The things we want

Dear Blog Diary,
I really do hate stereotypes, and although they can be funny and an easy way to relate to, celebrate, and embrace a demographic, they often just dumb down an entire group into a box.

One that I do believe is consistent:  Men like gear.

Cars, bikes, mountaineering, snowboards, tech, whatever. Everybody likes their toys but I really think there is something to men and their gear. My brother will give a 20 min Tedtalk about carabiners and I could run through a brick wall I get so hype.

I was having lunch with my father and his wife once in Myrtle Beach. Seafood joint on the beach. As we were sitting there, my father looks out at the ocean and says, “I need a boat.”

And I said to him…

“I really hope you get a boat. I hope you wear a captain’s hat and sail for days. And I bet you a buffalo nickel that when you’re out there, you’re going to look at the beach where we are now and say, ‘I need one of those mansions right on the beach.’”

And I said to him…

“I really hope you get a mansion. I hope you dance naked in every room. And I bet you a buffalo nickel that when you’re on your balcony, you’re going to look out at the boats and think, ‘Sailing is a slow way to travel, I need a helicopter!’ Then you’ll see about a helicopter pad for your mansion.”

And I said to him…

“I really hope you get a helicopter. I hope you fly like the wind. And I bet you a buffalo nickel that when you’re flying, you look down and say ‘Look there’s an island down there!’”

If you give a mouse a cookie.

Keep in mind my father’s wife and I are civil, but she laughed applauded and couldn’t agree more. It's a beautiful sad dynamic. My father will never be satisfied. It's exhausting and amazing.

The conventional wisdom is that whatever it is that we want, we will want more. I think the real take away is that we get unhappy with what they have in the first place. And although there should always be some healthy baseline of humility and gratitude for what you have…

And I'll say to ya...

Time with people I love, without a time limit nor an agenda. I want that more and more as I get older.

I'll take that over gear. Keep all my buffalo nickels.

But I do want a fancy tri bike.

Best,
E
#ARTiculate