Booze.
I miss beer. Vodka and Tequilla are fine beverages, but beer is just...well, it's beer, and I'm German. But I can't afford beer right now. Every dollar counts this month. I'm...sort of behind on my bills but not really. You see, I'm paid up on my Cable bill, but they (like usual) sent me a billing statement to the effect that I hadn't paid them much at all last month, instead of paying for two full months and my cable modem all at once like I actually did.
My electric bill, containing the spillover from my last apartment and the first months juice from the new place was $200. This, I believe, is from my failure to figure out the appliances in this place perfectly for the first few weeks. I paid $150 of it when the notice came that said I was overdue. They've not sent me another sayint they'll cut me off, so I think paying the last $50 can wait till I get some more money.
I've called in the final airstrike. The last of my college money is going to be on it's way as soon as I e-mail the family accountant and ask for it. I'm tired of having to scrounge. Oh, I'll have to do it again soon enough, but with my raise and increased hours, this three grand or so should last me almost untill the end of my lease if I use it wisely.
Mom and Dad will always help me if I ask for it also, I just hate to do that to them. Honestly, it never really occurs to me unless I'm totally up against a wall. ::shrug:: I've got a trip to Las Vegas coming up in a few weeks here. Big computer geek patry. They'll be almost 20 of us, it'll be one hell of a shindig. Four days in Vegas playing computer games with friends, not much better than that for me, given that I'm single.
Ahh yes, it would be nice to have a wife, and not be celibate. However I have discovered that celibacy truly is freedom. Seriously, you just don't worry about it anymore. And none of those feelings of self loathing that come from immersing yourself in porn for a few hours. I've been clean, I'm happy to say, since late June. Four full months at this point. Whoot!
Now I know why catholic priests are famous for taking a nip whenver they can. It's the only vice left open to them!
Let us pose a theological question, just to see if anyone is listning. Hi Fr. John!
Suppose (and this is a true hypothetical, it has not happened...yet) that you have a less than humanitarian supervisor at work. Suppose also that this person is abusive to you in some form. The Christian responsability is to take the abuse, and pray for him, because after all we want others to be forgiven their sins, because we want no one to end up in hell. We are also, not supposed to go to a higher authority (except God) and complain. We are just supposed to take the abuse.
First question: Is there a point at which the abuse is too much and you are spiritually justified in going to a higher (secular) authority? I've been told on very good authority that the circumstances under which you are not required to comply are when the orders conflict with Gods law or that of the state. Which, in reality, pretty much coveres any extreme circumstances.
Second question: Suppose this same supervisor is being abusive (but within the letter of the law) to another employee. The supervisor is aware of your religious beliefs and exploits them. He orders you not to reveal his abuses to his superiors. What do you do? My theory here is that not informing his superiors would be in violation of Gods law to protect others and so you should do it...but perhaps not. I can also see that it would be our duity to comply even with that. Since, after all, he may be abuising authority, but it is authority he does in fact have.
Third question: If you honestly feel that the best way of helping this malignant individual to correct their ways is to tell someone higher up the ladder about what he/she is doing, can you? If your concern is truly not for yourself, but for the bum that is riding you like a bull, is it not better to see him slapped down before he can get himself into actual, serious trouble?
Fourth question: What degree of information restriction is acceptable? If my supervisor asks me a question, and I know what he really wants to know, but I also know of a not untruthful answer to the question that will deny him the knowledge he actually seeks,, must I still give it to him? To put that into English: If he's a moron, but I know what he's getting at, am I obligated to reword his question for him so that he can exact the information he's actually trying to get?
I bring this up because it seems to be a talent I have (seriously here). I see someone at a loss for words, or not quite putting a finger on the concept they're trying to express, instantly grasp it, and then I have the option of explaining their thinking to them in the appropriate words. I admit to a visceral enjoyment of listning to someone posit a stupid argument, clarifying their own argument for them, and then crushing my own clarification of their argument just when they think I've agreed with thim. It's really, really, really fun. Crestfallen faces on iddiots...priceless. It's a vice of mine, one I've got to quit or answer for in front of the gates at the Dread Judgment. I have a liking for firing jokes over peoples heads, and watching them sail on by, without even being noticed, let alone understood. There is some bent appeal in the notion that they're never, ever, going to understand what was going on. Bad Alexey, seriously, thats a seriously bad thing to be doing.
