DON’T CARE, OR CARE, THERE IS NO TRY

If you don’t care about something, stay off the soapbox.

Save your big talk for something you care about, we’ll figure out the rest.

Once you’ve been around the block a few times it gets easier to care than not care.

Why, you ask?

From my perch in life I see two kinds of people: Those who think there are two kinds of people, and those who don’t.

Funny? It’s a joke.

I see people who celebrate their wins and learn from their losses, along with the others.

The others rehash their losses first and count their blessings quietly.

Things get confusing when losers celebrate the wins they don’t have, when winners stay quiet to avoid sounding braggy.

One Example

I saw a young mom at the dog park with her young kids.

They were young enough to get knocked over by a dog.

Luckily, their dog was the only one around until I showed up.

Good dog people scope out the dog park before getting out of the car.

This one looked good at the moment.

The only car parked was a big Mercedes 450 SUV.

If I drove a Mercedes 450 SUV the nearest a dog would get to it would be a tire.

I noticed the kids milling around, the dog chasing its tail, mom texting.

In true dog park fashion I mixed things up with my dog.

First, my good girl wouldn’t fetch.

Instead, it harassed the other dog into playing and they started running.

I said something about dogs knocking people over and got the ‘whatever’ look from texting mom.

She was wearing a stylish sleeping bag with arms quilted coat and had more important things to do in the dog park than work her dog.

The little girl sat on a bench and waited for the boring dog park time to end; her little brother, maybe seven or eight, stood out in the wood chip covered field with the dogs near.

Me: The dogs need a leader and they elected you.

The kid smiled and took off running, dogs following behind.

It was a moment.

I asked the mom if she’d been to other dog parks she could recommend.

“We Live In Lake Oswego”

While it wasn’t an answer, it was almost enough to shut me up.

Parts of Lake Oswego are world class, the rest rise on that reputation.

I love me some Lake Oswego, but it’s complicated.

“We have a Lake Oswego here in Tigard.”

“Really? I haven’t heard of it.”

“Most haven’t. One street, SW Hazeltree Terrace, is our Lake Oswego except it doesn’t have a lake. The lake is on Walnut Street.”

Her look said, ‘I don’t care.’

Who could blame her.

It was a dog park where nothing matters more than dogs, and I was dogging Lake Oswego.

Don’t Care Quietly, Please

If your well-being is based on attracting attention, then you’ll repeat whatever it was that brings attention.

This is true? Sounds true to me.

I’m a writer. If I wrote a mystery that old millions, guess what I’m writing next?

My romance novel sold millions and got translated into the language of every country that shows up for the Olympics?

What’s my next book gonna be?

After I’m jaded and dismissive of others due to my world-wide success I’ll complain about being trapped, stuck in a rut.

Who wouldn’t?

But I’ll do it quietly while writing a blog post about whether you should care, or don’t care.

That’s me in a green coat posing with dogs.

What’s not on the back of my coat?

What’s not on the back of yours?