Rocket Man

Buzz of the Day

I was watching the series finale of Life on Mars yesterday. I was very disappointed. I went on to Google the series to find out some info. Well I guess the ratings were bad. I was quite surprised. The only bad episode in my opinion was the series finale.

Imagine being from somewhere different than everyone around you...Being able to relate, but not totally. Now in this series, he was in 1973 but he's from 2008. I'm just talking about in a different state of mind than the people around you.

I am a pretty different guy. I don't always relate or agree with people totally. My brother always says there are 3 sides to every story. My side; Your side; and The Truth! I think the one thing that separates me from most people in my awareness. I look at situations from each person's viewpoint. The reason I can do this (most of the time) is because I've been around so many different people. And in their mind, their actions are justified. Let me give you some scenarios:

A 17 year old boy goes to prison and leaves a 31 year old man. He was skinny, insecure, and he had to fight for everything he has. The prisons that he's been in were his home. Think about your 21st birthday...you were probably not in prison. So when he arrives "on the outside" for the first time since the early 1990's. Where does that man go to get a job? Where does he go to provide for himself? Who will accept him? Has he lost his constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness? How does he achieve that?

So he applies for jobs, but these jobs don't hire felons. And the jobs that say they will hire felons, only made that rule because a friend of the family was given a job many years ago (they haven't hired one since). This convicted felon has very few family members. They've said, " You can stay with us for 2 months, but after that you have to find your own." Where does he find his own?

Think about that

That is just 1 of 1 trillion different scenarios that people go through everyday. I know people in situations similar to the one above. I also know people that have defied the odds and have done very well after prison. Maybe they grew up in a drug house, maybe they grew up in a tough neighborhood, or maybe their family has never seen anyone get past 11th grade.

I know people who have never "struggled" in their life. Financially. They had both parents in the home, but the parents hated each other. Money was no object. They could buy whatever they wanted, but they didn't have family so share these things with. I know people who have broken the law for years and never has gotten caught. I know people who have lived a squeaky-clean life who were falsely accused of things and their lives were never the same.

When I hear latest tragedies, my heart hurts for them. When I think about the different directions that my life could have gone. Or if I would have gotten caught doing something stupid, how my life would have dramatically changed.

I guess I say all of that to say that I don't feel like I'm better than anyone...We all have our ups and downs and we all deal with them differently. So when people are extremely quick to judge, that bothers me because they don't know the whole story. Don't get me wrong, right and wrong doesn't change because of people's situations! What is wrong for one person is wrong for the next.

Sometimes people don't feel like they have a choice...And I'm aware of that.