Why is life so friggin fragile?

You have to be a glutton for punishment to survive in this world! I am not sure I get it..

Why do our parents not teach us about how fragile life is when we are young? Why do they let us grow up thinking we are invincible until we grow old? Why are we allowed to eat at McDonald's, drink soda, consume candy like it's our rite, watch TV for hours on end, eat ice cream at midnight.. and all that crap?

Why don't our parents tell us that if you don't take care of your body you are setting yourself up for early retirement... and I don't mean from work.. I mean from LIFE?

I guess as I think about it.. they probably don't tell us that for a number of reasons..

For instance:

1.) Why build our fragile minds on a foundation of paranoia?

2.) If what I am saying is true.. then perhaps they believe we should live our young lives to the fullest?

3.) They already know how challenging life gets as an adult.. so maybe they feel we should indulge ourselves while we can.

4.) Or maybe it's because they know when we get to be teens we are probably going to hate them so they might as well buy our love now (Just kidding mom!)

5.) ??

I'm sure there are many reasons..

The cause of my cynicism has many roots.. August marks the anniversary of the death of my two sons.. Nicholas and Massimo. It's been 5 years now.. so my coping has morphed many fold over the years.. it's becoming less of a mourning process for me and more of a calendar event.. a reason for me to feel a bit sorry for myself.. a reason for me to reflect a little harder on how unfair life can be.. a reason for me to look around at my family and friends and tearfully thank GOD for the fact that I have such a strong and wonderful support network.

I have lots of little things that remind me of my loss.. I never want to forget.. talk about a glutton. I want to be reminded of my loss.. I wear it like a badge of honor sometimes.. and yet I have no idea why.. is that f**kin sick or what? I write about it too.. a lot.. I think I do that because I want people to feel sorry for me.. and yet in the same breath I tell folks that I don't want them to feel bad or sorry for me... but strangely I do.

I guess that makes me human.. I don't know.

There are some good things that came out of this though..

I love my daughter even more than I ever thought humanly possible.. my wife and I have grown a lot closer as a result.. I have a new (and better) outlook on life and living my life.. and I think I have even grown closer to God...(I'm no angel.. I won't go that far).. but closer none the less.

I don't get as pissed off about things as I used too (hopefully that won't effect my posts here :).. when you lose a child.. how much more of a curve ball can life throw?

Anyway.. lets not forget how I started this little missive.. I was talking about the fragility of life.. and I found a way to normalize things.. but in the spirit of volatility .. life will rarely show mercy...

Here is proof:

Today a 33 year old cousin of mine suffered from a massive heart attack... In the past 6 months a 34 year old dear friend of mine was diagnosed with Breast cancer... etc.. etc.. etc..

"No one said life was fair" "Such is life" "No one said life was easy"

Yeah yeah.. I know.. but I don't have to like it

Tailgaiting A-holes !

Wow.. what a way to start off my first RANT.. this one is a doosie. Tailgating.. why do people find it necessary to do this? I'm not talking about what you do before a sporting event either..

I'm talking about the nail biting situation when you are traveling over 60mph on a crowded highway and some jerk-off in a big, honkin SUV comes barreling down your lane and latches on to your rear like a baby monkey.

This morning at approx 7:30am.. I'm doing my usual commute down the PA Turnpike and there is a steady stream of cars for at least a mile or two. I am leaving approx 1-2 car lengths between me and the guy in front of me.. and in front of him is about 15 other cars all doing about the same.

I look into my rear-view and I see this gas guzzling SUV getting cozy in my trunk. All I can see is the grill and the head lights.. I sped up a little just so I can see the driver's nose hairs.. THAT is how close this guy was.

Of course he is on his cell phone and he's swerveing back and forth like he's had a few too many RedBull and Vodkas for breakfast. At first.. I was ready to give him a mulligan, due to the fact that he was trying to multi-task. Who am I to fault a guy for being on his cell phone while driving? Hell, I have been guilty of sending Blackberry messages while driving.. BUT NOT while trying to inspect a tail-pipe at the same time.

So I tried my usual tactics to get him to back off.. tap the brakes.. overly exaggerate calling him out in the mirror.. nuttin ! This guy was on cloud nine.. so I finally found a break in the other lane and I jumped over.. I tried to stare him down when he drove past..but he was oblivious.. smiling away .. like he was listening to a good joke..

The guy just kept on going.. smelling bumpers as he weaved in and out of traffic until I lost sight of him.

What the hell gets into people like that? How do you handle those kinds of things?
I KNOW im not the only road rage candidate out there.. I'll tell you another funny story about one of my wife's run ins with a tailgaiter later.. but right now.. I wanna hear what YOU have to say.

Introduction to Don't Worry, I'll Say it !

Hello everyone !

Today is your lucky day..

I am launching my master experiment and you shall be my guinea pigs.

I hope to bring a little sunshine into your otherwise dreary lives, by laying out my thoughts on a whole variety of topics.

I am not a professional writer.. I don't belong to any special groups or affiliations.. I am not famous or special in any way.. well.. maybe I am a little special.. but you get the point.

The purpose of this blog is to bring some perspective on life ... from me - to you !

I am going to choose random topics.. average, regular Joe kind of topics and expound on them in an attempt to bring some levity to your day (or night... or if you don't sleep and are confused.. then ... you're screwed and might as well just read anyway).

If I am doing this right... I will often pick topics that you find yourself laughing at the mere fact that someone is taking (read Wasting) their time to write about in the first place. Don't get me wrong.. I may actually choose a "real" topic.. but I will try to put my spin on it and see if you all agree ... or better yet.. if you disagree.. I wanna hear it!

I want to create a forum that allows me to say things that I often find myself saying only to my steering wheel while sitting in traffic on my way to work. Things that after I think about them a while I find funny and often wonder if others would too.. so you can now be the judge .. (lucky you)

Regards,

Max