Ever sat and listened to someone and your jaw just hit the floor in disbelief because of what has happened in their life?

Today, I'm presenting at a high school in Cincinnati, and, after the first class that I presented to, there was a long break for lunch and then another class before the next class that I was presenting to. I present to the first class, go get Skyline for lunch, and then just come back to wait because this school has block scheduling and I didn't have anything else to do for an hour and a half.

I roll back in and there's this lady there about to speak. She was short (4'11) but fit as hell and kind of hot. She says she's 49 but she didn't look nearly that old.

She starts telling her story of how, when she was 15, her mom told her she had thick thighs and always said other things like that, so she became anorexic and then bulimic. She told about how she used to gorge and then vomit it back up or starve herself and I just couldn't even imagine living a life like that.

She hid it from a guy she met, got married, got pregnant, but then the baby wasn't growing inside her because she was throwing up everything she ate, so the baby wasn't getting nourishment. She started eating again and whatever so the baby got healthy, but she fell right back into everything after the baby was born. This starts when she's 15 and goes on for 27 years.

Her husband divorces her, but then she finds out she has cancer.

She beats the cancer, opens a gym, is in fitness shows, helps people with image problems and eating disorders, and is just a complete bad-ass!

It's one of those stories that just makes you go "wow, my life's not so bad!"

Anybody ever hear stories like that or is it just me?

If we take the time to talk and listen to others we may discover most people have stories.

Years ago I'm in a car dealership waiting area ( getting warranty work done ).
The guy a couple seats over starts talking about his son.The son never took to school, Dad realizes son needs something else to devote effort to.
Dad buys a small gas station for son to work at.( back when gas stations pumped gas,checked wipers,topped fluids, etc ).Son quit school in tenth grade and was happy.Son joined local rescue squad and enjoys life now.Months later rescue squad gets a call for a car wreck,son closes station and goes to accident scene.Sons' ex school mates were dead on scene. Grieving son never recovered mentally and passed away in his sleep.

Dad was happy he enabled son to be happy a few months.

I killed a gopher with a stick one time.

(04-27-2018, 03:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I killed a gopher with a stick one time.

Doubt it.

(04-27-2018, 03:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I killed a gopher with a stick one time.

^this is my favorite story.   needs to be made into a song good enough to do this might deed justice.



To Brad,


Yeah its all about perspective...  You might think things have been tough  then you'll met someone that would trade places with you in a second.

That old Quote
"I cried because I had no shoes... Then I met a man with no Feet"

There are lots of amazing stories out there.     That don't get told or people never listen too..

Working in a courthouse has me going "wow, my life's not so bad!" on a regular basis.

I was sitting in a small diner last week with my wife. The place was packed. I found myself looking at everyone in that place, but as if I was seeing in a whole different perspective. People normally piss me off because I tend to judge on first site. I don’t mean to and wish I didn’t, but I am not one to trust or believe in anyone I don’t personally know. That morning was different. I seen unknown stories of sorrow, hardship, and each person thinking about what they had to face that day. Was wierd. It’s actually like I really gave ashit about each and every one of them.

Not really sure where I was going with that, but I still feel passionate about all of them. I live in a small town and have probably crossed paths with some this week. Don’t remember any faces but remember feeling like I needed to pray for all of them. I know it’s off the wall, but the feeling was strong. Pretty sure every one of those people had a story and tribulation they had to overcome to let them be there, at that moment because I know what both my wife and I have gone through to be there that day as well.

(04-27-2018, 04:33 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I was sitting in a small diner last week with my wife. The place was packed. I found myself looking at everyone in that place, but as if I was seeing in a whole different perspective. People normally piss me off because I tend to judge on first site. I don’t mean to and wish I didn’t, but I am not one to trust or believe in anyone I don’t personally know. That morning was different. I seen unknown stories of sorrow, hardship, and each person thinking about what they had to face that day. Was wierd. It’s actually like I really gave ashit about each and every one of them.

