lettersat3am Left one of the more interesting comments on my is it me or is it ADD post:
There is also the question of whether “functioning” is the so important. Yes, it can cause a lot of suffering if one is unable to, but that suffering teaches you something, in a zen sort of way. Wendell Berry says “productivity is a form of slavery,” as do Thomas Sazs, I think, and John Breeding. They have a point. There is a certain freedom in being unable to function, in being unable to do things the way the world says you’re “supposed” to do them. We don’t always need to be like everyone else. We don’t always need to succeed. In fact, failure teaches us we’re not in control. It teaches us to let go of our egos
An interesting point of view, but not really mine. I have more of a Nietzschean will to power. I guess. Plus a kid going to college and a yearning for sports cars and travel.
But maybe it could work. I could quit my job and move into a trailor. I’d burn incense and play the Tantric Choir all day, make an artform of the staring into space that I do on a regular basis anyway. Hell maybe that’s what I’m really good at, staring into space. I’d probably look great with a shaved head. And orange goes well with my hazel eyes. I like flowers so the flower petal thing might be cool. But I really hate lawn maintanence so I’d probably suck at keeping the sand raked in the rock garden. And then someone would drive by in a Honda S2000 and I’d start thinking of boosting the beggars bowls. And the college thing. Who’s gonna tell L that she’s not going to Iowa State next year, but that she better start saving so she can afford community college. Shit I’ve been sacrificing for those ungrateful little tarts for long enough, it’s payback time.
When I got my cable modem, I cancelled all but the very basic cable for the TV. They sent out the cable guy, who showed up in a rusted out van with the Comcast logo on the side and a thick Russian accent. He went down the basement and took the box from my TV down there and said, “Thank you all done. Sign here.”
To which I replied, “Don’t you have to disconnect something out on the pole?”
“No, just collect box.”
“OK.”
So I’ve been enjoying free cable for about three years. If they show up at my door looking for money or cut me off, I know it’s you that ratted me out, rache, so don’t even think about it. Problem is, there’s several channels I don’t get and CBS doesn’t come in worth shit. But I dasn’t complain, ’cause they’ll figure out I’ve been freeloading. So tonight I had to sit at a bar drinking O’Doul’s so I could watch the Wolves get beat by the Kings.
Yeah, failure, as far as I’m concerned, is a part of the learning process . . . a valuable exercise in humility, sure . . . but not something I find myself feeling too blissful about.
Damn, why does everyone get free cable but me? I hear all these free cable stories, and I’m the sucker paying 92 bucks a month!
haha… so the cable KGB paid a visit. We collect box. You no longer exist comrade.
HP, I pay $52/month for direct-tv (and that’s with 6 channels of HBO even). Cable is a ripoff — I used to work for a cable company, trust me on this one.
Heck, everybody should switch to direct-tv.
you’ve identified that “just leave me and my differences alone” catch, the need to survive for yourself and others. Not a fair one (all catches are unfair) but a big one. Happy TV watching.
apparently DNW is hoping i’m gonna come down there and kick her ass.
don’t worry, bob, i won’t rat you out. for a price, say, $92 a month?
Your trailer sounds great! When do you move in? You looking for some neighbors? Do you think you could work out the same deal with the cable company?
We had free cable for 3 years once… and I totally blew it by telling the wrong person one day. My best friend’s boyfriend worked for the cable co… He didn’t have much of a sense of humor. Or maybe he did.
Another satisfied Direct TV customer here, although it bothers me to contribute monthly to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Not that Comcast is much better when it comes to evil empires. Sigh.
You may make fun, but replace the trailer with a solar-powered, timber-frame shack out in the middle of nowhere, and it sounds like a good life to me. 🙂
I can see the attraction of the wilderness hermit life, but I still haven’t broken the bonds of materialism.
I still want the S2000!
Yeah, the russians really don’t like to deal with the poles. Something about WW2 I bet.
*slaps self*
Yes, free cable. That is always a bonus. Even if you have to sit at the bar at watch the game. Besides you could also be sitting a godforsaken trail that smells of bad incense in a daze listening to some funky music while the game gets played anyway.
Your decision. I think you chose correctly.
Lucky you. I don’t watch much television so cable tv for me would be a waste of money.
Free cable? Hey, I want free cable! Um…and a pony! And maybe some Whoppers, the candy and the burger. Oh…forget it…just give me the free cable!