people simply disappeared. always at night.

driving downtown today to do my monthly stops i gazed up at the horrific monoliths we commonly call skyscrapers and reveled in the thought that these are truly the tombs of the modern world. technology has its price i assume. we sacrifice the simplicity of living for the possibility of advancement of our social structure. to become united across the globe and be able to feel closer to people we do not know.

a more unified world creates competition, which is not always good and could be bad, and at the same time separates us from the connections we get when seeing each other in person. the interpersonal interactions are what enrich our lives through physical contact and simple things like the smile of a stranger. we slowly become more desensitized to the physical world and the everyday encumbrances of non-virtual struggle. the simple pleasures of life are the best things about living.

ask anyone with children and they will reflect my feelings. things so basic as paying my electric bill in person as opposed to doing it online add an air of frustration but also an endorphin high of accomplishment. waiting for 6 1/2 hours in line to renew my license plate is another of those things. it makes us slow down and think about things.

that is a lot of the reason i like to work in restaurants. it is my most preferred form of income. the people that come into where i work and get treated not just well, but like a human being instead of just some random number will know what im talking about as well. we take entirely too much for granted when we remove the physical from our lives.

for example: right now im sitting outside at a cafe and writing this. the breeze is blowing and the clouds are shading me from the hot autumn sun. there are people around me all engrossed in their own lives and conversations about whatever it is that matters to them while i click away on my keys and think about these things.

though none of this actually matters because our lives have become existences of conveniences. we are always looking for another way around that would provide us with some ideal of least resistance. i submit to you dear reader that it is these resistances that make our lives much more worth living. these head-scratcher happenings of anger and then release are the simple things in life. these nuances of the real world are what makes life what it is.

so the next time you are out at a restaurant or grocery store or some other form of customer service based medium and you have an exceptional time because the waiter/waitress or csr or whatever really enjoys their job and went out of their way to make your time enjoyable, let them know. give them a big tip or a heartfelt thank you and tell them why. let them know that you appreciate the fact that they gave a little of themselves to you for the time that you spent together and that it either made your life a little better, if just for a moment or a day. believe me, though i work a mostly thankless job, sometimes a smile from someone who seemed a bit unhappy when they came in lets me know that i have done something, not just for myself, but for someone else as well.