Food for Thinking.
2:56 AM | Author: Spencer
Philosophy is like sit-ups for the mind, and to be honest there are times where we all feel like throwing up, but one day we'll all be grateful for the exercise.
I've been thinking long and hard about this series of blogs, and I am glad to finally post this long awaited chapter.

Today's topic is fast food and the lasting mentality.

Burger, fries and a drink. Pull around to the next window. Pay and leave.

To so many of us time is a rare commodity. We do anything to save time, even if it is admittedly unhealthy for us. Fast food has been a staple and a corner stone for hungry and pressed for time individuals for many years now. There have been countless studies on the physical effects of fast food, but I would venture to say that not many people have waded through the effects of fast food as a behavioral science.

Many of us are familiar with the scientist Pavlov and his dogs he was studying. Every time he fed the dogs he rang a bell, until such a time as when the dogs were so accustomed to the bell signifying food that they would drool/salivate upon hearing the bell alone.

The dogs reacted to the sound of the bell both chemically but also mentally by assuming there would be food.

I don't think we are all that different biologically than the dogs in Pavlov's experiment.

If we go to the drive through at McDonald's why do we get upset if it takes longer than 2 or 3 minutes? Why do we grow impatient when we are asked to hold, when we are on a phone call? Why is it that wherever we are driving and when we get there is more important than the speed limits that have been established for our safety? Why is losing a cell phone a life ending event? Why are we, the people, so impatient as a whole?

I think the answer is simple. It might sound silly, but really honestly think it through and you'll see the truth in what I am saying.

Fast food is one of the reasons that society lacks patience. I am not trying to prove or state any facts, but look at the reasoning.

I think proper phraseology would be "instant gratification". It is something people have come to expect. Could you imagine what the world would be like if every farmer was so mad he he quit working because the corn he planted 5 minutes ago wasn't done growing yet? It's illogical.

It makes me worry when people are so impatient around me. It stresses me out just being around them. Helping an impatient person is a nightmare.

I don't want to come off ungrateful or condescending, because I am very very glad to live in a world that has tasty things like Carl's Jr., but I really feel like people need to sit back and relax a little more. Save yourself the heart attack, eat healthier, and be a little more patient. It certainly won't kill you, but it might save your life.
Internet, Fast Food, and a Bag Full of Cash.
2:25 AM | Author: Spencer
Instant gratification is like a cancer spreading through society at break neck speed, weakening our morals, strangling our values and smothering the very core of our existence.
Divorce. Let's talk about it. Why is it that divorce rates are higher than they have ever been? Are people worse than they used to be? I would sure hope not. Some people attest divorce rates to be on the rise because society is no longer religious as it once was. I am not so convinced. Divorce rates are just as high among religious groups as they are anywhere.
Don't misunderstand me, the issue I have is far deeper than a failed relationship.
What about information? Text messaging, emails and the internet have conditioned society to an instant access of knowledge, or at least the appearance of knowledge.
Fast food is cheap and easy, it appears to save us time until we eat ourselves to death.
Medicine is a rampant pest among society. We have a cure for almost everything. Cough, itch, pain, depression, anxiety, zits, you name it there is a pill. Why? Why is there a cure for everything? Is it really that simple? Do all your problems go away by taking a simple little pill?
I'm not suggesting that any of these pills are useless, rather that a society so dependent on cure-alls and quick fixes is not headed in the right direction.
Speeding. Yeah I get it you are in a hurry. Who isn't? I would wager that you want to arrive there in one piece as well.
The amount of "get rich quick" scams out there is ridiculous, only more sickening is the number of greedy people who fall for them.
The list goes on and on. Every facet of our lives is encompassed by something that damages our society.
It boggles my mind that instead of utilizing the technology and resources we have to accomplish more and progress as a society towards utopian goals like solving world hunger and establishing world peace, we would rather let the technology do the work for us so we can be a fat lazy society coasting off yesterdays achievements.
I don't want to be that person. It's not that I care about what other people say, or what my ancestors will think of me. Those things don't bother me. What really gets to me, what really itches and nags and screams in my ear is the feeling of knowing I could be better than I am. The thought that I could miss my chance to make something of myself, all because I was too worried about my "favorite" TV show, or whether or not someone else was fixing all my problems.
There isn't a pill or a scam or a magical URL that can cure the rot and disease that threatens our society. There isn't a new world to run away to. This mess is ours. We must fix it.

