So for those of you who hit it, how do you cope with turning 40 years old?

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by IMJ

facepalms

I don't think anyone is arguing with you that it isn't the truth. But rather, I think that there are a few people here who are always surprised when meeting someone who has to touch the fire before they know they'll be burned. The point is that most people with common sense knew beforehand that if human activity slowed down, the environment could stage a fast comeback.

And so, I'm not entirely sure what your point is. Is this an epiphany to you? What actions should be taken outside of this sort of child-like view that says "look, lockdown cleaned up rivers, we need to change something!"
There's an episode of South Park that encompasses this perfectly.

Epiphany? Hardly, I've known for YEARS how badly we have been treating our Mother (ie, Earth) as I see it literally every day on my (nearly two mile) walk to and from work. Butterflies and flowers that used to be plentiful just ten years ago have all but disappeared in my area. Even without any development of the places they lived. They are just- gone. Birds, too. Same small town, not much has changed, but the life is disappearing more and more every year. But clearly it is something most people don't even SEE, or notice even if they do see it. They simply don't take the time to LOOK. But last year FORCED a lot of people to do just that. And I think that is a good thing, because it got a lot of people actually LOOKING for the first time ever. And maybe they will start to change. That was my entire point. People who never even thought about it, suddenly were forced to by a global crisis that shoved it right in front of them. Hopefully, it sticks.

[Leo656]

And again... given that the main priority of PEOPLE is what's going to happen to PEOPLE... how much are we expected to care about "the butterflies"?

I mean seriously. People are blowing their brains out because they don't have jobs. I think THAT should honestly be the thing we're "looking at" in greater detail, and trying to figure "What are we gonna do about it?"

I highly doubt that the people who have serious concerns about eviction and survival are thinking about the damn birds and the bees, I'm sorry.

Not trying to be "mean", but I'm a pragmatist above all else. "Those poor bugs". Okay... So What? PEOPLE are losing their homes. PEOPLE are killing themselves. PEOPLE are locked up indoors with molestors and abusers.

The bugs will be Fine. I wanna know what the next five-to-ten years are gonna look like for Me and Mine. I completely do not care about the whales and the snails, but I'm VERY curious as to how I'm gonna feed myself once the government stops extending my unemployment.

I think *most* people agree with me, and I don't in any way think it makes them Bad People.

I'm not very religious, but one thing the Bible says that I absolutely agree with is that HUMANS have dominion over the Earth. For so long as that lasts, we need to think about US, first and foremost.

Anything else is well-meaning, but foolish. The butterflies aren't gonna pay your bills. We gotta Get Real, here.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Epiphany? Hardly, I've known for YEARS how badly we have been treating our Mother (ie, Earth) as I see it literally every day on my (nearly two mile) walk to and from work. Butterflies and flowers that used to be plentiful just ten years ago have all but disappeared in my area.

The same form of epiphany for me has been the observation of cycles simply by existing combined with growing up in (arguably) the last generation that basically went outside all the time growing up.

Originally Posted by Leo656

And again... given that the main priority of PEOPLE is what's going to happen to PEOPLE... how much are we expected to care about "the butterflies"?

As usual (and probably usually lost on most people here), I'm not arguing... uhhh Duckies point as much as the thought processes and value assignment involved in said point.

But with that said, as a point of convo "the butterflies" so to speak are pretty damn important when used as indicators of what goes on in nature. I mean... it's like frogs, man.

Who cares about frogs, right?

But frogs are the single best indicator of your immediate environment. If on wet days you can go out and spot frogs or toads then that's pretty damn good. It means that there are insects doing their thing for them to eat and that the water table isn't polluted to being beyond living. Frogs are early responders. Butterflies and other guys like that serve a similar point of observation.

But again, most of the time I'm not arguing the points that people like Duckie are making. Instead I'm usually actually arguing the simple-@$$ head math that a lot of people (= lefties) use because it just as easily leads to them to BS conclusions and those conclusions are, quite frankly ruining the whole of society rather than enhancing it.

It's my experience that the connections being made in the "pandemic as evidence that we need action" is asinine, insipid and basically a thought of least resistance in most cases, whether there is a shred that can be argued in favor of the thought or not.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Is it really that shocking that most PEOPLE care more about what happens to PEOPLE than about what might happen to anything else?

It shouldn't be that shocking.

Not shocking, just disappointing that we're a species smart enough to know not to crap where we sleep, so to speak, but many/most will do it anyway. Humanity it too lazy to reach its real potential.

