Turns out I AM a slacker

Yesterday, the worst flash flooding in 40 years hit my hometown, causing likely tens of millions of dollars in damage to commercial buildings, roads, and homes in the area. See pics here. It's strange and awesomely horrifying all at once, and apparently my brain is avoiding worrying about my relatives up there (a few are trapped in their farmhouse right now because the water washed out the road on each side and the river rose to within 40 feet of the house) by focusing on stupid shit. It's selfish and dumb and there you go: if I think about the pics of my hometown too long I get teary eyed, so I do this instead.

For example: the current Mayor is only a couple years older than me...in fact, I went to high school with him. Now I was utterly unsurprised when he ran for Mayor, and even less surprised when he won. The man was class president and the poster child for a future in politics: he gave a shit about stuff going on in the community. I applaud him for that, because while I like to think I wouldn't panic in a disaster situation (I don't really know, to be fair), I'm pretty sure I'm not a good choice to lead a city through a disaster. Mayor Ness, however, seems to be doing a fine job so far: kudos to you dude!

That was the second reminder of my slacker-ness today. First was digging out my college transcripts for my current job, because apparently the background check doesn't actually go into the school records like everyone else does, so I need to prove I went to college. Sigh. It took me six hours of digging through papers to find the damn things.

And when I finally found them, I was slightly ashamed. I was a solid B student in college: not because I couldn't get A's...because I was lazy. Seriously, there's NO reason I should've gotten a C- in an English Literature class, or a C in Cultural Anthropology. Those were part of my majors, for Gods' sake...meaning I was relatively INTERESTED in them. Sigh. I never thought of myself as a slacking gen-x-er, but the proof is in the transcripts after all. If I could go back, I'd apply myself.

The way I'm applying myself now, to my current job, by writing this blog post. And pointing out that the Red Cross of MN always accepts disaster relief donations and I'll be watching for the offical call for volunteers when cleanup efforts begin.

Thank goodness the seals and polar bear survived. I wonder if they have counseling at the Como Zoo for them?