Rooster complexes

I have feelings about things that I am always reluctant to voice for fear that they will be misunderstood as a condemnation of people I actually like very much.

Looking at pictures on facebook, at the way people drive, at the things our culture seems to take as the ultimate in recreation, often makes me feel like I am on the outside looking in.

I honestly do not understand why being able to push your foot down on a gas pedal is considered a laudable feat.

Studied nonchalance, like driving while slumped in the car seat, or shuffling down the street striking poses, feels contrived to me.

The idea that catching fish and watching them gasp as they suffocate, or shooting animals and seeing them collapse in agony is fun befuddles me.

It seems that many of our so called "recreational activities" are based on an older culture where these skills helped us survive. In the past they were a necessary part of living. Now we do them and post pictures of ourselves with big ghoulish grins on our faces.

Folks are conditioned to do foolish things, believing they are signs of skill levels that really only exist in minds desperate for attention. Things once ogled in National Geographic as aboriginal are now part of a counter culture that makes people pierce all parts of their bodies, tattoo their skins and paint their faces in solidarity with all the other "unique" people.

It makes no sense to me, but I suppose that is what fashion is about -- senseless attempts to do, be, or sell things in order to stay active.

The less we need to work to survive, the more powerless we feel, the more time we devote to achieving "made up" goals and while there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it really isn't all that extraordinary either.