The road is not easy, but difficult and steep,
to climb to the mountaintop high;
To anchor one's flag, on the mountain peak,
to wave in the bright blue sky.
Beware of the danger, the weather, the sleet,
but be not discouraged to die;
For they who sit safely in their hidden retreat,
Are dead because they don't try.
Untitled
3:59 PM | Author: Spencer
There has always been a philosophical side of me that ponders at often times even the most peculiar of things, and in most cases I shrug it off and try to focus on the real world. Every once in a while, however, I will have a thought so interesting that it seems I cannot continue my day to day activities until I think it through. This time I am going to try and write it down.

To be honest, I am not quite sure how this will turn out. Clearly hoping for the best, I am optimistic that I will write several sections of this new undertaking. In doing so, I hope to convey a message of intrinsic thought rather than sounding critical of the world around me. The root of the writings I wish to accomplish is the question "why?". I wish to encourage others along the same path of inward learning, to think and ask themselves the same questions. i.e. "Why do I act the way I do?" "How am I affected by the things around me?" "What can I do differently?"

In an attempt to shorten what feels like an already elongated precursor, I want to recount the event that ignited this fuse of logic, and then introduce my topic.

It was an evening like any other at your neighborhood Blockbuster, I was helping a customer find Terminator 2 in the action section when I was rudely interrupted mid sentence. I turned around to see a woman, who must have been in her thirties. She said "Excuse me sir, I have been waiting in line for almost two minutes now and I would really appreciate it if you came and helped me." I asked her if she was in a hurry and she said no, and that she "just didn't understand why it should take 5 minutes to checkout at the movie store, when Wendys right next door will have you done in 45 seconds." I looked at the registers and saw that the cashier was finishing helping a customer and that no one else was in line. I helped the lady, and as she left, she told me that "Blockbuster ought to have self checkout counters like Walmart or Red Box so that people wouldn't be frustrated waiting around all day."

It really bothered me. It burned all the way down to the core. I kept thinking about it. I just couldn't figure it out, I was looking for a reason or an answer to explain her behavior, but I just kept coming up blank. As I fought to reason with it over the last few weeks, I have paid a very keen attention to the behaviors exhibited in our store, but also everywhere I go. I noticed that I too am very impatient, and that there are a great deal of things that aggravate me. I began to notice the same behaviors in many, many people, all in differing amounts, but nonetheless, these traits existed. I concluded that these behaviors must have their roots in something we are all exposed to, they seem to me, almost cultural.

Ultimately I have come to the table with one question.

In an ever increasing customer service and convenience oriented world, life is geared to be fast, cheap and easy; but at what cost?

