Comments on: Rebellion is Sexy: One Really Big Reason Why You Should Do It Now

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:40:18 +0000

Oh, man! Classic! Good to see you were, at least, having fun. Sounds like something I might do.

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:40:18 +0000

Oh, man! Classic! Good to see you were, at least, having fun. Sounds like something I might do.

By: John Griggs

John Griggs — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:40:19 +0000

I love being a rebel. Because of this I've caused a lot of my former bosses grief. A few years ago I worked in a call center. A friend of mine who worked at my company used to act silly on the phone with me while the customers were on hold. Well… one call he asked me to speak to the customer in a German accent when she came on the line. So I did. Well.. the next day ALL of the supervisors and my manager decided to listen to a few calls… and guess which call they ended up listening to? Yep! So the following day, my supervisor asks me to go the office with him and another supervisor. Then I had to listen to that whole call with them. That was awkward. It was REALLY difficult for me to hold back from laughing.

I told my mom this story, when she visited me last weekend and she says I need to “grow up”. Forget that! This year I'm starting to see an increase in income from my stand up comedy and writing. Realistically, I should be able to quit working “9-5″ jobs later this year. Until then, I'm going to continue to give corporate America the middle finger!

By: Brian W.

Brian W. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:18:52 +0000

You'll get great pictures, but I think you're going to be disappointed with the reactions. I find in most situations, most people pretend you're not there, just like your pushup friend. They're worried that you're crazy, or that if they make eye contact that you'll try to sell them something, or that they'll be late to their next whatever. You may end up making a friend or two on accident, but that seems to happen to you anyway whether or not you're perched atop automobiles.

On that note, I think sidewalk salesmanship has the effect of gradually making people less friendly. Whenever people only seem to approach strangers when they have a profit motive, it must lead to shutting out chance interactions in the long run. Like in Metro Center in DC – I know any random person that says hi is 95% likely to try to get me to pledge money to something or other, or to give them a quarter.

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:01:38 +0000

Love it! I often wear white running socks with my boots – even though technically I “should” be wearing some kind of high sock. But who really cares?????

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:00:49 +0000

I'm going to do it and take pictures of myself to post. Great idea. Good exercise. I was walking with a friend in NYC recently, and happened to say out loud, ” I wonder what would happen if you just dropped and started doing push-ups right here in the middle of this busy sidewalk?” Sure enough, he dropped. But I was highly disappointed to find that there wasn't the least of a reaction!

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:58:47 +0000

Of course there's always THAT. Shoot, Jonny, I was hoping no one would call me out on that. Leave it to another hilarious blogger to see through me.

By: Brian W.

Brian W. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:57:36 +0000

Ash, you're on quite a tear. ¡Dales mis saludos a David, Damaris, Gustavo y Wilmar!

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:57:35 +0000

“Follow our hearts, not the herd!”

More people should seriously consider having that tattooed on their butt.

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:56:48 +0000

Key word! Examination. Damn you, Socrates, you were right again: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Now we get it!

P.S.
I wore a sarong on the beach today & thought of you!

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:54:20 +0000

“mindlessly following each other to who knows where.”

The implication of that statement says it all: No one has got the right answer.

Some may think that doing all of this questioning is pointless–why bother? But I'd argue that even if the questioning does not lead to a change, in your work example, you are receiving the benefit of evolving as a human being and learning to live a life of awareness…..AKA alive! After all, who doesn't want to be alive? The alternative is to not question anything and just mindlessly accept things as they are…letting life essentially happen to you.

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:49:47 +0000

Hmmm….perhaps I'll have to start getting these things printed over at CafePress!!! Costa Rica is good – this is my 8th time here, so when I come to town I've got a welcome parade….great fun! It's very warm here, but quite enjoyable. Looking forward to doing some traveling into Panama and Nicaragua!

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:48:27 +0000

Ha, George my love for you will never wane, despite your conformist tendencies.

Personally I love the idea of just saying no to requests, and I'd recommend it to anyone. While it feels uncomfortable at first–oftentimes guilt-laden–after a few times it starts to feel incredibly liberating. It reminds us that we are in control of our lives; not everyone who decides to ask us for this, that or the other thing.

Rock on!!! (And do it. Are you going to do it? Please say yes.)

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:45:38 +0000

I agree. For example, I was at a wedding the other day and started thinking, “Why does everyone get married in the same fashion?” It's the same scenario – church, reception, fancy centerpieces. No one ever stops to question whether or not the have to drop X amount of dollars to do that; it seems to just be expected. And that's cool if that's what the couple really wants…but I bet there are a lot of people out there who would really rather not, but are just doing it because that's what you're suppose to do. Now, I do understand that this is a tradition, but the question becomes: Are traditions traditions because they offer some benefit, or is a tradition just a tradition because? I think we know the answer to that. Cheers to challenging everything, including your tea!

By: TMFproject

TMFproject — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:40:43 +0000

Neil – You never ever should have attached that link, because now here I am debating how awesome it would be to tell people I brush my teeth with a twig. I'm not even kidding. AWESOME article – thanks for the link! I knew there had to be alternatives Hell, maybe if I were chewing on a twig all day, it'd serve as a weight control product as welll…haha…no room for snacking!

What you said about rebellion being sexy seems to be spot on – interesting the modern day influences of evolution. I'm wondering if this is largely psychological speculation, or if there is something we can point to that illustrate this correlation. If modern day survival were based on survival of the most rebellious, then I'd have to say that there'd only be a small fraction of us that would continue on. Or…….IS it dependent upon the most rebellious? I suppose that rebelliousness is largely relative; what's considered rebellious to people of other cultures is not the same as what's considered rebellious to us. Then again, “high reward” is also relative, so in that sense it's probably proportional.

Awesome thoughts, Neil.