Stupid stuff… We’re ALL guilty!

Forrest Gump, a movie character, said, “stupid is as stupid does.” And, like it or not, even by the most liberal of interpretations, people do outlandishly stupid things that span the gambit from the truly benign to the most deadly. The problem is, though, that a growing segment of American society has become too politically correct to label certain actions as STUPID, and it’s a primary reason why many people continue doing stupid stuff!

We’re ALL guilty of doing stupid stuff. I’m exempting adolescents here because doing stupid stuff is part of the job description for them. No, I’m talking about mature adults that we’d assume know better. Sometimes the behavior is horrifically stupid AND deadly. At other times, it’s just puzzling, sometimes comical, but usually embarrassing.

When I was 15-years old, I watched in horror as our certified electrician neighbor, electrocuted himself trying to tighten the wire connections to his outside patio lamp. He didn’t bother to cut the power. A year prior, at the age of 14-years, I walked a 60-foot bridge span, tightrope style, crossing it on the 9-inch wide hand railing. The vertical drop to a paved street below was 50-feet. I did it to win a $20 bet.

“Stupid is as stupid does.” My neighbor did something stupid but, on that day, was unlucky. I did something just as stupid but, on that day, was lucky. Under the best of circumstances, good luck is an integral part of life; but so is bad luck. And still… many of us just love to tempt fate. STUPID!

Thankfully, most of the stupid stuff I’ve done—some of which I’m still doing at 70-years of age—has been benign, sometimes embarrassing, and often downright comical. Here are a few examples.

GOLF! Most Sunday duffers (people who THINK they ...

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...t to hear about.

If no real problems exist, they’ll make some up, accuse their opponents of doing nothing, and promise to fix things. They’ll use some catchy slogan and a plethora of buzzwords because many of us prefer them to real, achievable solutions. “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Finally, with age comes some degree of wisdom. FULLY understanding a little bit about a FEW important things is better than fully misunderstanding a LOT about EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, those members of the latter category usually have no clue as to their cluelessness.

BEWARE! The luck of staying healthy while aging is not a defacto path to patience and wisdom. My kids think I’m a lot smarter and patient now than when THEY were kids. But I’m neither. They’re older now, and THEY have grown smarter; however, I fear they’re still dumb enough to mistake a lack of pep for patience!