More Fun

I have to marvel at the ability of the human spirit to put a positive spin on life experiences.  It has to be a defense mechanism of some sort.  Things that I have had to endure don't seem as bad when viewed through the prism of time, even some things that seemed pretty awful when they were happening.  I wonder if this is because they weren't as bad as I thought they were at the time or because my brain is protecting itself by stuffing the most awful bits into some dank little corner of my dank little mind.


I try to remember this when I'm bitching about something that's going on that I don't like.  I try to speculate that it's not nearly as bad as I'm making it out to be or, failing that, I'm going to remember it more fondly.


One of the best vacations I ever took was to Turkey and Syria with a friend in The Program.  About halfway through the trip I ate something that my body rejected with extreme prejudice.  It was in there and it was going to come out.  I had no conscious say in the matter.  Some very old, very ancient, very rudimentary part of my brain took control, completely overriding anything that my higher thought centers had to say.  The infrastructure of Syria is not as developed as it is the West so when I Had To Go To The Bathroom!! as we were returning to our hotel our driver merely pulled over off the busy road, handed me a box of tissues, and pointed to an abandoned cinder block building.


"OK," I thought.


As I squatted there with my back against the brick, pants around my ankles, in full view of the cars streaming past, wondering how I would fare in a rural Syrian clinic, I was not thinking: "Man, I'm having some FUN now."