"What's the Use of Wonderin'?"

You would think that anyone who has lived 66 years would have pretty much encountered most of life's weirdness by now!  It doesn't, however, appear so.  There are still a whole bunch of things I don't understand...new trends, styles, inventions, attitudes, behaviours  that I just don't get.  And new ones cropping up every day.  For instance:

1.  The trends in shoe design!  The designers appear to be constantly pushing the envelope toward the strangest, most uncomfortable, completely unwearable contraptions they call "shoes"....just to have a "new" fashion in footwear to sell.  Some of the most recent have included the current crop of silly-looking platform shoe with 6" stiletto heels, or the "gladiator" style that does not look good on anyone!

There is one style that I just don't get at all,  not one bit.  Have you  seen the open-toed boots???  Isn't that about the dumbest idea ever?  It's pretty close to an oxymoron.  The purpose of a "boot" is protection!  Protection from the elements, the temperature, the terrain, and so on.  The boot is worn to keep our little piggies warm and dry and comfy!   A boot with open toes cannot do any of that!  Besides which, it looks ridiculous!  I just don't get it!


2.  I guess you could call them "food parks" or "lots of eats".  I don't know what they are really called (if anything) but they are popping up all over Austin.  Wha??  Vacant lots or unused parking lots are being used by wagons, trailers, or Airstream Caravans that have been turned into food sellers.  Each one sells some specific type of food.  It started with trailers selling cupcakes, or sno cones, or coffee.  But now they sell tacos, or pie, or sandwiches, or ice cream or whatever.  You walk up to the window and order what you want and either go sit at a picnic table or take it with you.  It's like what you see at fairs or carnivals.  There is no ambiance, or comfort.  You eat outdoors (in the sun and heat) and the "facilities" consist only of por-ta-potties.  They must be a shangri la for both crawling and flying insects!  It must be because Austin has such a large teenage to young adult population (this is a college town, after all.)  But for me??  No, thank you!  I just don't get it!


3.  Everybody has times when their emotions appear to be on a roller coaster ride of enormous proportions....up....down.....up....and down again.  It's part of human nature (and hormones.)   But how many times have you run into someone who suddenly just seems down all the time?  Those people who are chronically and clinically Depressed.

I'm not talking about the generally crabby people who just never see any glass more than half-empty.  In "Steel Magnolias", Ouiser has a great line, she says, "I'm not crazy.  I've just been in a very bad mood for the last 40 years!"  That's personality not Depression.

Depression is usually brought on by a series of significantly challenging events,  those emotionally stressful situations that we all encounter occasionally.  Everything from deaths to financial loss to post partum "blues". We all have them sometimes.  Usually the regular cycle of up and down will resume as the person adjusts to the changes.  But for some people the stress of their lives is overwhelming and they can't resume the regular cycle of ups and downs.  Generally when this happens, there is an additional element that kicks in.  In ways that I don't understand (but know to be true nonetheless) a chemical balance crops up and and makes it impossible to just bounce back!

So what is it that I don't understand??  I don't understand why so many of these folks are absolutely unwilling to accept that it is not "normal" to remain in this state for months and months and months without even trying to find their way out!  The believe thay will "snap out of it" soon.  They think they'll feel better soon.  They refuse to consider therapy, they refuse to consider medication, they refuse to consider even talking with a doctor, they refuse to admit that something might actually help lift the cloud they are under!!  This is what I mean.  Some combination of those potential treatments will usually beat back the bleakness and return them to the light.  But they will not even try!   If they fell off a boat in the middle of the ocean, would they refuse a life preserver  too??   I just don't get it!


4.  Prices that just keep going up and up and up!  And frequently it makes NO sense at all! For example, I hurt my shoulder and it's hard to lift my arm over my head.  That makes it painful to to use a hair dryer after I have washed my hair.  Because I was getting tired of it, I went to one of those chains of hair salons called something like Kwik Klips or Wash and Wear or something and asked what they would charge for a shampoo and styling blow dry.  This was not a private high-end salon.  No appointment was necessary, and a lot of guys use them for a quick haircut.  Anyway, the clerk told me it would be $30.  Thirty freaking dollars!!  That is outrageous!  So I went to Walmart and a very nice woman just a bit younger than I washed, dried, and styled my hair for $14.95!  Now the last time I checked 30 was TWICE as much as 15!  TWICE!! She did a great job and it only took her about 15 minutes!   And the other place wanted $30 for the same thing?   I just don't get it!




5.  Could someone please explain "Instagram" (or whatever it's called).  It has something to do with photographs, but I've never seen it referred to as a "camera" or a phone, so I don't know what it is, how  it works, and why suddenly so many people are using it to post photos on FB and their blogs, while I have no CLUE!  Is there some sort of  underground grapevine that only goes to selected people who "get" technology.  Three months ago, I had never heard of it.  Now it seems like everyone is using it except me!  I just don't get it!




As always, I probably won't ever understand any of this so, really, "What's the Use of Wonderin'?"   I just don't get it and I never will!