Life is a necklace made up of countless moments.
Some incidents are gems or jagged nuggets of varying size consisting of pleasant, tolerable or even annoying events. Only a few are perfect pearls.
It is unfortunate that we do not always have a choice or control over the gems or jagged nuggets added to our necklaces. More often than not, other humans take away our choices in the matter. Whether people’s actions are intentional ambiguity or a temporary mental lapse, everything and everyone affects the necklaces of others.
The difference between someone adding a gem or a jagged nugget to your necklace often stems from folk’s inability or aversion to engaging their brains before taking action.
Let’s consider a recent example of a jagged nugget. If you pay even peripheral attention to your surroundings, you will notice that the greatest offenders are not always the so-called rednecks. The guilty parties are some news reporters and the folks in the world of advertising.
Reporters tend to believe that catastrophic events such as hurricanes are the opportunities to bring fame, fortune, and news-making notoriety to their careers. Perhaps that desire to shine causes them to lose their ever loving minds on the air.
For example, during hurricanes and other delights Mother Nature sends our way, an increasing number of reporters stand outside to share the latest weather information, live. When Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas, viewers saw a reporter hanging onto the balcony railing of his hotel as the wind and rain lashed his frail human body.
In the past, reporters endured hits to various parts of their bodies by flying debris, just to make the on-camera moment exciting for the viewers. Such exhibitions of lunacy do not foster excitement; they confirm the viewing public’s suspicion that they are watching reckless clowns rather than serious news reporting.
Such self-endangerment trends will continue until Mother Nature loosens the wind burst which sends the reporter flying off into the void. Or someday, one such unfortunate soul is sucked up into the vortex of a tornado. After all, even the most adrenaline oriented junkie will gasp at the sight of unintentionally airborne reporters.
Advertising has always walked the fine edge of creativity and blatant innuendo. A frequently aired Shiner Light Blonde, Tubing Commercial is yet another jagged nugget event.
“It’s triple digit season out here. Now chances are you won’t crack open a light beer and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a crazy yet refreshing snowstorm; where a bunch of bikini models bring out more light beer to some crunchy classic rock riff. Naw. You brought your own snow and bikini models, and plenty of Shiner Light Blonde. Nice.”
The visual is a group of young people, who could be anywhere from college age to folks in their early thirties. So, the line “you brought your own snow” becomes all too real and straight off the headlines.
Some events straddle the line between small gems and jagged nuggets, and they usually involve our children.
For example, when our son was five or six years old, he decided to show off his bicycle riding prowess by riding down the middle of our street with his eyes closed. For a moment, he was probably proud of his achievement and had a small gem within his grasp. When he hit a car and cut his chin open down to the bone, it became a very jagged nugget event, which included an emergency room visit and stitches.
True gems can be surviving a serious car crash without a scratch. Of course, the same is not the case for either vehicle. One’s front end and battery nearly reached the windshield while the other, a pickup truck, landed upside down on a guardrail.
Some of the pearls on Hubby’s and my necklaces include the birth of our children and spending 50twonderful, laughter-filled years together.
Although it is nice to count our blessings, perhaps the gems, jagged nuggets and pearls that make up the necklaces of our lives tell a more complete and elaborate tale.