PurpAnd

As a follow-up to one of your favorites.

Some videos I found recently that I felt like sharing…

Remember Contra for NES?

This makes me want to go, Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A.

This one may put a smile on your face. It’s a nice funky jam.

Finally, this guy is super entertaining. I ordered his first CD and can’t wait to download his second at Ronald Jenkees.com.

If you have some favorite YouTube videos, send them along.

We had a pretty good weekend. T and I went to the Outside Lands music festival on Friday (the first of three days) and saw Manu Chao, Beck, and Radiohead. Radiohead was a show I’ve been wanting to see for probably eight years and I was thoroughly impressed (even though the sound went out twice).

We met up with some of T’s friends in the Park (Hi Deb!) and just enjoyed the music. Manu Chao was a really lively and fun act and it seemed they were happy to be there (”Thank you, San Pancho!!”). We only caught a few songs of Beck’s set, but it was quality and I am glad we heard what we did.

Having this festival in Golden Gate Park was perfect for us since it was less than 30 minutes for us to walk there. No full buses to worry about, no parking space to find, just an easy stroll through the Park. I’ve read reports that 50,000 to 60,000 people attended the festival on Friday. Probably similar numbers showed up on Saturday and Sunday. It was a blast and it’s rumored to be the first of many annual festivals like it. I look foward to seeing the artist lineup for next year.

Sunday we went to the de Young museum to see Chihuly. In case you don’t know, Dale Chihuly is probably the premier glassblowing artist in the world. His artwork is amazing and to see some of it up close was really cool. The de Young museum has a 9-story observation tower that looks out over the Park and northern SF. I’ll post some pictures of our visit a little later.

The last highlight of the day was a stop at the hot dog cart near the Conservatory of Flowers. We’ve seen this cart for months and have wanted to stop, but never had until yesterday. Great hot dogs and hot links and it was a perfect meal for a nice day in the Park.

A few days ago, I posted a guest entry about the lack of customer service in the world today. The following is a response to that post offering some perspective on the examples cited and is a reflection of my evolving view of such situations. I do not necessarily disagree that customer service in general has become a lost art, I only provide the following commentary as a way to combat aggressive feelings when confronted with situations somewhat beyond your control.

While I have been known to have a short fuse when it comes to incompetent individuals (slow drivers, and people who stop in front of you on the sidewalk, to name a couple), I am now on a path toward a more serene lifestyle. (I’ll likely post about this in future posts). With the help of my wife and some of my friends, I am learning to live my life with less stress and a more open attitude. This has allowed me to bring in the fun, so to speak.

So, how do I feel about a pharmacy employee who seems too young and insensitive to do her job, or someone at the DMV who reluctantly aids the 100,000 customer in her thankless job? Well, I am very near not caring.

Some of you may think this is odd, but let me explain. In the guest post, the two main examples are related by the theme of wasted time. And the guest post further theorized that you get what you tolerate. My argument is you can control what you tolerate, so maybe when you head into the DMV, expect to be there forever (they have a reputation to uphold, remember), and when you emerge having only been there for an hour, you will be pleasantly surprised. (This is a big reason why the Danish are known as the happiest people in the world - low expectations.)

Now, the other example about the pharmacy employee who told an old lady to get out of the way is more difficult. On one hand, being disrespectful to the elderly is uncalled for, but at the same time, the pharmacy needs to serve dozens, if not hundreds, of people each day. This may have been a case of impolitely moving people along.

But let’s go back to being able to control what you tolerate. This is the main difference between someone who gets savagely upset and the person who lets it slide off their back. Certainly, there are times when being upset is warranted, but how you use those feelings can be controlled in all situations. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a huge deal. Will these experiences affect your life tomorrow, next week, next year? Likely not. (I know I sound like I am preaching, but its partly for my benefit to write this out since I am learning to do this as well.) If you can’t imagine something bothering you tomorrow, it probably isn’t worth it to get your heart rate and blood pressure up.

I’d like to conclude with a parting thought that you can use when you feel you are getting impatient and/or hot under the collar when dealing with someone who isn’t on the same page as you. It’s a motto that I picked up from a friend. I apologize for not using the exact wording, but it goes something like this, “be extra nice to people, for you have no idea the kind of day they are having.” A horrible day is a good explanation for why someone doesn’t present the best version of themselves.