WTF is wrong with the world

What the hell is going on these days? Seriously, is Mercury in retrograde. Is Venus aligned with the Planet Formerly Known as Pluto? Er, the rock mass formerly known as a planet known as Pluto? Are the earth's bamboo trees turned backwards to bring bad luck?

Smokin' Joe Frazier dies. Joe Paterno is forced out at Penn State. These things happen. We know that. Life is a cycle. We are born, we live, we fuck up, we learn from our fuck ups, we make new fuck ups, we learn from those fuck ups, then we die. Its the life cycle. Frazier was at the end of it. Paterno was nearing the end but had a fuck up. A major one. Gigantic. I hope he learned from it. I hope we all learned from this.

I don't get the world. I know this cycle happens. But I see bitterness. I hear it on the radio. I can't turn on anything and listen to it with my kids in the car. Celebrity divorces. Kids being molested. Adults standing by and doing nothing. Greece failing. Italy close behind. Occupy Everything.

(Okay, I get Occupy Wall Street. I get Occupy San Francisco or Phoenix or San Diego or any other big city. But Occupy Elk Grove is idiotic. Occupy Yreka? I can't even pick out Yreka on a map - and neither can you. And its not funny to put Occupy in front of any word. Occupy Cold Stone Creamery? You just sound like a moron. Occupy The Internet? Really? How about you just occupy your own little space on the planet and try to make that place a better place.)

I am confused. I dont have the answers. I did read a proverb once that said something like dont just teach your children yourself because they grow up in a different time. My dad used to say something like that. He would tell me that each generation has it harder than the next. My grandparents grew up with World War I and the Great Depression. My dad had World War II and the sixties. My generation: drugs, AIDS, war after war (er, conflict after conflict). My kids grow up hearing about September 11, but not quite understanding. And who knows what else is out there.

So, I admit it. I dont know what is wrong with the world. I do know a few things.

Don't judge others until you have walked at least half a mile in their shoes. Its easy to sit down and look back at decisions people made and question them. But try being in the moment and making some of those decisions. Some work out. Some don't. But don't sit there after the fact and tell me that you think I made bad decisions because I am a bad person. That is simply wrong.

Life is hard. Yep, it is hard. Its hard at 2 when you need someone to change your diaper. Its hard at 7 when you have to go to school. Its hard at 13 when you go through puberty. Its hard at 18 when you start college. Its hard at 22 when you have to get a real job. Its hard at 30 and 35 and 40. And sometimes your life is harder than the person next to you. But, its probably also easier than the guy sleeping on the street, the guy who lost a leg fighting in a war, or the mom who lost a baby. We need to remember that.

Give back. I don't mean money. You can do that. You can give time. You can give of yourself. I am a big fan of The Untied Way. (Google it or go read my posts from December, 2010.) But you like baseball? Go find a group and teach them how to play. You know how to paint? Go teach someone. The world would be a better place if everyone gave back a few hours a week.

Love one another. I know its a cliche. Sorry. You don't like it? Don't read it. I dont write this for you anyway. If people would just stop being so negative, so mean, and get to know each other and show some fucking compassion, some understanding, everything would be better. I don't get all the hate and anger in the world. I know I am to play. I hate some debt collectors. But I am going to vow to work on that and be nicer to everyone who calls me, be it a client, another attorney or a debt collector or insurance adjuster. I am going to kill them with kindness.

You don't like me? Fine. Thats your fucking loss, you douche. Because while I am not perfect, I am not the devil either. I screw up. I make mistakes. But I am going to help you when you need it. I don't turn my back on friends. I don't leave people out there who are in need. Its sometimes bad for business. It sometimes gets me burned. But I am tired of the fucking nonsense and bullshit and judging that goes on. Cant we be nice to each other for a change?

Now, I am going to get some Giant Pandas, which might be my favorite animals of all time, and see if they can fix the bamboo. Then I am going to call Virgin Atlantic and ask them to send their fancy rocket ship into space to turn Mercury or do whatever you have to do so its not in retrograde. Then I am going to leave you with this: RIP Smokin Joe and lets all say a prayer for the kids who were hurt at Penn State and Joe Paterno, for whatever mistakes he made, he also helped hundreds, thousands of kids over the last 46 years.