Plastics Blog 19 Jonathon D Humphries

As “uncool” and uptight as my parents are, they give some pretty good advice. Granted, most of it is the same old parental worrying crap like “Drive safely” and “Stop fighting with your sister” but, some where in all that worrying is some genuine gems of advice. My two favorite sayings from my parents have lead me to think of life in a more enlightened way, so without further adieu let me share their sage advice with you.

“The key to happiness is low expectations and being prepared” – My dad

            My dad’s usual tid-bits of advice are latently condescending commands such as “It would be very mature of you to walk honey (our dog which he insisted we get)” but this piece of advice, although not too original, has shaped how I view the world. This saying has put a lot of things in perspective for me; if I’m bummed about flunking a vocab quiz I didn’t study for, at least I know why I’m sad. Essentially this advice is an instruction manual on how to be happy. It says even if you work hard, and are prepared for anything, don’t aim too high otherwise you might be disappointed.

“There is no cure for stupid”- My mom

There really isn’t. Every day you have a chance of running into someone who is genuinely stupid, and there is nothing you can do to help them. You can tell someone they are wrong, and even show them how they are wrong, but the idiots of the world will go on completely oblivious to the error of their ways. If you ever run into a stupid person all you can do is agree with them (you don’t have to, its just that disagreeing with them will just exacerbate their stupidity) and move on. Now I’m not saying that we should let stupid people rule the world, what I’m saying is to pick your battles. Sure I would never yield to an idiot on decisions that matters, but if push comes to shove and you’re throwing down with some idiot over which movie is better, Twilight or Pulp fictions, then just let it go. Some people genuinely are idiots, and because of my mom, I know that there is nothing I can do for them. I can try and try and try but, bless their heart, they will still do the stupid things that stupid people do regardless.