You Got Nothin' to Complain About!

The Mister and I decided to have dinner at Domenic's last night. We've been going there for about 5 years because the food is great and we like the people. We both had the Penne alla Aragosta special (penne pasta with sausage and lobster in a light creamy sauce). Delicious! I know I said I wasn't going to make this a food blog, and I'm not. Besides, I didn't have my camera so don't have pictures to post anyway. My belly was full of warm, yummy pasta and garlic bread (I'd describe the bread more but trying to remember this isn't a food post) and I have forgotten all about my day's aggrevation with Mr. Harumph.

As we were finishing up our meal, Don, who's been working at Domenic's for a long time now, stopped by to chat with us. He asked what's new and I gave the usual canned response, "Not much." During our chat (Don usually does the talking and that's okay with us), Don started to tell us about how he called into a radio station to respond to a bunch of callers complaining and whining about their lives, waa waa. It went something like this (my sincere apologies for not being able to capture Don's eloquence):

I told those guys they've got nothin' to complain about! If you've got your family and your health, then what's there to complain about? Think about all those guys who are in Iraq, those people's lives devastated by Hurricane Katrina, all of them have it much worse than you. You live in Southern California! And the radio hosts were saying, 'He's right!" I told those guys that they were an embarrassment to all the men out there. You know, I've got nothin' to complain about. Thinking about all these people, I am just going to keep my mouth shut. I've got no right to complain.

So now I'm starting to feel like a heel about my post about Mr. Harumph. This got us to talking about my new blog and his website. He then asked if we've heard of Eric Volz. No. He said to look him up on the Internet and read his story. He said he felt so bad for this guy. And you know what? Don is right. Reading Volz' story forces you to put some perspective on your own life. I bet anyone who reads his story is glad he is not Volz. Anyone who doesn't is a soulless shell of a turd. Go look up Narcissistic Personality Disorder, I'm sure your picture is right next to the definition.

Now I'm a believer that we should be thankful for what we have, appreciate the good, fret less on the bad. This doesn't mean you can't be mad or sad about something, just don't go on and on about it. Besides, who wants to be with someone who does nothing but complain? I've dumped friends because of that (and family--no, blood is not thicker than water, just ask Fredo). Harsh? Not in my eyes because I want to live my life being happy as much as I can. There's already plenty of horse's behinds being thrusted in our face on a day-to-day basis. Why add to that by choice? That is, unless you like the smell of poop.

I also learned last night that Don volunteers his spare time to help others. He is the Chief of San Diego Volunteers. Mrs. Mason should be proud. So along with a great meal, Don served, compliments of the House, a dessert of self awareness and appreciation, in Don's unique way. It's good to have a reminder every now and then, especially over a nice plate of pasta. His site has a permanent spot now on my meager little blog.

On that note, I will go home tonight, hug my dogs and kiss the Mister like I always do, do some barefoot running and have dinner. These are the things that I appreciate in my life. I will update on my progress of barefoot running next go around. My left calf and quad feel much better now and I'm eager to continue to understand the ball-heel-ball technique. Now go and eat well.