I hope that each of you will find my subsequent posts thought provoking and helpful in the days to come.
Good Investment
9:25 AM | Author: Spencer
Johnny Lingo has to be one of my favorite movies of all time, but for those of you who aren't as familiar with it, here is the skinny.
Johnny Lingo is one of the wealthier islanders on his island, and is well know for his trips and adventures out to sea, where he collects trade goods such as rare sea shells. Upon Johnny Lingo's return from one such endeavor, he announces that he will be choosing a wife. A frantic excitement ensues as the young and single women all wonder and hope that they will be chosen. Their fathers also hope their daughter will be "the one" as their tradition is that the groom-to-be pays the father of his future bride in cows.
The movie also focuses on one of the young women. Her name is Mahanna (I took my best guess on how to spell it). Most of the villagers see Mahanna as a poor, clumsy, dirty girl who they enjoy ridiculing, and her father treats her the worst. Saying things like "Mahanna you ugly! Come down from that tree!" and "Why would Johnny Lingo pick you? You dirty girl!"
There is a great scene with a few of the older island women gossiping to each other about who Johnny Lingo will pick, and How many cows he will pay for her, being that he is such a renowned trader, he could bargain for her. A few of the women are vain and have a conversation as follows "My husband paid 3 cows for me, I am a 3 cow wife!" "well my husband paid 4 cows for me!" "I would hardly call those scrawny animals cows!"
As fate would have it, Johnny Lingo does pick Mahanna. He goes to her father to strike up a deal. Mahanna's father is not only surprised that Johnny Lingo wants Mahanna, but also that he has offered to trade 8 cows for her. "EIGHT COWS??? That has never happened before on the history of the island!!!"
Of course her father accepts and the two are married.
When they return from their honeymoon, all the island is shocked with the change they see in Mahanna. Mahanna is beautiful and clean. She is happy and smiling, and when she returns to working the farms, she outperforms them all.
I love this story, it teaches so many good lessons, but there is one in general that always gets me.
There is power in valuing someone. Hope, Motivation and Enthusiasm, which are so difficult to find in people, are created in the souls of those we value.
I know that the warm and fuzzies stop here for many people, because I am switching gears to talk about sports, but stick with me, and I promise I won't let you down.
The 2010 NFL draft was this last week, and I have to say that I am proud to be a Broncos fan. Not because they are the best in the league, nor do I expect them to be, but because they are a good organization, full of good people.
Tim Tebow is arguably one of the best quarterbacks to ever play college football, just look at his stats, but that didn't stop many people from saying rude things and degrading him with harsh criticism. "His mechanics are bad" "he isn't actually a good leader" "he was lucky to be so surrounded with talent, that's why they won two national titles." Don't get me wrong, criticism is a powerful tool, but there was nothing constructive about what these people were saying.
Tebow responded by working hard and saying nothing.
As day one of the draft came, people continued to scoff that Tim would be drafted in either of the first or second rounds. Every one of those people went silent as the Broncos traded multiple other draft picks in order to move up and draft him in the first round.
This is why I am a fan, because in Denver they still believe in investing in people. They took Tim Tebow and they didn't say "Tim you are valuable to us." They did it. They didn't pretend anything. Actions speak with a power words can't describe. Now, Tebow hasn't set foot on the field just yet, so we will see how he does, but I am not worried at all. When you make an investment and show someone how far you are willing to go to help them out, its helps them do their part too. Which would you rather prefer?? A) A player with an attitude that they are the best and that's why they were drafted, or B) A player who thinks that you, You personally, value them. You value their time, their effort, their leadership, their skills, not to mention their BCS Titles.
I really believe that.
Let's take this off the football field, off the island, out of the internet, and let's make this real. When was the last time that you or I made a real investment in someone? When was the last time you felt that someone else really truly values you? In a world growing ever darker, who dares to shed light? To bring hope and direction to another, who may or may not know they are in need. When was the last time you conquered your impatience? When was the last time service and caring came before money and selfishness? Do you find yourself saying things that your actions don't match? I believe that if given the question "Do you want to live in a good world?" the vast majority of us would say yes, but when was the last time you drove the speed limit or told the truth in a hard spot? When was the last time you donated to a charity or helped someone out? I want to live in a world where people aren't afraid to help, where people aren't too selfish or caught up in something else to make the world a better place.
It all starts somewhere, with someone. Be that person! Value other people, their time and their effort, value their potential. Work on it everyday. Its a rude joke that society plays to pretend that charity and kindness is for the month of December or to get our taxes in order. We can be the start of something great. As you take your first step and turn to see an old world from a new perspective, remember the truth that is so often forgotten "Easier said than done, because actions speak louder than words."
Round One... Fight!!!
1:50 AM | Author: Spencer

This is like my big debut, and like anyone trying something for the first time, there are some very generic things I would like to say.
Blogging isn't something I ever really dreamed of doing, and as a direct result I am not quite sure how faithful I will be at this. Take a look at all those one time bloggers who started an account and wrote one blog about how much fun it is going to be to write every day and so on... and they didn't even bother to write a second one. Well, truth be told I might be one of the people, but who can say?
I'm also somewhat nervous. Like anyone who tries something for the first time I am uncertain, and I am sure that I am a sucky writer. I am hoping that this mild form of practice will help me at least figure out what kind of a writer I am. So if things are shaky in the beginning bear with me... (I think that by alluding to a "beginning" I am implying there will be more... don't be fooled this may be an empty promise.)
Well.. ok, so now I have been sitting at my computer trying really hard to think about what to write... I have been debating a few topics. I could give one of those awkward self introductions, (you know the kind that you started every diary or journal you ever wrote in) or I could just go off on some random topic, (which makes a blog feel like a college journal response assignment) or I could just keep rambling about things that are even less entertaining than either of those things...
When I was thinking about this entry earlier I thought about writing about all the ideas I have during the day, but I have decided against that because on the off chance that I might have a good idea I would hate for someone to read it on my blog page and steal it from me. I am not sure that there is anything more humiliating than watching someone else get filthy rich off your idea.
Then again, I once wrote a little something something about ideas and such, maybe that's what I'll do with my opening blog... I will publish my writing!!!

