It's Rant-eriffic

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the infrequency is lame, I know.

I've decided one of my least favorite things in the world is when other people have their "That could have been me" near-death experience, or at least what they perceive as "near-death."

This was never more apparent to me than last month when the I-35 bridge collapsed. I would hear all of these accounts from people who would say, "I was on that bridge last Tuesday, it could just have easily been me on there!" and I would just want to smack the person on the TV or leave a bitter comment on their facebook wall. Because, really, it could have been anyone. They could have interviewed a 37 year-old woman from Nashville and heard her say, "I thought about going back to school one time last summer, and the University of Minnesota was on my radar. It could have been me on there." How ridiculous does that sound?

Maybe it's that I get annoyed by some of the things that cause people to re-examine their lives. Or things they claim cause them to re-examine their lives. Like it being a wake-up call for a girl who has never had sex to take a pregnancy test on her doctor's orders: what did she really think was going to be the result? If the test comes out positive, then obviously there are some serious questions that are raised. But the girl who takes that five minutes of what should best be described as curiosity and makes it a turning point in her life is living in denial. She's in denial of the importance of her life: she doesn't think the rest of her existence is exciting, so she has to take these brief brushes with danger and tragedy and make them more than they are.

And I think that this finally gets to the root of my annoyance: selfishness. Maybe more self-centeredness, although I believe they are interconnected. This annoyance manifests itself in those moments when someone asks you how you are only so they can tell you how they are, when someone makes their momentary trials the latest in a string of close calls. People like this seem to have a Struggle of the Month that, even once resolved, will remain in the forefront of their mind until the next SOTM comes along. Wake up call: Not everything is about you! Not even everything that happens to you is about you! Thinking that it is keeps you from recognizing the things that actually matter. Things like friends in trouble, family in pain, strangers in need. You will fit in each of these categories at some point in your life, and it's at that point it might be about you. Until then, make it about everyone else and you'll be surprised how much easier and more fulfilling life can be.