Anyway, as a Christian, am I obligated to explain someone elses argument to them so they know what question to ask in order to make my life difficult?
Alexey the Sinner.
My electric bill, containing the spillover from my last apartment and the first months juice from the new place was $200. This, I believe, is from my failure to figure out the appliances in this place perfectly for the first few weeks. I paid $150 of it when the notice came that said I was overdue. They've not sent me another sayint they'll cut me off, so I think paying the last $50 can wait till I get some more money.
I've called in the final airstrike. The last of my college money is going to be on it's way as soon as I e-mail the family accountant and ask for it. I'm tired of having to scrounge. Oh, I'll have to do it again soon enough, but with my raise and increased hours, this three grand or so should last me almost untill the end of my lease if I use it wisely.
Mom and Dad will always help me if I ask for it also, I just hate to do that to them. Honestly, it never really occurs to me unless I'm totally up against a wall. ::shrug:: I've got a trip to Las Vegas coming up in a few weeks here. Big computer geek patry. They'll be almost 20 of us, it'll be one hell of a shindig. Four days in Vegas playing computer games with friends, not much better than that for me, given that I'm single.
Ahh yes, it would be nice to have a wife, and not be celibate. However I have discovered that celibacy truly is freedom. Seriously, you just don't worry about it anymore. And none of those feelings of self loathing that come from immersing yourself in porn for a few hours. I've been clean, I'm happy to say, since late June. Four full months at this point. Whoot!
Now I know why catholic priests are famous for taking a nip whenver they can. It's the only vice left open to them!
Let us pose a theological question, just to see if anyone is listning. Hi Fr. John!
Suppose (and this is a true hypothetical, it has not happened...yet) that you have a less than humanitarian supervisor at work. Suppose also that this person is abusive to you in some form. The Christian responsability is to take the abuse, and pray for him, because after all we want others to be forgiven their sins, because we want no one to end up in hell. We are also, not supposed to go to a higher authority (except God) and complain. We are just supposed to take the abuse.
First question: Is there a point at which the abuse is too much and you are spiritually justified in going to a higher (secular) authority? I've been told on very good authority that the circumstances under which you are not required to comply are when the orders conflict with Gods law or that of the state. Which, in reality, pretty much coveres any extreme circumstances.
Second question: Suppose this same supervisor is being abusive (but within the letter of the law) to another employee. The supervisor is aware of your religious beliefs and exploits them. He orders you not to reveal his abuses to his superiors. What do you do? My theory here is that not informing his superiors would be in violation of Gods law to protect others and so you should do it...but perhaps not. I can also see that it would be our duity to comply even with that. Since, after all, he may be abuising authority, but it is authority he does in fact have.
Third question: If you honestly feel that the best way of helping this malignant individual to correct their ways is to tell someone higher up the ladder about what he/she is doing, can you? If your concern is truly not for yourself, but for the bum that is riding you like a bull, is it not better to see him slapped down before he can get himself into actual, serious trouble?
Fourth question: What degree of information restriction is acceptable? If my supervisor asks me a question, and I know what he really wants to know, but I also know of a not untruthful answer to the question that will deny him the knowledge he actually seeks,, must I still give it to him? To put that into English: If he's a moron, but I know what he's getting at, am I obligated to reword his question for him so that he can exact the information he's actually trying to get?
I bring this up because it seems to be a talent I have (seriously here). I see someone at a loss for words, or not quite putting a finger on the concept they're trying to express, instantly grasp it, and then I have the option of explaining their thinking to them in the appropriate words. I admit to a visceral enjoyment of listning to someone posit a stupid argument, clarifying their own argument for them, and then crushing my own clarification of their argument just when they think I've agreed with thim. It's really, really, really fun. Crestfallen faces on iddiots...priceless. It's a vice of mine, one I've got to quit or answer for in front of the gates at the Dread Judgment. I have a liking for firing jokes over peoples heads, and watching them sail on by, without even being noticed, let alone understood. There is some bent appeal in the notion that they're never, ever, going to understand what was going on. Bad Alexey, seriously, thats a seriously bad thing to be doing.
Anyway, as a Christian, am I obligated to explain someone elses argument to them so they know what question to ask in order to make my life difficult?
Alexey the Sinner.
posted by Alexios at 3:39 AM
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