It's Amazing Which Lessons Stick...

Throughout my life I have probably been given thousands of pieces of advice. Some I choose to listen to; others go in one ear and out the other. The decision process about which stay in my head and which fade has a lot to do with the person giving the advice, whether or not it's relevant to me and also the consequences of such actions. For example, I never brush my teeth after lunch despite my dentist's urging. First, I don't listen to doctors most of the time and second the biggest consequence for this could be cavities. But, I never play golf during a lighting storm because the consequence for that would be much more severe. (Actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that I'll listen to all advice when it comes to lighting.) Either way, it's all about degrees.

The reason I bring it up is because today, as I was sitting down to work on some emails, I heard a rumble of thunder in the distance. This is nothing new. This summer it feels like it has rained almost every other day and when it has it's almost always a thunderstorm. But, upon hearing the thunder, my first instinct was that I immediately had to shut my computer off. I'm sure you've heard what could happen: my house could get struck my lighting, my computer would get fried and I would lose all my valuable documents, music files and the computer itself. Now this has never happened to me, or even anyone that I know, for that matter. Also, every computer in my house is hooked up to surge protectors to keep them safe in just such an occurrence. Still, the fact that it could happen makes me think it's the thing I should do. That lesson has stuck despite having no concrete evidence. Meanwhile, I will absolutely go swimming less than an hour after eating, despite having gotten a cramp before. I'm a risk taker.

-This story is connected to me in 2 ways:
1. One of my first gigs in major market radio was as an intern for the Dennis & Callahan morning show on WEEI. One day we did a remote from the Barking Crab. Less than two weeks later the place was closed for health code violations. Good times.
2. I spent two years of my life moving kegs around. It was a constant stream of slamming fingers, crushing toes and straining my back. At no point, however, was the thought of death anywhere in the mix. I would have left that job a lot sooner if it was.