Do you recall when Al Gore first invented the internet? He admonished all of us to be secretive. Don't give out too much personal information. The internet is full of crazy people who will kill you.
Well, I've been on the internet since Al Gore was skinny, and I'm here to tell you that its a bunch of hooey. In the 20 odd years that I've been blogging, espousing my political views, and ranting and raving about boating topics all over the interwebs, I've only met nice folks.
A case in point was yesterday. A long time blog follower wanted to visit Drift Away. He and his wife are interested in buying him. He's been following this blog pretty much since the beginning and so knows all what we've been through getting this good old boat running, and understands what's left to be done. He understands all the weirdness in owning an old boat like this, and would consider dropping a significant portion of his retirement into it.
So was he a weirdo?
Well, OK. Yes he was. After all, who in his right mind would consider taking on something of this scope?
No one. No one in his right mind, that is.
But then again, how many of you are in your "right mind"? Most of you are probably sitting in your work cubicle reading this and thinking "Yeah, I could totally do that, instead of submitting my expense report and listening to the jerk in the next cubicle to mine crack his knuckles!"
And that's it in a nutshell. Who and what is normal? What defines normal, exactly? Is the view from the transom any different from some derelict sailboat than a pristine mega-yacht? Are people who cruise up and down the coast, chasing the sun, a special kind of crazy? Or are they fulfilling life's original plan, in which nomadic tribes followed the sun and the herds?
All I can tell you is that the nice folks that came to look at Drift Away were good people, as normal as you'd find in any cruiser's hangout anywhere, and ready to take on their next big adventure in life. And isn't that what life should be all about? Living life to one's fullest? Celebrating new experiences? Meeting other folks who have figured all this out?
Then again, working in a cubicle is OK too. Plugging away in an office is normal and what regular folks should do.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OK.... no it is not. That's not normal at all. Anyone who thinks that's normal is the crazy internet weirdo.
Well, I've been on the internet since Al Gore was skinny, and I'm here to tell you that its a bunch of hooey. In the 20 odd years that I've been blogging, espousing my political views, and ranting and raving about boating topics all over the interwebs, I've only met nice folks.
A case in point was yesterday. A long time blog follower wanted to visit Drift Away. He and his wife are interested in buying him. He's been following this blog pretty much since the beginning and so knows all what we've been through getting this good old boat running, and understands what's left to be done. He understands all the weirdness in owning an old boat like this, and would consider dropping a significant portion of his retirement into it.
So was he a weirdo?
Well, OK. Yes he was. After all, who in his right mind would consider taking on something of this scope?
No one. No one in his right mind, that is.
But then again, how many of you are in your "right mind"? Most of you are probably sitting in your work cubicle reading this and thinking "Yeah, I could totally do that, instead of submitting my expense report and listening to the jerk in the next cubicle to mine crack his knuckles!"
And that's it in a nutshell. Who and what is normal? What defines normal, exactly? Is the view from the transom any different from some derelict sailboat than a pristine mega-yacht? Are people who cruise up and down the coast, chasing the sun, a special kind of crazy? Or are they fulfilling life's original plan, in which nomadic tribes followed the sun and the herds?
All I can tell you is that the nice folks that came to look at Drift Away were good people, as normal as you'd find in any cruiser's hangout anywhere, and ready to take on their next big adventure in life. And isn't that what life should be all about? Living life to one's fullest? Celebrating new experiences? Meeting other folks who have figured all this out?
Then again, working in a cubicle is OK too. Plugging away in an office is normal and what regular folks should do.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OK.... no it is not. That's not normal at all. Anyone who thinks that's normal is the crazy internet weirdo.
I was a crazy Internet weirdo but I got better! :-)
ReplyDeleteI decided to build a boat from a kit. Oh wait. That's weird too! *hehehe*
Excellent points Dave. I too think a lot of people get carried away with their paranoia over Internet privacy. We live in a world of credit cards, the Internet, Facebook, e-mail, LinkedIn, Amazon.com.... in short, digital fingerprints everywhere. Use two-step authentication and a world-class password keeper (I use Dashlane) to protect your passwords, social security number and financial accounts. For the rest of the social media stuff, Get Over It!
ReplyDelete