru, and a number of African countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Peoria, Illinois. I think that they're generally treated well by the other guests but in the guise of service workers to whom one is polite on an impersonal level and because it's socially proper. If given the choice I'd rather talk to a thirty year old woman from Mauritius - remembering that it must be hard for someone that young to be away from friends and family for four months at a time - than some overly-entitled couple from Dallas, Texas or Peoria, Illinois.
Here's another irritant in my life: smiling for photos. There's way too much fake smiling going. Can't we just assume pleasant expressions and let it go at that? I'm not so happy I smile all the time so why would I have a blinding, fake-looking smile every time I'm captured in a photo? Plus, everyone under thirty has had braces growing up so all the smiles look exactly the same and they're all about stretching your lips as wide as you can so that we can see all that great dental work. Do I really need to be able to see your molars, for chrissake? What's the matter with a pleasant, relaxed expression?
One of the big themes of my life is analyzing why I get so much pleasure from the fact that so many people annoy me. In most cases it's more of an exasperated, condescending annoyance but still . . . In Step Six in the 12 & 12 there's this much beloved passage: "In a perverse way, we can actually take satisfaction in the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority."
Ahhh, superiority. Thinking I'm better than other people. I LOVE superiority.
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