Random Good #9 - The Moment when Work/Class is Out

People of all ages can attest to this Random Good. It all started in the early years of school. You eagerly awaited the end of your school day so you could go home and have your after school snack while watching cartoons. It continued in High SIn College, your last class of the day would end, and you could enjoy the rest of the day relaxing at your dorm or apartment.

In the working world, the day is done, usually, the moment the clock hits 5:00 PM (or any other shift ending time, for you non 9-5ers). It's at this time that the mental/physical burden of work should clear from your head, and you can go home and relax. No more emails, reports, excel, or supervisors.

When work/school gets out, the obligation of the day is usually done. You are now free to do whatever you want. This gives you a daily feeling of euphoria, even if it lasts only 5 minutes. Sure, you may have home obligations, but they're usually better than work or school.

Random Bad #8 - Getting Food Stuck in your Teeth

(Disclaimer, that is not a picture of my teeth.)

It's 7PM, and you find yourself having a very hearty meal of steak and potatoes. Brilliant. The food just tastes absolutely awesome and you've been waiting all day to have a good dinner. Now, about halfway into your steak, you get a big chunk stuck between your molars, and you have to stop your great meal, and remove the inconvenience. Sometimes, it's so bad, you have to get up, go to the bathroom, and use a toothpick, floss, or your toothbrush. This kills all the momentum of the meal.

Sadly, this seems to happen with all types of enjoyable foods. It always happens to me when eating steak, popcorn, fried chicken, and corn on the cob. The funny thing is that you can't just continue eating, you have to get it out of your teeth. It messes with your eating mojo. As much as I complain about it, though, it's a good problem to have. It's good to have food on your plate.

Random Good #8 - Delayed Due Dates

Due dates are a necessary evil in our lives. We've been drilled with them from grade school all the way up to our working lives. We learn to deal with them, and unfortunately, learn the art of procrastination. We end up stalling and not doing work until we deem it absolutely necessary. This sometimes leads to disaster, but usually, it works out okay.

Now, once in a blue moon, due dates get surprisingly delayed. This happens due to sickness of the superior, weather conditions, or just any other random delay. The feeling you get from these delays is unlike any other. You get a sense of relief and you get extra time to complete your work. We really shouldn't get this relief, because work should be done in advance, but who are we kidding? We all procrastinate.

Random Bad #7 - Getting Shocked by Static Electricity

There are a lot of things that I hate about winter. These include walking in slush, below-freezing temperatures, and blistering winds. Another thing that winter does is make the air incredibly dry. How does that affect you? In the summer, there's humid air and the water vapor helps remove the charge from your body. In the Winter, however, the only thing that will remove the charge is motherf***in doorknobs.

The most annoying part of getting shocked is the fact that it comes unexpectedly and startles you just enough to be unpleasant. At the same time, straight out of Office Space, shocks can happen in the same place every time. For me, there's a specific door handle at work that always gives me the shock. I always hope I don't get shocked, but it always happens.

Luckily, shocks are good for one thing. Once the shocks decrease in frequency, then you know summer is just around the corner...

Random Good #7 - Great Parking Spots

Parking your car is one of those frequent tasks that we don't put much thought into anymore. You roam the parking lot, looking for an acceptable place to park. The funny thing is, you could easily park at a further spot, but you don't want to walk the extra minute. Rather, we spend an extra 5 minutes searching for the perfect parking spot. Rather inefficient, don't you think?

However, once every blue moon, you stumble upon an easily found, acceptably close, parking spot. For some reason, this gives us a jolt of elation, even though it only saves us a couple minutes. The close parking spot gives you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, all in a short span. This, my friends, is probably one of the best examples of a "Random Good". It's something that happens randomly in your day, and immediately gives you a good feeling.

Random Bad #6 - When Something's on the "Tip of your Tongue"

We all get this feeling once in a while. You're having a conversation with someone and you have to recall a certain word. It often comes when you have to remember a proper noun such as the name of a person, place, or thing. Often times you can think of the first letter and you say, "oh it starts with a.....". These situations bring a very specific feeling of frustration.

Sadly, after doing a little digging, it seems that these instances come more often with age. What can we do to try and stop this? I don't really know, but maybe some brain exercising videogames, crossword puzzles, and sudokus can help keep your mind sharp.

Random Bad #5 - The Airport Security Process

Traveling is a very fun thing to do. You get to get out of your element, take a break from your normal life, and live in a totally different style than normal. Many times, when traveling, you end up having to take an airplane to your destination. This experience can be hit or miss. While the planes are okay, the whole process of boarding a plane is a bit of a hassle. To me, though, the most annoying part is the metal detector.

