[Laszlo's Scrapbook] If you only knew.

[Kendall Saarinen]

My dad's wife had vertigo once and she could not get off of the couch. She had to get onto meds for it and they made her hallucinate. Supposedly she thought she fell off of the couch and was calling for me to help her up. I never heard her calling so she thinks she was going crazy. I might just have not heard her though. I was all the way in the basement. It makes an interesting story though.

[Naama]

Not going to lie, I laughed.

I'm a horrible person.

[Phoenix]

Vertigo happens to me when I'm severely stressed. I've been there. Its real.

[Laszlo]

Sorry about your dad's wife, Kendall. D: I have felt insane before, and for a brief period I couldn't even really function because I was having paranoid delusions. Like, delusions about how the entire world was kind of like a Truman show and there were machines that controlled the weather... It wasn't fun.

But uh... I took medication and had therapy. I'm good now. Honest.

I'm onto you. =_=

Fortunately I've never suffered any real physical distress from it, like Jules has. D: At worst, rare anxiety attacks make me shaky and weak, but I've never been incapacitated. That must have been awful.

[Laszlo]

[Seven Xu]

What is this I don't even.

[Lazybones]

Alright, I've resisted, but I do have something to say.

This lauded 'respect' thing is a two-way deal. I think people forget that.

Here's a real life example from my job.

Once upon a time, John became employed as a receptionist at (let's make up a name) Fundermere Offices. He replaced a girl who was fired for never showing up on time, doing her job poorly, and showing general disrespect to management--particularly Sharlene, the building's manager.

Sharlene did her job well. She had worked for years to keep Fundermere organized, efficient, and cohesive. It was a lot of work, and it was deserving of admiration! Many people liked her, or pretended to, just because she was the boss, but there were plenty of people who also appreciated her genuinely, as Sharlene the person, and not just Sharlene the boss. John was the sort of tool who's predispositioned to like everyone initially, but he was new at his job and had never been a secretary before, so there was a bit of a learning curve.

Sharlene was understanding at first, but later, when John sometimes messed up, she became very rude and condescending, sometimes even dishing out insults or swearing, even though it was against company policy. John was a big boy though, and wouldn't let his feelings get hurt by someone's premature opinion. He knew that this was just a job, only a paycheck. It didn't affect his real life, so it honestly wasn't that important whether he got along with Sharlene or not.

Eventually though, John became unhappy every time he had to go to work. Even on days when Sharlene didn't have anything to say to him, he felt unsure of himself whenever they crossed eyes. "Hi John," she'd say as she walked by the reception desk. "Hi Sharlene," he'd respond in turn. Most days were like this: uneasy and tense between employer and employee. Was he doing a good job? No one ever really said so, so he couldn't tell.

One day, John decided that enough was enough. He didn't want to be afraid of Sharlene anymore, so he finally got up to talk to her face to face. They leveled, not like boss and employee, but like two civil people talking on equal ground. It didn't matter that Sharlene was more experienced and had accomplished more, or that John was less invested in his job than she was. They showed respect to one another, and they got to know each other. Sharlene wasn't really as mean as John thought, but she had a certain way of doing things that some people found intimidating. She was a little frustrated that John talked so much with the other employees during business hours, but acknowledged that he really was doing a good job and that it wasn't an overall detriment to Fundermere. She had judged a little too hastily, and so had John.

Both John and Sharlene got along after that. They still jab at each other; John is a smartass, no two ways about that. Sharlene is a firecracker, but you have to love her. They get along fine now--not because John respected/obeyed Sharlene as his boss, but because they both respected each other as fellow humans.

Despite what you may assume, this IS a true story about how my relationship with my real-life boss evolved. It has a certain poignancy now, partially because of the way I worded it, and partially because this is something that happens on many levels, not just in the workplace.

The moral of this story is, before all our accomplishments and talents, we are all humans with wants, needs, desires, and dreams. Though it's easy to blame, judge or dislike someone for what you think they lack, it makes the world a better place when we're a little more patient and a little less sensitive. Making hasty assumptions, snap judgments, and playing double standards will only lead to conflict, and there's no reason for that. We're all humans, we're all here living together. Why not share the love?

Now, if I one day have kids, I will probably not be so understanding. If those miscreants don't respect me, they'll be grounded off the XBox 720 for life.

[Seven Xu]

[Laszlo]

Today I saw this bumper sticker and giggled.

I BRAKE FOR TURTLES, FROGS, STICKS, AND BIG LEAVES

Okay! So! Now it's time for another episode of: STUFF. TO. DO.

Lazybones:
Finish up the two registrations in the Ravok registration thread.
Grade thread in office
Post in Elianos' thread
Post in Zvi's thread
Begin reply for Caught In the Middle (based on present posts)
Start Dhalvasha's modded thread

Inwe:
Making New Friends
Edge
Something Borrowed
Moar threads (yeah right)

Nathaniel:
Stop being inactive.

Laszlo: oh god.
Three Ethaefal
Balls
Worldly
Embers (christ)
Work on solo
MORE THREADS with:
Kamalia
Ifran
Bob
Naama
Seven
Victor

Y U ALL POST AT ONCE D:

Ugh, is that it?

/switches on Netflix and wastes the evening.

[Laszlo]

How old am I again?