Originally Posted by Leo656

The butterflies aren't gonna pay your bills.

But many people do realize that even if they don't pay your bills, they do pollinate plants that grow things we eat... As well as for the plant eaters who we in turn eat. So ensuring that us and ours can always eat is going to become a problem without them. I doubt robot bees and butterflies to take their place are going to happen anytime soon, or ever.

[Leo656]

I'm personally of the mindset of, "While I have not the energy, time, or inclination to 'make things better', I also don't go out of my way to make things worse, and try not to."

I think that's where MOST people are, and I think that's gonna have to be Good Enough.

It takes way too much effort merely to SURVIVE this world, let alone go about trying to "fix" it. And in my experience, the ones who worry the most about "fixing" it are absolutely miserable, joyless people. They're so hung up on "Things are terrible, and getting worse all the time!" that they're borderline impossible to be around.

That kind of misery is no good at all for my mental health. Thus, to borrow a phrase, "I'd rather laugh with the Sinners than cry with the Saints."

It's not that I don't care. I do. Kinda. I mean, like I said I try not to make things worse, but do I honestly care about what's gonna happen to the planet 100 years after I'm dead? Not one bit, I won't be here by then, so that's whatever. But it's not like I don't care about Right Now, it's just that I'm not inclined to do more than I already do in some misguided notion that it's gonna "fix" anything. I recycle. I don't throw trash on the ground, I put it in the trash can. That's plenty. That's all that it's reasonable to expect any "normal" person to do. That's "contributing".

Might wanna yell at the folks who insist on throwing their masks all over the place. Every time I go shopping the parking lot is littered with them. Those People are doing more to screw things up than I am; maybe someone should pester THEM and not me. I do plenty.

[IndigoErth]

And I'm of the mindset that is what all these people are for. There's too many issues and concerns for EVERYONE to have to take up EVERY cause. If someone else has something covered that we don't care much about, but we are interested in this other issue...then great. We just aught to avoid stepping on or disrespecting someone else's efforts and concern for the things they do care about.

Yeah, the people who drop their masks and don't pick them up or toss them in the trash are total jerks. Esp when no one wants to have to touch that.

[Leo656]

Just got home after going to the gym and Wal-Mart. Masks, masks everywhere, all over the parking lot.

I don't envy the poor minimum wagers who have to pick that sh*t up.

I live in the 'Burbs, too. Can't imagine what places like NYC, Philly, L.A. and San Fran look like. Could probably make sailboat sails outta all the masks people throw on the ground. Disgusting.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by IMJ

The same form of epiphany for me has been the observation of cycles simply by existing combined with growing up in (arguably) the last generation that basically went outside all the time growing up.



As usual (and probably usually lost on most people here), I'm not arguing... uhhh Duckies point as much as the thought processes and value assignment involved in said point.

But with that said, as a point of convo "the butterflies" so to speak are pretty damn important when used as indicators of what goes on in nature. I mean... it's like frogs, man.

Who cares about frogs, right?

But frogs are the single best indicator of your immediate environment. If on wet days you can go out and spot frogs or toads then that's pretty damn good. It means that there are insects doing their thing for them to eat and that the water table isn't polluted to being beyond living. Frogs are early responders. Butterflies and other guys like that serve a similar point of observation.

But again, most of the time I'm not arguing the points that people like Duckie are making. Instead I'm usually actually arguing the simple-@$$ head math that a lot of people (= lefties) use because it just as easily leads to them to BS conclusions and those conclusions are, quite frankly ruining the whole of society rather than enhancing it.

It's my experience that the connections being made in the "pandemic as evidence that we need action" is asinine, insipid and basically a thought of least resistance in most cases, whether there is a shred that can be argued in favor of the thought or not.

See my perspective here is that there has been EXHAUSTIVE attention and coverage of the human side of this crisis, but very little on the positive aspect. Because part of my faith- a BIG part- is that life keeps a balance on it's own, there is good and bad in all things. But so much attention is being paid to the bad, that the "good" has been ignored. That being the slight recovery I have mentioned earlier. So yeah, butterflies might not pay my bills, but they help make the food we all eat, as do bees, so if they disappear, so does much of our food supply. Seems to me we should be far more invested in that than in whether or not we can go to a sports event or concert, or which celeb has gotten the virus. But what do I know? I'm just a small town witch who wishes others would take such problems more seriously. Because in the end, it hardly matters if we go back to normal, if we end up skipping out on our best opportunity to change for the better.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I live in the 'Burbs, too. Can't imagine what places like NYC, Philly, L.A. and San Fran look like. Could probably make sailboat sails outta all the masks people throw on the ground. Disgusting.

