Everybody Gets Offended Sometimes

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

So it has been brought to my attention in recent days that I have posted things that people have found offensive.  This means that there are some of you out there who, like many of the members of my wives family, find me to be a bit bold and blunt in my words.  The list of people I have offended in my life, I would guess, is not a short one. 

To those I have offended specifically with this blog I would like to say....THANKS!  Thank you for taking the time out of  your busy day to read the worthless ramblings of this random person.  When I began writing this blog it was just a place for me to express myself.  If someone chose to read it, great.  If nobody chose to read it, great.  It didn't matter to me either way.  Yes I have posted links to it on Facebook, but that didn't mean I expected people to read it, I was just merely letting people know it was there.  

As my blog has now counted over 500 page views, I am amazed.  I was never expecting this many views at all.  So thank you all for giving it a read.  

Now to address more fully the people who I have offended.  I have looked over all of my posts and have come to the conclusion that you were probably offended by one or a few of the following: my speaking of hassling the teachers, not being allowed to fail, not following the dress code, or possibly using abrasive or vulgar language. Now the only way I can see these offending you is if you fit into these categories as usually those things that offend me are things that apply to me.  A wise man by the name of Nephi living about 2600 years ago said speaking of this "..the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." (1 Nephi 16:2) Boy isn't that the truth.  I have been cut very deeply at times by the words of others, but usually only when I find what they say to be pointing out something I find to be a flaw in myself.  Please don't take this the wrong way.  My post was not meant to offend, it was merely stating my opinion. I do not think less of you as a person because you do any of the aforementioned things, I just don't agree with them, and yeah it might bug me a little that you do them.  But this doesn't mean I will act differently around you.  

I will say when writing these posts I made an effort to not state any names.  To not be specific, but to just state general times that peoples actions were ones I didn't agree with.  I could have been more specific, but I chose not to.  In fact the only post where the person being talked about can be easily distinguished by anybody is when I am talking about a fault with myself. And if you want to blog about me, the person who sits in class and falls asleep all the time, (or the person who has no real ability to write but does it anyway) by all means go ahead.  You can even mention me by name, I would love to hear another's perspective on having someone constantly fall asleep.  

I am so grateful that I live in a country where I have the freedom to speak the words that I want.  I can do this to myself, my family and friends, or (in this age of technology) the world.  I also have been given the freedom to NOT read.  I don't have to read anything that someone has put out there.  I don't have to pass it on.  I don't have to tell others about it.  After all most of the time if you don't agree with something and start telling people about it they will probably want to check it out for themselves and now you have just helped them get there voice out even further.

I am not trying to make enemies. I don't like it when people don't like me, but it is bound to happen.  However I will say I came to school not for the social aspect.  I have a wife, I have children, I have friends that I still keep in touch with from every stage in my life, including some from this latest adventure in my education that I would hope I remain lifelong friends with.  But this is not why I came to school.  I came for the education.  And if it so happens that I make some enemies, well it was probably bound to happen anyway.  

Please can you at least do one thing for me.  If you have a problem with something I said, talk to me about it.  There is a comment section at the bottom.  I am sure you can even find a way on this thing to message me directly.  Or talk to me in person.  But really there is a reason the comment section at the bottom exists, I would love comments.  I would much rather you say, "you are the biggest jerk I have ever seen" than to make someone else say it for you. 

