People Vex Me

I'll admit first up that I'm a dick.

I was working a gig with a bunch of technicians in my day job. We were setting up for an event. There was one guy I was working with who didn't impress me much. For a lot of reasons. And as I worked with him my dislike for him grew.

When working with people who swear every other word I start paying attention to the words I am using. FUCK is a very versatile word. Noun, verb, adverb, adjective, pronoun, dangling participle. This guy was using so many F bombs it made me wonder if he swears like that around his 4 kids. It made him sound uneducated. And I endeavored to curtail my cussing while there.

We were doing something and I said the word "evolution." This guy piped up and said, "that's a theory which hasn't been proven." I looked at him. He continued, "Like, fucking monkeys are still evolving?" I refrained from challenging him on this. I had already corrected him on something earlier and I think I made him feel stupid. It wasn't intentional on my part. He had said, "The Atlantic ocean is fuckin' 7000 miles across." Without thinking I said "3000."  "No, it's 7000." "No. It's 3000." Another guy I was working with agreed that it was 3000. We lamely threw him a bone and said the Pacific is about 7000.

So when he said that thing about monkeys still evolving I turned away and went to work on another part of the project. Monkeys may still be evolving. They probably are. But to expect a quantum leap in evolution by next Tuesday makes me think you don't have a grasp on how evolution works. It takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. I bet he was raised religious. So I didn't want to fuck with his world view which is filtered thru his religion. If he believes the earth is 6-10,000 years old because the bible tells him so, then me coming at him with facts won't change his view.

I think I get offended by people's proud ignorance. To feel superior because they are reveling in their own stupidity galls me. And his views were not just ignorant, but paranoid. He turned down the school district's offer to identify his kids. Take pictures and finger prints and DNA samples in case they are abducted. He thought they were going to use it for some nefarious purpose. We asked what if his kids get abducted. His reply was, "they aren't going to get anything from me because we have no money." What about the guy who had 3 girls in his basement for 10 years in Ohio? Was he out for money? No. He was raping them constantly because he was a monster. People don't abduct children for money. They are going to rape and kill them. I plan to have my children chipped like a dog.

He also turned down free dental care offered by the school. "They are just going to try to sell me something." It was inconceivable to him that a government agency might do something for the good of a child like free dental so the kid's teeth aren't shitty.

I avoided working with him when I could.

Like I said, I'm a dick.

Odd Jobs

I was working 6 days for a birthday party. For young kids. It was a lot of time and money spent for kids who won't remember it but will have videos and photos.

The parents are very wealthy. I mentioned the party to some people and described it. There were some comments about rich people and the extravagant things they did with the money which most people can't conceive of. In my mind the parents did nothing wrong.

What did they do?
Put hundreds of people to work. Florists, craftsmen, performers, lighting people, set people.
Pumped millions into the economy because they want to throw a great party for their kids.
Made it so I didn't have to fret about how rent for February gets paid.

In my mind, awesome.

I work for some very rich people during the year. Do they know me by name? Probably not. But it doesn't matter to me. I'm trying to survive, and they are paying me as a skilled laborer.

Sometimes you have to work for the rich guy. I'm okay with that.

Snubs

Every award season the media talk about who got snubbed by some award nominating committee. Social media gets all upset that someone does their best work ever but didn't get the nod.

As an actor I don't feel bad for the 4 time nominated actor who has won twice, but didn't get the nomination this time. Does the world think that the only actors out here are in the movies or TV? There are a lot of actors who can do almost ever single role you see on any screen. Talent is not rare. Getting noticed, getting a team to represent you, getting the opportunity is rare.

I did an audition one time at ILM for a small film. The audition was in one of the studios with the camera and sound guys who worked at ILM. The director had called in favors to get some help. I did my audition, it was an emotional piece. The sound guy laying on the floor at my feet with a boom mic commented to me when there was a moment. He told me of an A list actor who did some scenes for a mega hit that were emotional. The star had to have the room cleared of everyone so he could concentrate and nail the scene. He thought I was as good as the movie star. This was surprising to me. I have done a great deal of live theatre. You can't clear the audience so you can nail a scene. They are the ones you are performing for.

There's a lot of talent out there. Actors putting in the time and the work for the love of it. The awards might be nice for the .005% of the actors who are nominated, but I'll still like a live audience for validation.

So don't feel sad for an actor in a mansion who didn't get a nomination. They will get the opportunity to act in a big movie again real soon.