Who do I still think I am??

This one's about suicide, an anecdote, and staycations.

30DBC PROMPT: "Do you think suicide should be legal?"

Hello friends...welcome to a very special after-school episode of "Who do I still think I am??"  , where today we're confronting a very ugly truth I'm sure most of us would rather pretend didn't exist. I'm not gonna lie...suicide is a very uncomfortable topic, for obvious reasons. My next trip back to Buffalo will include the proper burying of a relative who passed away last autumn, and let's just say it wasn't because of natural causes.

I'm not quite sure I understand the purpose of this prompt...I guess I never really thought of suicide as something that could be considered a punishable offense in a court of law. I mean, it's a pretty final thing if it's carried out successfully, and it's not like you can lock up a corpse to serve out a jail term. I know in biblical terms suicide is considered a sin, and those who commit it are supposedy banished to Hell if you believe in that kind of thing, but in the end you're just dead. That's it. What more is there to contemplate?

Sure, there's the whole "tainting of a person's legacy" and the stigma attached to an undignified death...but how much is enough? For someone to get to that point in general there has to be a certain amount of suffering involved. What purpose is served by adding another layer to an unfortunate situation? Furthermore, how can you justify or endorse penalizing someone who is no longer in existence? I must be missing something, because it doesn't make sense.

I also think it's wrong to saddle the family of the deceased with the additional burden of dealing with legal ramifications associated with suicide. They're grieving as it is...why should they have to put up with anything more? It doesn't seem very fair...the person responsible for such an action isn't around to provide answers or face consequences, and the family shouldn't be held accountable.

I'm not sure what else there is to say about this. I don't see a reason why suicide should be against the law. It's not like robbing a bank or driving while intoxicated, where the guilty can be apprehended and face trial. It's sad and unfortunate, yes, but why make more out of something that's pretty much finite? Adding another layer of bureaucratic red tape isn't gonna change anything, and it's not gonna convince anyone who's reached that decision to change their mind.

BCF PROMPT: "Write an anecdote. According to Merriam-Webster.com an anecdote   comes from the Greek word anekdota, which means unpublished. It is defined as a short story concerning a funny or interesting occurrence or event."

There aren't many things in life worse than feeling like you need to throw up and tripping over what might be a dead guy on the way to the bathroom.

That was me about a half hour ago. Something wasn't sitting right in my stomach when I got home from work this afternoon. I figured it might be a good idea to head over to the bathroom to sort it out...and there's an older gentleman laying in the hallway of my building, just outside my door. I was like "Dude, you alright?" No answer. He's just layin' there like he's takin' a power nap and the hallway's as good a place as any.

I don't have any experience with dead bodies, and I'm really hoping he's not dead because I'm sure there's some kind of omen or bad luck thing associated with a dead person at your door. Maybe he's a little over-served and he's just passed out. I also like to keep to myself and not make trouble for anyone, and I can see how a dead body could be an inconvenience. There's, like, paperwork and stuff involved.

Yep, well...this is awkward. I just heard someone trying to wake him up, so at least he's not dead. He's definitely just nappin' hard though, all sprawled out. He's off to one side, so that's a good thing...in his previous position he was blocking passage. Still, I could think of better places to curl up and doze off. He does look hella into that nap, for sure.

And I feel tons better having puked up my morning coffee. I'm glad this wasn't a real dead-guy situation, because I failed miserably at being a decent human being.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I'm not advocating or anything, but I think "Funeral DJ" is a completely overlooked aspect of our society.

"'Cause it's our goddamn right to live
yet it's still not our choice to die."
Lyrics.  

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

"Vacation or Staycation: which do you prefer and why?"

I'm all for the staycation. Sure it's nice to get away from the ordinary chores of life once in awhile, but sometimes vacations are just so much work. Are they really worth the effort? Half the time you need a recovery period to readjust back to normal.

Staycations are great because you're truly on your own damn time. No need to deal with anyone else's constraints or worrying about whether there'll be enough time to get everyone showered and ready to sight-see. You always know where you are, as opposed to being a stranger in a strange land, and there's no trouble finding lunch. For a week or so, you're your own boss more so than ever. Don't wanna take out the trash or put on clean socks? Great! Pull up a piece of lawn and do nothing.

I used to love it when people would ask me about my vacation time at work..."What are you doing? Going anywhere special?" "Yeah, my driveway!" Can't front on the low-cost alternative. I'd drag out my fancy reclining lawn chair, a boom box for some tunes, a cooler full of frosty beverages, and kick it for no reason other than "I can." Why make life more complicated, especially when you're not supposed to be doing anything of major importance? There's no crowds, no drama, and no hassles when you're doin' your own thing.

Look, I get why people like to travel...it's fun and adventurous and all that. But there's something to be said about not having to deal with undue commotion and anxiety and vacation stress. Give me a time free from worry...there's a simple yet palpable enjoyment from not having a care in the world from the comfort of your own home.

Because I know you're concerned (and I'm concerned too} here's an update on the possibly dead guy: he's not dead. He was just really shitfaced. I tried to go to the bathroom, seeing as how he'd moved up from off the floor. I thought I was in the clear...nope, he was sitting on a toilet in the dark, smoking a cigarette. I don't think he knew where he was. Later I heard someone bitchin' about him...maybe to him. Something's definitely amiss, but he's not dead. That's a bit of a relief.

So I guess the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  forum is down because Emily is trying to transfer ownership of it over to 30DBC Creator/Founder . Insanity!! It'll probably be back up sooner rather than later, so I'm not stressin' over it. All things in due time, I figure. A minor hiccup. Still a little hard to fathom that Emily will be leaving us for good though...I wish her nothing but the best. She was incredible in saving the 30DBC awhile back and bringing it up to the prominence it has today. Can't forget that.

Speaking of the whole "forum being down" thing, I wouldn't know anything about that because I'm having my own issues with the internet at the moment. For some unknown reason my laptop says I'm connected, but I get the Chrome error messages (that goofy dot-matrix dinosaur) telling me I'm "Unable to connect to the Internet". What's weirder? Every time I've clicked on the WDC emoticon box, it freezes up Chrome with the "Not Responding" kick in the junk. At least I'm somewhat smart and copy/pasted most of this entry over to NotePad, just in case I'm having trouble saving it. This is the moment I'm actually sick about Lazarus Form Recovery not working on my laptop anymore, because I'd feel really great about having it right now. But the whole "it's not from Google's store so it's not gonna play nice" thing really sucks balls. It was cool when I had it and could get it to do what it was supposed to do, but then I had to restart my computer and I should've known better  .

Suck it, Yankees! The Buffalo Bills are the most Google'd team in New York  .

Well, it's about 3:30-ish and I'm already over today. I've seen enough and maybe written too much...I'm ready for a nap and maybe a do-over. Peace, my system to keep wishing, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!