This month marks 17 years of working for UPS. It's so rare for someone my age to say they've spent nearly half their life working at one place. Sure, my parents' generation is different. Back then, you got a job at 18, worked for decades and retired. UPS was supposed to be a temporary job to get me through school. As my brother once told me..."Life" is what happens to your plans.
So that got me thinking. What other decisions/indecisions have happened, and how would my life be different? Sometimes the smallest occurrences leads to the biggest change. Butterfly effect, anyone?
"Where you from, eh?"
If it wasn't for some strange asian guy asking where I was from, I might not have become part of the OC peace punk scene in the early 90s. Maybe I would have anyway. If not, then no Resist & Exist and I wouldn't be blogging on a Litmus Green site. Strange to think this all stemmed from a Bad Religion gig. Anyway, it led to a life changing experience, and a time I will never forget.
"Answer calls in the order received"
Imagine coming home and having two messages for you. Had I not returned a phone call to a band mate first, I would have returned a call to someone I had a huge crush on. The call to the band mate ending up becoming a date, then marriage, a child, divorce, distrust for years and without a doubt the darkest time in my life. Had I called the cutie with the green bihawk first (and thus found out she was interested in me afterall), maybe I would have avoided the worst mistake of my life. The only positive of that time was the birth of my first son. Had things gone different, he wouldn't exist and I can't imagine life without him. Maybe the same result would have happened with this other person as well (I doubt it could be as bad as what really transpired).
"I'm (almost) Out of the Band!"
The first time I saw Litmus Green play, I nearly quit Resist and Exist. I think our drummer nearly did too. We were both reminded that being in a band was supposed to be fun. After they finished, I nearly offered myself if they ever wanted a second guitarist. I didn't say a word, because why would the badasses from the Mighty Media Children ever want/need me. Had that worked, it would have nipped my tireless search for another band. A search that lasted about 8 years.
"The Call From Hell"
What if I turned down the offer of full time work at UPS? What would I be doing now? Would I have finished school? These questions will never be answered, but I know my knees, my ankles and my sanity would be in better shape had I said "Fuck you" instead.
"The eMail from Heaven"
Brendi pissed me off. I didn't say a word to her for 9 months. I was pissed for about 8.75 of those months but the last week I considered calling her. Lo and behold I get an email from her saying something like 'hey, don't know if you want to talk at all, but if you do just reply to this.' I called her immediately. It led to dating again, falling in love, marriage, a great kid. Without a doubt the best decision EVER.