Attendance is Not Mandatory

I'm going to warn everyone right off the bat that I'll likely get off on a tangent real soon, so be prepared. I also want to issue the disclaimer that while you might feel that you're special, this article is not specifically written about you or anyone else. With that, am I the only person out there that is sick and tired of bullshit excuses as to why people never do anything? Let's focus today on just the random jargon because I have no problem with someone who comes clean and says, "You know what, that sounds awful, and I don't ever want to do that." Excellent, thanks for telling me and now we can move on. As the headline says, when I or someone else invites you to do something or attend a group event, it is not mandatory. 50% of the time that anyone is invited to do something, the person doing the inviting is being cordial. They don't expect you to attend, but would certainly welcome your addition into the mix.

With that said, there is no reason to piss in their cheerios with the response of, you know what let me see how things go and I'll let you know...followed by well we really need to get some housework done. Hey champ, if you were invited to something 3 weeks in advance, housework doesn't suddenly come up. Translation: I spent the last three weeks trying to come up with a family crisis to get me out of this and now I don't have the guts to say I'm not interested so I'm going to hope you believe that some emergency dusting hit me right out of the blue. If that person doesn't immediately respond with Kiss my ass, then you've got a saint on your hands.

Seriously people we're all adults here. Why do you think that some of these reasons will actually be consumed as legitimate? I'm pretty tired from the work week, so I'm going to pass. You work at a desk for between 40 and 45 hours and you're below the age of 30. Buy stock in red bull if you're that tired. For those of you allergic to travel, just come out and say that. Why do most people who live in Chicago's city limits even own a car? They take public transit and taxis all over the city; then when there is an event outside of that area, they avoid it like pit bull avoids Mike Vick. I just don't understand. If you don't like the suburbs, save the insurance money and ditch the ride.

I'm not writing today to motivate everyone to do everything they're invited to do. Hopefully it does open your mind to try a few new things. It's only going to become more difficult once you get older and have kids. Also, your friends only like you so much. They have other friends and some of them actually do things. If you come out of your cocoon once a year, don't be surprised when you're last on the list for the next big event. Sometimes you just need to saddle up and solider on. Maybe it isn't first on your list of things to do on Saturday night, but when you ask them to do something they don't want to do, you'll hope they go along with it too. The last bit of advice for this week is if you're really still not going to tell the truth to someone, never use the line "That really sounds like a great idea or a great time" then follow with a bullshit excuse. If you're going to lie to get out of it, don't compound it.

Ode to Nader

If you want to save yourself some money in the long run, get a water softener and reverse osmosis system installed in your home. It will protect your water heater from hardening, save on the cost of heating that water, and preserve all of your plumbing fixtures. If that doesn't convince you, they install a separate faucet for your drinking/cooking water. That water tastes great, makes clear ice cubes, and will save you a ton of money off bottled water in the long term. There is a minor expense to replace the filters every year, and of course you have to add salt every other month to the softener. It will certainly make your house more marketable as well. Make this your next big project.