Marriage contracts

I just read a news article saying Mexico City is considering time limited marriage contracts with the time being as little as two years. When you start the contract you decide how to split money and children, and if you don't renew the contract you are automatically divorced.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44724855/ns/today-weddings/t/til-do-us-part-mexico-mulls--year-marriage/from/toolbar

I like the idea, mainly because it forces people to make the tough decisions up front instead of arguing and having to spend a lot of money on lawyers. Will it be good for society? Who knows. The fighting and such that goes with a split up will probably continue but at least this would keep it out of the courts. And maybe people would have a more realistic idea of marriage when they are forced to make the tough decisions about children and money up front.

Sending clear signals

I read a lot of science fiction. This year I read two different book series that describe societies where your relationship status, interest in finding someone, what you are looking for, what type of person you are, etc. are clearly shown by what you wear. In the one case it was jewelry and in the other it was clothing style and color. It would be really nice if people could send such clear signals. Knowing that someone was approachable or wanted to be left alone would make life so much easier.

Of course people would abuse it and lie, just like they always do. But I really like the idea of societies that tell the truth and that send clear signals.

Teachers not allowed to have a life?

I just read a news article about a teacher who was fired because several pictures and videos of her having sex were sent to parents and school board members. Note that she wasn't having sex with her students, just sex. Apparently teachers aren't allowed to have sex? Were do all the little teachers come from?

In recent years teachers have been fired for facebook posts showing them drinking alcohol, attending bachelorette parties, etc. The school boards have said that while the teachers weren't doing anything illegal they were being poor role models for the students.

I am really glad I never became a teacher. Given the stupidity of these actions I can't imagine why anybody would want to be a teacher. You get fired for having a life? Well no, they are fired for letting somebody take a picture of them having a life. Stupid.

It has been a rough week

The past week has been rough. The days have been alternating intense pain and extreme sleepiness. The nights have been mostly not sleeping but so tired I can't do anything.

Sometime during the week (I am not sure exactly when) a young paintballer in Serbia killed himself. I don't know the details but I gather he had been homeless and staying with various friends and relatives for over a year, then his fiance left him. He was a happy, energetic, outgoing kind of guy trapped in a mess. There are lots of people like him in the world, all trying to live a decent life and trapped by circumstance in bad times and bad locations. And there is nothing I could have done to make it better even if I had known he existed before his death was posted on a paintball forum I read.

I like to help people. It depresses me to see so many people who need help. Some have created their own situations but others are in bad situations through no fault of their own. It is those people who deserve help but there are literally millions of them. There is no way I could help them all. Heck, there is no way I could even meet them all.

Life isn't perfect. It is often painful and traumatic. But I have hope that someday society will grow to the point where we can help others. Or better yet prevent the conditions that cause people pain.

Being on time

I am very time oriented when I work. I used to do fixed price contracts and you had to know how long things took to do that. One of the things people don't seem to understand is that if you want to be somewhere on time you have to leave on time. If a meeting runs late it pretty much guarantees you will be late for the next meeting, which may in turn make that meeting run late. If everybody showed up on time and used the meeting time effectively the meeting would end on time. Simple, but lots of people don't seem to get it.

Courage

I have met a lot of people who are lacking in courage. Courage to say no, courage to say what they mean, courage to stand up for what they believe in. It is discouraging to see this but I think is our societies fault. We raise children to do what they are told and not disobey adults. We reward uniformity and discourage independent thought. We need to encourage people to think for themselves and act on what they believe in.

Life

I hate it when people lie to me or put off telling me something because they don't have the courage to say something. It is very annoying. Just tell me the truth. Tell it to me nicely if you think it will hurt my feelings but just tell it to me. Lies and half truths only make things worse.