Thinkers Anonymous
zen
137 Posts
It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone - "to relax," I told myself...but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent the night at her mother's.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafke. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking, " she said, "and I want a divorce."
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "you think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep thinking, we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors...They didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruiing your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster. Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since our last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.
I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today I took the final step, I registered to vote as a Democrat.
I began to think alone - "to relax," I told myself...but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent the night at her mother's.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafke. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking, " she said, "and I want a divorce."
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "you think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep thinking, we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors...They didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruiing your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster. Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since our last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.
I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today I took the final step, I registered to vote as a Democrat.
Comments
I'll try to be gentle, so as not to raise the ire of the Forum Gestapo. x:D
Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion and with the gentlest of intentions. x:-)
;;)
;;)
Desparate in MS
Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion and with the gentlest of intentions.
No, I don't really mean that. Just trying to be funny. Although the joke in Nebraska is we spray for Democrats around here. :>)
And for Judy, nobody is 'born a democrat'. One might be born to democrat parents, but we all have an opportunity early in life to make choices. Some do, some don't, some change, some won't. Believe it or not, I was accepted into the Peace Corps when I was a college senior, rebelled against capitalistic society, campaigned against the Viet Nam war, spent 5 years job counseling the disadvantaged and supported democrat administrations and candidates. I really don't know to what I owe my transformation and salvation.
Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.
Now I only become a radical Kennedy-crat when I get on the Forum. x;-)
Plus as you get into the nitty gritty of the election process, each party ends up with platform issues that I cannot endorse.
When you add in my cycnicism for the campaign trail and all the unkept promises that have been made - well, it is no wonder that I am a GDI.
I am probably overall more conservative than liberal these days and have been for a while - guess that means I am just a casual thinker, you know only at parties but never when I am the designated driver.