Language

I have come to the conclusion that I was just raised differently.  I was raised in a smallish town in Utah, by good parents who had respect and courtesy. I was raised in a place where professional people were people you could look up to as someone to model your behavior after.  That these people had gone through enough schooling to become the best society had to offer.  Man, people were raised differently than I was.
I attended a meeting last night at which a prominent Optometrist gave a speech about how to go from being a student to a solo practicing OD.  Over all it was a good meeting.  But I was struck by something, the language the man used.  Now don't get me wrong all that come's out of my mouth isn't the tickling of little bells and fairy wings, but when I am in group of people leading what I assumed was a professional discussion I would expect clean language to be the norm.
It started out fine.  A "damn" here, a "hell" there, but then it escalated.  I began to feel it going over the line when he was talking about a regional manager in a corporation he used to work for.  In reference to this women he said something to the effect of "the regional manager who, while we new her name,  we usually referred to as bitch."  Does that seem over the line to anyone else.  Come on was that really necessary. So maybe she was a bit on the grumpy side, maybe this is how you referred to her, but when giving a speech is this really something that needs to be put in it.
He followed this up a short time later with a comment in which he dropped the F-bomb (yes I am not typing that word, nor do I ever use it).  This word I feel just doesn't belong in a professional environment.  I naively thought that all people felt this way.  Boy was I wrong.  While sitting in one of my classes at school we, out of necessity not choice, we end up intermixed with the dental students.  This is not all bad.  What is bad is that usually some of the only seats that are left when we com in are in front of a student who cannot say anything without the aforementioned word in it.  It doesn't matter if he is happy, angry, pleasant, or annoyed, every sentence that comes out of his mouth has this word in it.  Why? He seems like a fairly smart kid.  Did he really make it through undergrad and his first year of graduate school with such a limited vocabulary that he can't think of any other words to use?
I was speaking with my father-in-law over the summer and the topic of being professional came up.  He mentioned how when he was young you never saw an older man out of the house without slacks and a button up shirt.  His father, one of the owners of a large construction company, would be on the dusty, dirty construction sites in his slacks and button up shirt. Did he have to dress this way? No, but he was taught to dress this way.
I guess in the end maybe the speaker just felt he was talking to a group of his buddies rather than professional colleagues. Okay, whatever.  But my question is, if you went to a doctor and they began using foul language, is this someone you would choose to go back to?  I can honestly say, No I wouldn't.  I am glad that my goal is to go back to Utah to practice where the norm still seems to be presenting yourself as a well educated, caring, knowledgeable, clean mouthed doctor.

I Can't Keep My Eyes Open!!

Back in high school I stayed up late sometimes and, for at least part of my career, had to be at the school at 5:30 in the morning.  I used to spend my days sitting in school, then when school was over if I wasn't participating in sports I was shooting hoops with my friends or playing with my dog.  What I am trying to say is I was an active kid.  I wore myself out everyday, and then would have trouble turing my brain off to sleep at night.  The strange thing is, I very rarely found myself falling asleep in class.  The only class I truly fell asleep in was calculus, a class I doubt I will ever use again. 

Now fast forward 15 years and I face a non stop battle every day.  I am fighting to keep my eyes open, and they are fighting to close.  If I didn't know better I would think I had a Pseudo Apraxic Blepharospasm, a condition characterized my the involuntary slow closer of the eyelids with the inability to open them.  I can be focused on what the professor is trying to say and just slowly drift off to sleep.  Or worse than that I can be sitting at home and fall asleep with my kids talking to me.  I just cannot seem to stay awake!

When did this happen?  Growing up my brother and I used to make fun of my dad because any time he sat down he would fall asleep.  Well he was nice enough to pass this disease on to me.  Luckily I have friends and family who wake me up when needed.  Not always in the most pleasant way, but hey sometimes that's what it takes.  

During first year I would try drinking some caffeine to stay awake, then I noticed that really didn't help me. Then I tried taking something snacky to eat, this would keep me awake while I was eating then as soon as it was gone away I would drift.  (Not to mention sitting all day in class munching on something wasn't very good for my waistline either.)  However this is not always the case as my wife has been witness to me falling asleep while chewing.  She also likes to make fun of the fact that we usually take a couple of nights to watch a movie because we start falling asleep.

Part of it is my fault.  I don't make the time for sleep that I should.  I stay up to enjoy some time with my wife, without my children running around.  And then I am addicted to running so most mornings I wake up between 5:00 and 5:20 a.m. and head out for a run.  So I usually only get about 6 - 7 hours a night.  But back just 8 years ago or so this would have been more than enough. 

So what has happened.  I believe I am just getting older.  This 31 year old body just isn't what it was a few years back.  

So anybody got any suggestions?