Continuing on with yesterday’s post ofReading People,I remembered something today that made me laugh.  Several months ago, I was working in another office.  They have those vending machines that dispences hot cocoa, coffee, tea, etc.

Periodically, the vendor will come to reload the machines and allow that particular coffee machine to give out free drinks.  All you have to do is press the clear plastic button, and, bam, free coffee or cocoa.  They can even choose between a large or small cup.  Keep in mind this happens often enough that once the worker bees hear about this a line forms.

Nothing funny so far, I know.

The one constant comment about the coffee?  “Yuck!”

Do the cubicle bees throw it out?  No.

What do they do?  That’s right.  They drink it.

Do they come back for more?  Yeah.

What is it about free stuff that no matter how bad it may be people will line up for it?  It’s the strangest behavior.

You see this in buffets.  People prepare themselves the whole day by not eating.  Once they get to the buffet they eat their fill.  They’ll continue to eat, making sure they consume the price of admission.  Then are they done, yet?  Well…there’s dessert.  You can’t have dinner and not have dessert.

They’ll load up on ice cream, cakes, cookies.  It’s as if they’ve never seen anything like this before and hoard all the sweets.  By the time they lug their goods back, they’re too full and leave most of the dessert.  And most buffet places have a policy of no doggy bags.

Why do people do this?

What’s crazier is the buffet called Todai.  They serve Asian style seafood like sushi, lobster, different filleted fish, etc.  This one Chinese lady had an empty plate.  She rapped her fingers along the bottom edge, waiting.  Saliva lined her bottom lip.  Her eyes widened.  The chef appeared from the back and placed about half a dozen halved lobsters.

This lady had no shame.  As he placed them on the serving plate, she scooped them up.  I’m not a huge fan of lobster, but, damn, scand-o-lous.

What is it with people?

It’s simple.  They don’t live in the moment, busy scarfing everything they can get their hands on, not enjoying life right now.  They’re constantly thinking there isn’t enough, living in the future, letting the present fly by.  And it’s no wonder when they’re on their death beds, they think, “What happened?”

The hero of my story deals with this on a constant basis.  It’s the one thing that saps his soul, making his job as peace keeper miserable.  He’ll have to find a way to cope.

Passion.  Is it important?  People talk about it all the time.  Lovers look for it.  Artists seek it in their muse.  Musicians sing about it over and over.  If passion is important, do people need it in their lives?  And should every one have it?

Passion is one of my main themes that I explore in my book.  Because it’s a novel, I can’t lecture about it.  I explore it from both the hero and antagonist.  Kinda like William Wallace and King Edward I in Braveheart.  For passion can infect people who are both ethical and horrid.

My coworker said passion is important but not necessary to live.  ”Someone needs to work at Walmart,” she stated.  That’s true.  Someone needs to do farm work, run the Mickey D’s, man the gas stations, pick up the garbage.  ”Look at our company,” she said.  There’s about 36,000 employees.  ”Our company couldn’t run itself.  It needs us.”

Again, all those are true statements.

But isn’t freedom of choice the freedom to choose what you do in life?  For many years I’ve searched for my passion, the thing that took me out of time, out of my daily drudgery.  If you’ve read my bio, you know it’s telling stories.  I love it.  Do I love every single part of it?  No.  But do I love it almost all the time?  Most definitely.

I have my day job.  However, it’s only a means to an end.  That’s it.  Nothing more.

Michelangelo is famous for painting the Sistine Chapel and sculpting David among other things.  I was listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer, and he said Michelangelo’s passion was sculpting.  His day job was the Sistine Chapel.  I thought that was interesting.

Without my passion for stories, I’d be lost.  I’ve been lost before and it sucked.  That state of limbo led me to mine.

I think William Wallace said it best in the movie.  ”Every man dies.  Not every man lives.”

So, is passion needed?  And are my coworker’s statements just a shield to protect her from her own power to create what she wants in life?