July 4th 2008

todays rant and bitch session lol
Well, today I've chosen to take some time to bitch a bit. Well....maybe not bitch, but just look at a problem I have seen in society and ponder a little. My rant for today is men in todays world and society.What? I'm a man! What can I possibly have to bitch about? Women? Wives? Nope....it's other men.
I work a LOT outside when I am home, there are always projects to work on. Granted, some I bring on myself, but others just plain have to be done. There are men on all sides of me, and unless it's lawn mowing time, I'm the lone husband outside. I often wonder what these other men are doing, are they inside working on some big remodel project? Umm...that would be a slim chance. They're inside watching tv, sports probably, or planning the next golf outing or trip to the gym.
And this is where my bitch session begins...... When did men lose sight of their roles in this world? We are the worker bee's, the hunter-gatherers. Sorry to break the news to ya guys, but we are, it's our place. always has been. But...somewhere along the line, men have forgotten that, tossed it aside, or just plain ignored it.
Even the simplest of tasks, like mowing the lawn, is too much of a "burden" for todays men to carry. They hire someone else to do it. This is by far my favorite. 1/4 acre of lawn (ugh I hate that word), and in comes Smilin' Joe's lawn service to do it for you. Why is Joe always smilin'? because he makes money off of you being lazy. Sorry again guys, but you are. Ole Joe smiles all the way to the bank on your behalf.
Sometimes I hear guys talking at work on a monday about what they did over the weekend. "I golfed all weekend", " I watched the game", " I took the jet ski out"....then I get the question...."hmm lemme see....I dug out a 48x8 strawberry bed by hand, built a stone and mortar fire pit, fixed the tractor, split some firewood, fixed the kitchen sink, repaired a window, and cleaned and oiled all my garden tools". The looks I get are sometimes funny,WOW you WORKED on your days off! Yes I did, and I do every weekend and day off. Lazy days for me are extremely rare. I have too much to do, and little time to do it.
When was it, at what point in time, did men become so lazy? When did they decide to set aside their duties as men, pass them along to others, and spend all their time lounging or playing?
As people became more drawn to city life, the need for things was met by merchants, by craftsmen, by grocers and resturants. We no longer HAD to provide for ourselves, we could simply BUY what we needed. The need to buy everything forced people to work, but not necessarily physical labor. With the ability to buy anything we wanted, we wanted more and more, we became more dependant on others, more greedy, and ultimately, more lazy. These people grew more accustomed to their lifestyle, chose not to go back, and bred more greedy and lazy children into the mix, creating the society we have today. These people don't have the simplest of skills, which brings me to the odd reason that got me thinking of this whole thing....
A few days ago, I was sitting here at 5am, drinking coffee and reading some online garden forums before I left for work. One post caught my eye and really made me think. This guy wanted to make a raised bed for his "organic" garden. He had purchased the lumber, but was wanting to hire someone to come cut and assemble it for him. At first I laughed....come on man, its four freakin' boards....a few cuts, a few nails or screws, and taaadaaa! raised bed! But this guy openly admitted to not having the skills or the tools to do something so simple. I'm not going to totally knock this guy, after all, he was wanting to make the effort to grow his own food,and I admire him for that, but its the no skills part that bothers me. Maybe its because I grew up different, but I can't understand a grown man without ANY tools or even the tiniest bit of knowledge. As a man, I would be embarrased to ask such a question, let alone ask to hire someone to assemble four damn boards. As I said, at first I laughed at this post, but the more I thought, the more I became dissapointed and disgusted at what has happened to men in todays society. And its not just a lazy issue, its an ignorance issue. Some people just never learned anything , and though its sad , its not really their fault, but others choose to be ignorant about these things by choice, they simply dont WANT to do anything physical, and these are the guys that piss me off the most. I simply have NO use for a man that doesnt know his way around a toolbox, I can't help it. I see them as weak, lazy, and a burden on society.
Suppose I better climb off my soapbox for a while....
Chris