Power

I have a friend who is a well.... jackass. There is a homeless woman who hangs out at a McDonald's that I frequent. I like their coffee. Anyway, one of the regulars that comes in there bought her a coat and put a 20 dollar bill in the pocket for her.

My friend proceeds to go the fuck off over this. Says he's going to go to the owners of the McDonald's, accuse her of prostitution and get her thrown out. While he's going off, I said, "This is not cool. She didn't do anything to be banned over."

He says, "Put my six years of coming in here up against your three months and see who stays and goes."

Wait what? Your exerting your McDonald's power over me? So I shot off an email to the owners notifying them that this asshat was digging cups out of their garbage, never bought anything, screams shit at their customers like, "I wish you would die in a car accident", and that this homeless woman was not a prostitute.

The whole incident got me thinking about power and how often we cling to power that is worthless. I have been guilty of this myself. Thinking that some power I had been given somehow made me more that I really am.

What would power that actually matters look like? You can be the King or Queen of the McDonald's and have a life that is essentially worthless. You can be leaving no mark on history whatsoever and be tied up in the power you have at your job. Will other people give a shit when you die?

All of us swim in a sea of ideas that are commonly accepted. All of us have thoughts in our head that aren't really our own. Isn't the most powerful thing one can do is recognize that and attempt to root that shit out? Power should be a personal thing and have everything to do with actually exerting control over yourself.

That may sound easy but it isn't because of the thoughts all of us have that aren't questioned, because of the commonly accepted truths all of us hold dear. I recently learned that people don't treat you how you treat them. You do nice things for others and you get viewed as a mark, not a person that should be treated well.

It's a dawning realization because "Do as to others as you would have them do unto you", is such a commonly accepted concept. I have always kind of bought the idea.

Truly having power is testing these things to see what holds up.