"500 Days of Summer" looked like a cute movie. I've been fond of Joseph Gordon-Levitt since his days as the youngest of that crazy cast from "Third Rock from the Sun." I didn't know much about Zooey Deschanel except that she has a nice voice ("She and Him"). I heard good things about the movie so I decided to see it this weekend. Knowing it was already popular, I made sure to get to the theater a half hour before it started. I waited in line and went to my favorite spot -- the last row, center seat. Nerd alert: I even brought a book (and booklight) to read while waiting for the coming attractions. Sure enough, the theater got crowded, but I had an empty seat on either side of me by the time the movie started. Now, here comes my luck: the woman to my left decided to play theater usher. She noticed a couple looking around for a place to sit. She asked me, "Is anyone sitting on the other side of you?" Was I going to lie? I said no. Then -- I'm not kidding -- she turned to the aisle and said "There's 2 seats here - 2. And she holds up her arm signalling the number two. I wanted to signal her, but not with two fingers. The couple makes their way to the middle (the movie started, by the way). I moved over a seat, only to discover that the person next to me was wearing some cheap-ass eau de toilette. So I spent the movie with my hand covering one nostril. Not exactly comfortable. While I was sitting there, trying to breathe through my mouth, I thought: what should I have done differently? Should I have refused to move, making this young couple sit on either side of me? That seemed childish...I mean, what's one seat? It's not like I had to move to a different row. Maybe I should have left and asked for my money back, but was that the better option? Return next week, if and when I had time? What I wanted to do was go over to the self-appointed usher and tell her thanks to her interference, my movie experience went from promising to miserable but that too would have been childish. Here's the lesson I learned: don't go to a popular movie the first weekend it comes out. I never have this problem when I wait a couple of weeks after a new release. Or, I could do what my sister suggested: carry a bottle of garlic oil and dab a little behind my ears. There's a solution: make me the stinky one.
I cannot go to sleep in silence, so I usually have talk radio on as I drift off. Most times, the cadence of the talking head becomes the white noise I need. But sometimes I actually listen to the conversations. As much as I hope for Clark Howard, Dave Ramsey happens to be the head that's talking when I go to bed. Gradually, I became aware of his philosophies. He has many, but I'll focus on just a few: 1) Get Rid of All Debt - I really like this one. As someone who wants the points my credit card awards, or the cashback my other credit card awards, I feel like I'm always a month behind. I pay off my balance in full each month, but by then of course, I have lowered my bank account and have less to spend in the current month. I do wonder what it would feel like to pay just the bills for my current living expenses. I plan to give it a go, but I won't buy Ramsay's book or go to Financial Peace University. "Where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off mortgag...
Defensive stinkiness is worth trying! I have occasionally had recourse to a nice tin of sardines or anchovies at my desk with this strategy in mind.
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