A Pet Peeve

My mother told me about one of her pet peeves and it struck me as being unusual. You know that membane between the egg white and the egg yolk. When the egg is boiled too long, according to my mother, that membrane turns a greenish-gray and that really bugged her. Strange, huh?

Tunnel Vision Causes Hearing Loss

Have you ever noticed that people with tunnel vision (not the physical condition but the mental one) also cannot hear (not the physical condition but the mental one)?

To get rid of some of these parentheses, let me give you some definitions. When I refer to "tunnel vision", I am referring to the state of an individual who has one point of view and all information that individual receives is filtered through that single viewpoint on any issue. Period. End of discussion. Even if there are other viewpoints, it does not matter for the tunnel vision person is always right. Period. End of discussion.

It is this attitude that causes me to conclude that tunnel vision is closely tied to a hearing loss. Oh, the ears are working just fine but the tunnel-visioned individual has no need for them. He already has all the information he needs. Let's not cloud the issue with someone else's thinking.

I started thinking about this connection in regards to the emails I receive with some anonymous person's rants about whatever. One of the latest is a letter from a grandfather to his granddaughter who made the serious crime of voting for Barack Obama. Gramps carefully explains to her that her vote will raise taxes, cause loss of jobs, gifts, food, housing, tires, etc. Gramps goes on to imply that anyone who voted for Obama, did so only to be able to get welfare, etc.

NEVER ONCE DOES GRANDPA MENTION THE $1.2 TRILLION DOLLAR BUDGET DEFICIENT RUN UP BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION---AN ADMINISTRATION WHICH SPENT AMERICAN DOLLARS BUT DID NOT HAVE THE GUMPTION TO RAISE TAXES TO PAY FOR ITS OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING.

And why didn't Gramps mention this? Because his tunnel vision prevented him from seeing it. Apparently, his filter doesn't always let facts through. I call people like Gramps DEAFS (Don't Even Ask For Sensibility).

Now my next question is: What is the connection between tunnel vision, hearing loss and intelligence? Umm.....

I Resolve............

Well, it's the time of year when many people make New Year's Resolutions. I used to until I realized that I was setting myself up for failure.

If I were going to make a resolution, I suppose it would be to improve on my ability to see people as they really are and not some idealized perception that exists only in my mind. My husband has always said that I expect too much from people. It's true and it's because I have given them hefty qualities that don't even exist.

I remember years ago when a friend and I were following an RV from out of state. At each intersection, the driver hesitated longer than my friend thought they should do. She ranted about the social level of people who drove RVs. Another time she asked me if I thought she should continue a friendship with a certain couple. Her concern was that the husband worked for a fast food chain. At the time, I dismissed these incidents (and similar ones) by thinking that she was having a bad day, or that she was in pain, or that I misinterpreted what she said, etc., etc., etc. It took me years to accept the fact that she was a SNOB of the highest degree. Until I faced reality, I mourned the loss of that friendship and assumed that I was solely to blame for the loss. That was because I perceived her to be a kind, understanding, giving person when in reality she pulled those qualities out only when they would benefit her in some way.

I don't mean to blame her and people like her for the pain they cause. They are just being themselves---I am the one who lacks the ability to see who they are and accept them as they are. Over the years, I have become very cautious (oh, all right...cynical) about putting the friendship tag on people I meet.

I don't get hurt as much but I liked the world a whole lot better when I could view it through rose-colored glasses.