I dunno, the big cities may at least have street sweepers that can pick up part of it, and people who take responsibility for their part of the sidewalk. The rest of us don't have anyone who wants to pick that up.

Really the only bad one I've seen where I'm at is the Walmart parking lot. No big surprise there.

Part of it may just be from people who didn't realize they dropped it and didn't mean to, but even still, if they'd leave it on until they got to the car then it wouldn't be an issue.

[Leo656]

Wal-Mart is definitely the worst.

And when I regularly see a small pile of 2-3 of them in one place then I'm gonna have to rule out the "accident" theory and go back to the "People are assholes" theory. Especially when they match.

That's definitely a "family" of jagoffs going "Yeah, we're outside, chuck that sh*t so some other idiot can clean it up." Gross.

[IndigoErth]

Esp when it's at a parking space and you know it's someone who just chucked their trash out the door. Hate people like that.

Saw some car leaving ahead of me in a parking lot last week with a bag hanging off a car, the handle stuck in the door. Some guy in the parking lot tried to yell over to them, I guess thinking they might lose something they didn't mean to.

Car dragged it down the road for a short distance before the pavement pretty much tore the bag free...and trash of course came falling out of the bag. (Luckily only the bag itself ended up going under my car and didn't get caught. ) I guess they thought they'd just leave their trash in the parking lot and "accidentally" dragged it along with them. People are such rats.

[mrmaczaps]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Just got home after going to the gym and Wal-Mart. Masks, masks everywhere, all over the parking lot.

I don't envy the poor minimum wagers who have to pick that sh*t up.

I live in the 'Burbs, too. Can't imagine what places like NYC, Philly, L.A. and San Fran look like. Could probably make sailboat sails outta all the masks people throw on the ground. Disgusting.

Just imagine this was ACTUALLY a pandemic & people were getting sick from other peoples poorly discarded masks everywhere... if it were truly a pandemic, there would be an epic number of trash containers for the masks & gloves or stores would have at least extra trash bins just outside their doors for them.... You'd think.

[Iroh]

I'll be 39 in August. I still feel like a little kid. I'm hyper and energetic. Hopefully, I'll be like this next year. In this age, 40 doesn't look too bad.

[frank_one]

I'm starting to believe the 30s are the most important decade of one person's life. The rest of your existence greatly depends on how well you've treated your body during this period, how many bad habits of your youth you have dismissed and how many good ones you've learn to follow.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by frank_one

I'm starting to believe the 30s are the most important decade of one person's life. The rest of your existence greatly depends on how well you've treated your body during this period, how many bad habits of your youth you have dismissed and how many good ones you've learn to follow.

Not to mention most people have kids in their 30's, and if you wait too long by the time you're in your 40's having kids is a big issue.

[DarkFell]

^ It depends on the family and the income that they have.

** Also, my folks had me in their twenties.

[Andrew NDB]

My dad was 40 and my mom was 30. When they had me.

[CyberCubed]

My parents were only 25 when I was born. It's hard to believe I'm now pretty much a decade older than they were when they had kids. Granted things in the 80's were different than they are now for young people.

I honestly can't imagine how people can have kids in their early 20's. When you're only 25 you're likely barely starting whatever your career is and still don't really know what you want to do with your life.

[IndigoErth]

Very true. Guy who bought the house next door last summer is supposedly only about 24 and not married. It's a shame that in most places now it sounds so unusual for someone that age to be able to buy a house, let alone with one income. So many older ones can't even do it.

[Prowler]

Turning 30 was a lot easier than I had expected. The transition wasn't so difficult. I guess when I was 20 - 25 I thought 30 was some strange magical age where you suddenly stop being a young adult and become an entirely new person overnight.

The strangest and most unsettling part of being 30 is knowing I'll be 40 in a decade. At least when I was in my 20s I knew I was going to still be rather young in a decade, but 40 is not "young". It's the beginning of middle age. Sure, it's not old as in 60+, but definitely not young.

The difference between 30 and 40 seems far greater than the one between 20 and 30, for some reason. Even though the difference in maturity is a lot smaller between your average 30 year old and your average 40 year old. Strange.

No one is young forever. But it's not like I'll stop enjoying videogames and other similar stuff I've enjoyed my whole life.