We'll Keep In Touch!

I got an e-mail the other day requesting some information. The sender was a familiar name, but the reason was shocking. The e-mailer wanted my address so I could receive information about my 10 year High School Re-Union.

10 YEARS!!

Damn, I feel old. Maybe a bit unimportant. You know how your mind wanders sometimes. Mine certainly does. Thoughts that run through my head:

1. Will anyone remember me?
2. Does anybody still think of me?
3. What great things will everyone else be doing?
4. How many people will be better off than me?
5. How many will be worse off?
6. What will people look like?

I never considered myself a "popular" person. I was known by a lot, acknowledged by many, but I never really interacted like others. A bit backwards, I guess you could have described me as. Will they remember me? Oh, I remember them. Small things flood back to me with the mention of each name. Things I should have forgotten long ago, but for some reason have locked into my mind, like the lyrics to songs.

Do they see my name and wonder "what ever happened to Tony?" I doubt it. But that's ok. I like to think I leave a mark on the people who leave a mark on me. It's kind of a respect thing, I guess.

How many people will have great lives? Will they be better off than I am? I highly doubt they could be. Don't get me wrong, others may have tons of money, live in mansions and sleep on gold...but that doesn't necessarily make them better off than me. I have a great life. I think I have done very well for myself.

I guess none of that matters. Chances are, I'll go, see some people, talk about the old times, exchange numbers and e-mail addresses and then never see them again. Just like High School. We'll keep in touch! Best Friends Forever!!

Seems like so long ago.

But I bet when I see the people I once held in such high regard, the valedictorian, the cheerleaders, the quarterback of the football team...I bet these people are just like me now. No hierarchy applies to the 10 year reunion. We are now all equal. Only, somehow, I feel like I have more to be proud of. It's like I was so insignificant in High School, and I did so much since...

I don't feel superior, just confident. Confident that I can go and be one of the group. One of the Class of 95. That's a good feeling. Not just a name.

JMH

About 4 years back, I worked for a company called IKON. I'll give you a minute to scratch your heads, and try to figure out what IKON stands for and what kind of company they actually are.

Give up? Yeah, I thought so. IKON is an office solutions company, and a competitor of Xerox, a name we all know. What does IKON stand for...I Know One Name. Goofy, isn't it?

Anyway, while working for this company, I did a brief stint in the document center at Johnson Memorial Hospital. JMH wasn't a bad gig, really. A few copy jobs here and there, run around the hospital delivering mail. The best part, however, was the cafeteria, located right outside the door of the document center.

Ok, make your hospital food jokes now...feel better? Let's move on.

The food was actually pretty good, and it was right next door, so it was a doubly good thing. As my stint at the hospital grew longer, I began to experiment more with the exploration of the hospital. That's when the cafeteria gravy train stopped rolling.

Around the corner from the cafeteria was...the MORGUE!! Probably less than 50 feet away. My co-worker, knowing I didn't know my way around the building very well, and my disdain for the morgue, took me by it every chance she got, too.

I couldn't shake the image of the morgue being so close to my scrambled eggs...damn, now I won't be able to eat scrambled eggs, either.

Worst Gift Ever

Now that the holidays are over, I feel a bit of relief. No, I'm not finding comfort in the holidays being over, I'm finding it in the revelation that I did not receive any extremely crappy gifts this year. Ok, some may think the socks and underwear my mom buys me every year is a bad gift, but I, for one, think its a fabulous gift. Have you priced that stuff lately?

As far as bad gifts go, I received my WORST gift back in 1984.

When you're six years old, Christmas has a magical feeling. Santa Claus, presents, cookies and milk, you get the idea. My family would always open our gifts at home on Christmas Eve, and go to my grandma's on Christmas day.

I don't remember what great gifts my mom and dad bought me (ironic isn't it? Forget the good gifts, remember the bad.) but I do recall what was waiting for me when we went to my grandma's house. My brother, my cousin, Scott, and I all received...




THE MICHAEL JACKSON BELT.

Granted, Jackson was huge that year with the release of Thriller, but come on. I actually liked Michael Jackson, but still remember feeling like this was a crappy gift.

I never wore it.

Can you even imagine giving that gift to a six year old now? YIKES!!

The Proof is in the Pudding

I heard someone say "The Proof is in the Pudding" the other day. What the hell does that mean? The proof of what is in the pudding? And, for that matter, how far into said pudding do we have to search to find proof?

I did a little research and found the origin. Don Quixote. "The Proof of the pudding is the eating." That, I get. But why, oh why is the proof now IN the pudding?

I don't need proof, I don't like to get my hands dirty.

Fruit Cup

My mom use to make a mixture of fruits called a "Fruit Salad." You know, take a bowl, cut up lots of fruits, and bingo-bango-boingo...Fruit Salad. I use to think she was crazy, and came up with this mixture on her own.

I guess it's a more widely used receipe than I had thought.

Becky and I went to Max and Erma's for dinner last night, and low and behold, the Fruit Cup. Becky ordered one, and I thought, "what could be better than a fruit cup?" That's when I remembered what was wrong with the Fruit Salad my mom use to make.

Apples.

You dice some tangerines, some pineapple, throw in some grapes...great, they all have a good flavor. Then you load it down with a flavorless fruit like the apple! What a load of crap! Those red apples, what are they Washington apples or something? Well, they have no flavor. And when the ratio is 4 to 1, apples over fruits with taste, the Fruit Cup is a dud!

Why would the primary fruit be the apple? I remember my mom would lay a plentiful portion of apples and bananas in her Fruit Salad, and you know what would happen? After about 2 days in the refrigerator, the apples and bananas would turn a lovely shade of brown, and no one would want to eat it anymore.

People, stop the madness! Add fruits that have taste, and that won't brown. If I would have had better tasting fruits in my mom's Fruit Salad...I may be in better shape today!!