Think positive.

If you wanna watch the movie for free, you gotta sit through the commercials!

By movie I mean my photos, and by commercials I mean my spiel. I mean, you don’t have to. You can turn the volume down when the commercials come on, or go to the bathroom, get a snack, etc. until the movie comes back on. Same here. No pressure.

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of pessimism, complaining (rants), cynicism, pessimism, and cynicism throughout the internet. Maybe I’m just looking for it more than usual. Or maybe times are tough for everyone and people are giving up on hope. Awhile back, I read a news article about a giant snowstorm back on the East Coast. The article said it was one of the biggest snowstorms this area had in a long time, and for many kids it was the first time they’ve ever seen snow. The article showed a photo of a little kid making a snowman at the park. A normal person’s reaction would be, “aww isn’t that nice, a kid’s having fun playing in the snow”. But when you read the comments in response to the article, there are arguments about whether global warming exists since it snowed (global warming does NOT mean it won’t snow, btw), then the arguments always get into politics, and whose fault the snowstorm was, then the arguments change to religion, and soon people just start bashing one another. If the news wasn’t depressing enough most of the time, the comments and peoples’ reactions are much, much worse.

After trying to avoid everything negative, there is very little left to read. Except books. Fortunately, the conversations we’ve made with new friends in San Diego have been very un-stressful, uncomplicated, and un-fake (is that a word…?). I don’t go home fuming after hanging out because of a rude comment someone said, or having an argument for the sake of an argument. Why is it that some people love to contradict something you said, just for the sake of contradiction, whether it’s correct or not? How is that trying to sound intelligent? If you believe one thing, don’t say the opposite just to one-up another.

Why are we all so miserable? Why does everything have to be an argument? Why are compliments always back-handed? Why are words always twisted so someone else can make a point? Then nobody is listening to one another. We all end up talking for ourselves, in which case we only talk in circles, never learning from one another, never growing wiser.

I don’t want to be one of those people complaining about other people complaining, and I hope this didn’t come off that way. But think of it this way…if you’re not good at social interactions, try to be a better person as you’re driving. Let someone cut in your lane, and in turn that person will do the same for someone else. Do something nice like that for someone once a day. It shouldn’t be a chore, and eventually you might not have to force yourself to do it. Don’t scream at someone for cutting in front of you while driving, you don’t own the lane. If you willingly let people cut you in line, you wouldn’t be screaming all the time. Sometimes, it’s not about who’s right or wrong. Nobody is out on the road deliberately trying to screw you over and ruin your day. Eventually, everyone will get to where they’re going.

So think positive, people.

And on to the picture-show…

I know this is probably the grossest thing many have you have seen…hot dogs on a mixture of avocado and mayo. Don’t judge me!