Recently, as many things bewilder me in random yet similar ways, as usual, I am at the mercy of throwing random thoughts and questions into the cosmic void that is the internet and this blog to try to cope as best as I am capable. I was faced with another meeting with this same friend on what is literally the biggest day of the year in retail: Black Friday. How sensible it is that "fate" would bring him to the exact store where I've worked at for over 2 years and that I should pass him in the exact route I took from my area to the restroom.
Fate: an awkward, teasing biotch. Of course, I then went for my cell phone, not far away and safe and sound in my locker, to text my sister and a friend I was sure would be awake at 1 in the morning (unlike my sister).
You're probably thinking, ok...so? Here is my question, the reason for this post: Why can't people let things go? Why can't the past stay in the past? And on another, but subtly similar note; what is the motive, the thought process that goes through someone's mind before creating a questionable, potentially hostile situation?
Maybe it's due to the timing of recent events: the situation with the bully at work and now another public meeting with someone who I wish would just forget about me forever. But I just don't get it. It's in the past, leave it there, and move on. Is that really so complicated? Is it really so much for me to ask for or expect? All I want is to be grateful for the situations and experiences life brings me and leave them where they belong: in the past, in my memories and no where else.
Mind you, I have no qualms or problems with reminiscing about something or someone, but not because I expect them to happen again, to see them again to feel or react the same ways, just because it's fun to remember things and people who are gone. But only to a point. People leave, change and in my case many times over, they die. And there's nothing you can do about it, except remember them, be grateful for the memories and lessons, hold onto them and move on.
I get that there's a period after someone leaves, or a fight or falling out, where one goes through a sadness, a period of missing someone and trying to move on and get used to being without this person. You come to realize that despite their absence, you'll always remember them good or bad, but they are gone. They have the same experiences and memories as you, which is a comfort, but it doesn't change anything. Let it go. Move on. Not for them, but for you. You deserve a new start as much as them. You owe it to yourself to cut your losses and learn from them. And that's it.
...
The other part of this post is about shoplifting. Why do people do it? What part of it seems like a good idea? You MIGHT get away with it. But, on the chance that you don't, you get a red mark forever on your background check, which could be seen by anyone from your neighbor to a potential employer. Besides which, you'll most likely have to deal with the police and be banned from the store you just tried to steal from... What part of any of that seems redeeming? And what could possibly be worth going through all that for? You'd think people would just see it for what it is: there are no redeeming qualities that make it a worthy hobby and if you're successful, your theft raises the prices of merchandise for the rest of us in what is already a terrible economy. Of course, why would a shoplifter be considerate enough to think about anyone but themselves, but it's a legitimate fact of what they do...
Anyway, someone needs to explain it to me because I don't get it. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it that much until I started working at a department store where I was asked to be a witness for a shoplifting apprehension. Which was neither pleasant nor exciting. I had to sit in a room and listen to a girl my sister's age apologize, cry hysterically and beg for mercy regarding calling the police and her mother. All over a pair of sunglasses.
