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I interpreted it as him being encouraging and reminding people that there's a bigger, brighter world out there full of possibility—if they want it. Someone that

I interpreted it as him being encouraging and reminding people that there's a bigger, brighter world out there full of possibility—if they want it. Someone that's not interested in his kind of lifestyle won't be inspired, and his example would wash over them unnoticed. But for everyone else trapped in a life they never really wanted it's a gentle nudge and reminder to not waste time living a suboptimal life, doing a lot of things they don't want to be doing. It's a prod to take risks, start again, and make things better in whatever way is appropriate. There have been people like jasonkester that have appeared in my life before. When times have been good they didn't inspire me, but were just good fun. When times have been bad, their example pushed and motivated me to get my life back on track. They may never have known what kind of good they did for me, and they may have even departed from my life, but I'm extremely grateful for the time they spent with me. I really don't want to wear the same t-shirt for 40 days in a rainforest, and I really don't want to emulate jasonkester's travel plans; I'm allergic to spiders and nature! However, if I got stuck stamping passports or asking whether you'd like fries with that, I'm quite sure his passion would be quite invaluable as a reminder to sort my life out. What jasonkester did can be done unpleasantly. Nobody likes people that say "nah nah nah nah boo boo my life is better than yours!", but I just don't get the feeling that's how it went down in this instance.

Jtsummers 13y ago
I like your optimism, sadly most people I've seen doing stuff like he describes do it in a distasteful and rude manner. Perhaps he's better than that, I don't know him, and I certainly hope so. I've worked in service industries (of which I'll lump in TSA and Customs officials for now) and have been on the receiving end of it, polite or cordial people are welcome to talk about their experience, but then you get people like a friend of mine that would rather make them feel miserable about what they do for a living (the reason I can only take him in small doses these days).
- kintamanimatt 13y ago
  Oh so have I, and I'm specifically excluding the "nah nah nah nah boo boo" folks. The only thing those people do is encourage me to pay no attention to them. I was really talking about those that are able to just go live life, have a great time, and somehow seem to serve as a shining beacon for those lost at sea! It's even better when they have a sense of humor as well as passion. (Writing "most of them" on a landing card that has insufficient space is as creative as it is hilarious!) What specifically does your friend do to piss you off?
  - Jtsummers 13y ago
    He can be belligerent and totally unsympathetic to most people in any sort of customer or human facing role. He's a better tipper now than he used to be, but can still be rude to harried waitstaff (i.e., when it's clear they have a lot of customers to handle he would get annoyed at having to wait for a refill). He dislikes companies/businesses charging him more than he thinks things are worth, while simultaneously being one of the strongest free-market capitalist supporters in my social circle. And he'll let their employees know he's upset. The irony is apparently lost on him. With the TSA he likes to derail the process (unless he's short on time). Not just asking for a pat down rather than the scanner (if I gave myself more time at the airport I'd likely do the same), but to the point of abusing the worker rather than making the system itself slow down. Also, he has little regard for those behind him in line, and doesn't mind delaying them a few minutes so he can feel better about himself. As I haven't spent much time with him (physically parted ways after college) the past few years I can't really recall any more specific incidents, but it was a reason that, in college, it took us about 6 months to become friends. I thought he was a jerk, and I was right, he just happens to be a good friend as well.

Jtsummers 13y ago

I like your optimism, sadly most people I've seen doing stuff like he describes do it in a distasteful and rude manner. Perhaps he's better than that, I don't know him, and I certainly hope so. I've worked in service industries (of which I'll lump in TSA and Customs officials for now) and have been on the receiving end of it, polite or cordial people are welcome to talk about their experience, but then you get people like a friend of mine that would rather make them feel miserable about what they do for a living (the reason I can only take him in small doses these days).

kintamanimatt 13y ago
Oh so have I, and I'm specifically excluding the "nah nah nah nah boo boo" folks. The only thing those people do is encourage me to pay no attention to them. I was really talking about those that are able to just go live life, have a great time, and somehow seem to serve as a shining beacon for those lost at sea! It's even better when they have a sense of humor as well as passion. (Writing "most of them" on a landing card that has insufficient space is as creative as it is hilarious!) What specifically does your friend do to piss you off?
- Jtsummers 13y ago
  He can be belligerent and totally unsympathetic to most people in any sort of customer or human facing role. He's a better tipper now than he used to be, but can still be rude to harried waitstaff (i.e., when it's clear they have a lot of customers to handle he would get annoyed at having to wait for a refill). He dislikes companies/businesses charging him more than he thinks things are worth, while simultaneously being one of the strongest free-market capitalist supporters in my social circle. And he'll let their employees know he's upset. The irony is apparently lost on him. With the TSA he likes to derail the process (unless he's short on time). Not just asking for a pat down rather than the scanner (if I gave myself more time at the airport I'd likely do the same), but to the point of abusing the worker rather than making the system itself slow down. Also, he has little regard for those behind him in line, and doesn't mind delaying them a few minutes so he can feel better about himself. As I haven't spent much time with him (physically parted ways after college) the past few years I can't really recall any more specific incidents, but it was a reason that, in college, it took us about 6 months to become friends. I thought he was a jerk, and I was right, he just happens to be a good friend as well.