You shuffle through a long, long line and finally get to the part where you place your things through the x-ray scanner. You have to remove your shoes, put all of your bags through, empty your pockets, and if you have a laptop, you have to put that through separately as well. This process would not be so bad if not for the huge line behind you and the attendants urging you to go forward. You feel rushed and under pressure. You now have to step through the metal detector and hope nothing rings you up, causing you to hold up the line even longer. Now, once you're through there, you have to gather all of those previous belongings in a very timely manner, and clear out so the next person can get through. You have to put your shoes on, replace your belongings in your pockets, and gather all of your bags. It's all really annoying, and it's probably the only thing I hate about traveling.

Sidenote: I traveled through Japan this past summer, and I found that they were really good about this process. They collect your belongings for you, place them in the bins, and do everything efficiently, but slow enough that you're comfortable. All the attendants were really nice and polite. After you go through the detector, they let you take your time and give your bags to you. It was a much better process.

Random Good #6 - Come from Behind Wins

http://www.nba.com/video/games/bulls/2009/02/10/nba_det_chi_0020800769_recap.nba/

I went a bit out of order, but Come From Behind Wins are one of the most enjoyable things to experience as a sports fan. Tonight, my beloved Chicago Bulls came back from a double digit deficit to defeat their old rivals, the Detroit Pistons.

The come from behind win takes mental toughness, perseverance, and hard work. Victory from adversity is one of the great storylines of mankind. David beat Goliath, the Colonists defeated the British, and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees after being down 3 games to 0. In our own lives, we see come from behind wins every day. People lose jobs, but end up okay. People lose loved ones, but learn to become stronger. Adversity is ever present, yet we succeed. The "Come From Behind Win" embodies all of these struggles in 48 Minutes.

Random Good #5 - Receiving Something in the Mail

Between the ages of 0-16, pieces of mail were hard to come by. Usually, everything that came in the mail was for your parents or older siblings. Eventually, though, when College Applications began, you started to get more and more mail. Then came junk mail, credit card applications, and bank statements. The mail became less special.

While general junk mail is pretty annoying, getting meaningful pieces of mail is a whole different story. There's just something about the moment of getting a specifically tailored piece of mail. This can range from a greeting card, to a long awaited item you bought online. The anticipation, surprise, and satisfaction of getting this type of mail is one of the better moments in a normally monotonous day. Whenever an actual letter or package comes, especially if you've been eagerly awaiting said piece of mail, there's a slight feeling of completeness and satisfaction. That feeling usually comes out of nowhere, because earlier in the day you're preoccupied with other things. You get a small moment of contentment, all due to the postal service.

Random Bad #4 - Stubbing Your Toe

The stubbed toe is probably one of the most annoying, yet most common, random occurrences. You usually stub your toe on door frames, bedposts, table legs, chairs, or other things that jut out. It's hard to imagine that things that are so harmless can cause so much pain.

The worst part about the whole situation is that it's not the item that causes the stub, but your own carelessness. You could easily just tread carefully, and watch where you're going, but in this day and age, speed and efficiency are key. We need to get from place to place as quickly as possible, even if it's just over to the next room.

So, what's the lesson here? Stubbed toes should teach us to slow down. The problem is that we're too involved in our own lives to realize that we should stop and smell the roses once in a while.

Random Good #4 - 3 Day Weekends

The three day weekend is unlike any other type of work stoppage. If you take a vacation, you have to worry about who's covering for you, what work you'll have to do when you get back, and if anything important is happening.

Regular weekends are too short, so they're not that special. Usually, the regular weekend passes so quickly, that it's not even that relaxing. You try so hard to have fun with the whole weekend, that you end up rushing through it, and not getting stress free time.

The three day weekend usually comes on a business-type holiday where you and most of the working world has the day off. It is a free pass to take time and just relax. You don't have to worry about work not getting done, and you don't have to worry about things going bad while you're out. If you think about it, not much can go wrong in one normal day off anyways.

With all of this in mind, the 3 day weekend transforms the days around it into better days. If the day off is a Monday, the previous Friday is usually easier to get through because you know there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Saturday is still your "get errands done/go out" day. Sunday, though, transforms into a complete recreation day. Usually Sundays are your recharge day, but in this case, you are done with errands, so you can relax AND go out and have fun. Sundays turn into the best day of the weekend. The Monday is then your new recharge day. The rest of the following week is also better because Tuesday changes into Monday, Wednesday changes into Tuesday, hump day gets eliminated, then Thursday is Thursday, and Friday is back to awesome.

In the end, 3 day weekends are a great stress reliever. They recharge your life, yet don't disrupt anything.