"Cheez-it's"

You're walking down the street and the perfect idea hits you coupled with a dose of random inspiration. In that moment the world is a bigger, better brighter place, where maybe, just maybe, you could be happy.
I get random thoughts all the time. Good ideas, dumb ideas, some clever and some not. Occasionally I'll get a thought so great I'll think, "WOW! I need to remember that!" and if I were a genius, I could remember it, but alas, I am not, and eventually I forget. The thought having eluded me, being replaced by some brainwashing advertisement of one sort or another.
It is often enough perpetuated that truly talent people always carry a pen or pencil and a notebook around, so that they can write down and record their good ideas and inspirations as they come. Sometimes I wonder "If they are truly 'talented' people, why do they need so much inspiration?" I'm getting off topics aren't I?
Well, I tried this trick of carrying a pen a notebook around with me, and I learned something. Pen and paper are they recipe for a good idea blocking poison! But the one day I forgot to bring my "idea book" with me, fate just happens to deliver a bounty of great ideas into my mind, know all along that by the time I got the chance to write them down I'd be screwed.
I like to refer to this method of receiving ideas and inspiration as "indirect" because no one really knows where it comes from. However, since everything comes from something else, (law of science where nothing is created or destroyed, rather reorganized) it has to have come from somewhere, we just can't trace it, so let's put it simply as "indirect".
FACT: All the good ideas never seem to get written down.
Direct inspiration on the other hand, is traceable. An excellent example is that I just finished reading an outstanding book, during which I had many great thoughts come to me. The only problem with direct inspiration is running the risk of copying someone elses idea; usually resulting in a cheaper, crappier version than the original. It is safe to say that Vanilla Ice was just as directly inspired by Queen as Edison was from Tesla.
Look it up.
Nowadays, we call that plagiarism, which defined means: to steal the work of another and pass it off as one's own. The definition fails to mention but should also include that plagiarism is often done by people struggling to get good grades in college or trying to get rich quick. However plagiarism merely aides people to get thrown out of college or sued.
Drugs and alcohol can also be sources of direct brainstorming, but I would never categorize a drug addiction as inspirational in any way, shape or form. If those drug abusing artists, authors, actors, etc think that they are fooling me for one second, they can forget it. I don't support that crap.
PERSONAL OPINION: Direct inspiration is equally if not more useless than all the amazing indirect inspiration that no one ever bothered to write down.
Wait! What happened?? A moment ago the world was a shiny new place where you were a short distance away from starting a new life, pursuing this new idea. I'll tel you what happened, you didn't write it down, or perhaps you've realized that someone else already had this idea, and that they did a better job than you or I ever could. Don't feel bad though, not producing your idea isn't always a bad thing. I mean, what if your "finished product" -whatever it may be,- totally sucked? You would have wasted a lot of time and effort, and to top it all off even if you had "succeeded" not everyone would like your idea, in fact, some people might really hate it. Here's a fantastic example. World of Warcraft is the single most successful game of all time. They have sold more than 15 million copies, and it is still growing. Those guys are rolling in the dough, and they think they are happy, but they really aren't. All it would take to ruin one of their days would be for one person to walk in there, get right in their face and yell, "15 million people might like World of Warcraft, but they other 6 Billion of us thinks it sucks!" All that would be left at this point would be to beat on of them up, while repeatedly screaming "Game over!"
I would like to take a moment to explain exactly what you accomplished by avoiding success. You saved yourself a lot of future pain and misery caused by having too much money, too much responsibility, too many fans and even the occasional hate group. Think of it this way. If you aren't anyone important, or doing anything important, or going any important places, you will never be a target for terrorists. Aren't you glad that terrorists aren't targeting you? They might be if you were successful.
Ok, ok, ok back to the topic at large, your brilliant ideas, more particularly why you don't need them, Let's be serious here, You don't need them! (and they aren't that great to begin with.) It's like this though... Have you ever just slept in??? Given in to the laziness and just stayed in bed? Of course you have. Remember how great that was? How nice it was to just sleep? It was really nice huh? Why can't everyday be like that? I'm not joking either. I heard a great quote the other day, and I believe it supports my argument fully. It reads "Hard work MIGHT pay off later, laziness ALWAYS pays off now." Pure brilliance.
In conclusion, and simply put, you could carry a notebook around, get an amazing idea, write it down, work hard on it for a long time, and maybe you could get rich, or famous, or in some other way have the delusion of being happy, who knows, you may even make the world a better place... or you could quit hoping for a long shot, admit the world isn't going to change, (at least not for the better), grab a box of cheez-it's and crawl into bed. That's where true happiness is... I love cheez-it's.

Until next time!
Spencer