Why do I Bother?

I consider myself a very logical person. Frequently this trait is the cause of much hilarity among my friends. While I was growing up, my mom would often tell me that I was "applying logic where it doesn't belong." Now she just gives me a pitiful look; apparently there are some habits I will never out grow.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the Darwin Awards. I have yet to come close to understanding what these poor, poor people were thinking. I have come to the conclusion that I need to ask myself one question. "Why do I bother?" Here are a few examples:

The graduate student across the hall from me is one of the lecturers for the Freshman Chemistry labs. She as 9 sections, with 300 students (at last count) and 4 TAs. She is also the TA for the Chem 1010 online course, and is in charge of AMES (college chemistry for high school students). And she is supposed to do research...when? In all 2 hours of her free time, no doubt. I'm sorry...you're right, I hyperbolize. She won't have that much free time.

In St. George, man robbed a bank. After getting the money, he went to visit family and then walked the streets. The police found him standing on the corner near his house, waiting for them.

One of Dr. Eyring's undergraduate students got his BS in Chemistry, and continued on to medical school. He became a pathologist. Ten years later, he decided that he didn't like the amount of paperwork, and became a potato farmer. (There was some mention of not liking to cut up dead babies, but I'm sure that's not important here.) That lasted for a few years before he got disgusted with the pay, and he went to law school. Now he is a lawyer, who specializes in malpractice suits.

Back in the day, if a St. Georgian wanted a pet they would drive out to the Arizona strip and grab a tortoise. If it ran away, no big deal--you go get another one. If it got too big, no big deal--leave the fence open, it runs away, and we know how to fix that. This practice has caused the BLM to 'reserve' large areas of land, in southern Utah, for the tortoise. A tortoise that wasn't in Utah before we brought it there.

Have you ever watched the "sidewalking" segment of the Tonight Show? Every single time I do, I wonder how these people have survived for so long. Shouldn't they have forgotten how to breath long before now? I like to think that he screens them by asking "Would you ever vote for Ron Paul?"

I'm sure that by now you see my frustration. What is this world coming to? How am I supposed to be able to find a place in it? I...who's favorite part of Geometry and Trigonometry was the proofs...have a place in all this insanity? Am I the only one who feels completely and utterly lost among a sea of idiots?!

At this point of my rant, I would like to thank my family and friends. These wonderful people who provide a levy against the tides of insanity; the absolute gems who help me understand the insanity that leaks through. I owe every bit of sanity that I possess today to them. Some days all I want is for them to come collect it, so I can finally fit in.