Grugger’s Way

I have been reading a LOT of material on the health benefits of meat, and, other than iron and protein, I just don’t see reasons to put my health at risk just for the flavor (which I have ALWAYS enjoyed).

While I like the taste of a rib eye steak, the smell of it cooking is almost enough to gag me. I know there is a mind-game going on here, and I don’t oppose killing animals for meat, I just don’t do it myself (any more) and I let my brain be taken over by emotion.

I’ve often said that my wife is turning me into a woman as I get older and older. I don’t talk about guns and trucks anymore, and don’t have very many “guy” friends to talk with about golf, football or fishing. Since I am retired now and the wife works full time, I do the grocery shopping, and quite a bit of the cooking. I do laundry (my OWN only), and vacuum some. I feed dogs and cats and take care of the yard. Perhaps becoming a vegetarian is the next step in my genetic transcendence.

One thing that undoubtedly influences me in my dietary choices is my spouse, of course. What we put on the table has a LOT to do with what she wants, and she is vegetarian. So, that kind of helps explain my situation.

If I end up being 90 years old, with no cancer or heart disease, I will have to give her a great deal of the credit. At that age, I will feel free to eat just about anything I want, that is, anything my old teeth could chew.

I could easily go on a rampage and list hundreds of types of people and activities that really annoy me, but who else cares?

Let’s see if you recognize and can empathize with some of these:

Animal poop in public places

Open-mouth, tongue-wagging, SLURPY kisses on television. Not a turn-on, it’s not REAL! It’s television!

Parents who don’t control their kids in grocery stores.

People who never have their money ready at check-out. “Oh, I have to pay now? Let me find my checkbook.”

Kids who run up and down escalators, usually in the opposite direction. (ok, I used to do this too, but now I am an adult)

People who fart in elevators. (This might make every list.)

When the “Breaking News” icon comes on the television, or my e-mail notification says something like the same thing, my stomach tightens up and I prepare for the worst.

Pretty much I have been this way since the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001. I always expect to see that someone has been seriously injured or killed or assassinated, or a bomb exploded or a kidnapping, or sniper or other horrific event.

What an awful way to live. I am fairly certain I am not alone.

I can sit here, day after day, and just wait for something to happen, or I can learn to ignore the news headlines and internet and television. That’s pretty much exactly what my wife does—and she is a lot happier than I am.

Frankly, I am tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is agonizing over things that haven’t happened.