Not really sure where I was going with that, but I still feel passionate about all of them. I live in a small town and have probably crossed paths with some this week. Don’t remember any faces but remember feeling like I needed to pray for all of them. I know it’s off the wall, but the feeling was strong. Pretty sure every one of those people had a story and tribulation they had to overcome to let them be there, at that moment because I know what both my wife and I have gone through to be there that day as well.

That's a main part of the presentation I give to schools and it's in my last slides: 
One slide
I realized everyone suffers
The whole point of life is to suffer
It's what we do in that suffering that makes us human
A line in the next slide
I felt selfish that I thought my story was any more difficult than anyone else's

(04-27-2018, 05:00 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: That's a main part of the presentation I give to schools and it's in my last slides: 
One slide
I realized everyone suffers
The whole point of life is to suffer
It's what we do in that suffering that makes us human
A line in the next slide
I felt selfish that I thought my story was any more difficult than anyone else's

My wife reminds me continuously, "This life is not all about you!"

(04-27-2018, 03:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I killed a gopher with a stick one time.

Big woop, I killed a grizzly with a toothpick once.

(04-27-2018, 03:20 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Doubt it.

Okay.  Here is a better one.  This guy got his conviction overturned and is getting a new trial.  I am now defending him.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3864646&page=1



A grand jury will decide in early December whether to indict a Tennessee man on charges that he raped two of his daughters and forced them to wear an electric-shock dog collar.

Burkhart's 17-year-old daughter told authorities in a Sept. 10 interview that she had been sexually and physically abused by her father, according to the complaint affidavit. "Among other things, her father [the defendant] uses dog collars equipped with electric shock to train his hunting dogs, and that he uses the collar on her to shock her and her 19-year-old sister," the affidavit reads.

The teen told authorities her father used the shock collar on her Sept. 9 "because he was mad at her for going out with a boy."

Both teens showed investigators bruises consistent with an electric dog collar and the girl also said that her father held a shotgun to her head and said that if she "ever told anyone, he would kill himself, her and anyone who tried to remove her from his home," the affidavit reads.

I get to read all kinds of court depositions since my girlfriend is a scopist.  In case you don't know, from one scopist school. ...
"Simply stated, a scopist’s job is to edit transcripts written by court reporters on stenotype machines into readable, easily understood English.
The official NCRA definition is: “A scopist is one who edits a transcript translated by CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription) software into English, correcting mistrans/untrans of steno notes, employing proper punctuation, English, and format.” So there you have it in a nutshell! "

If you've ever seen actual court transcripts they're very difficult to read so the scopist transcribes them into easily readable formats.. She's been doing it for over 40 years now and is an absolutely amazing typist.. 
Some of the depositions would blow you away with some of the saddest stories you can imagine..
I lived in homeless shelters for a good while and some of the stories guys had were gut wrenching stuff. One guy I know lost his entire family, 4 kids ,his wife, house and the works when his house burned down. He wasn't insured and had just finished paying off the mortgage . When I first met him he was drinking really heavy, staying doped up and so on ,but  he pulled it back together, remarried and got into a small apartment. I remember how happy he was just getting that little apartment. Heck , I remember when I first got my room at the YMCA. It was a tiny room and the bathroom was down the hall and I had to share with everyone else on the 7th floor, but I had my own door and could lock my door . That doesn't sound like much to most people, but after living on a floor with 70 other guys with just a tiny locker to keep my stuff in that little room at the Y with my own door and key seemed like a palace to me at the time.. It's easy to take things for granted .I had lost everything I owned and was living in a shed in Texas for about 6-7 years before moving back to Ohio and the shelters. I moved to SC to take care of my dad then meet my current girlfriend . My life has changed dramatically for the better . 
While I don't trust many people I'm always happy and willing to help out someone with a sad story and even if it's all BS and they might just get drunk with the money I might give them it might also change their life.  It's not my job to find fault with people . I've been down some dark times and  people have helped me when I didn't deserve it.  

Damn, we are all misfits here and I love every damn one of you (in an internet brotherhood sort of way).

(04-27-2018, 05:00 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: The whole point of life is to suffer

No, it's not. The whole point of life is to live. 

(05-01-2018, 05:06 PM)PhilHos Wrote: No, it's not. The whole point of life is to live. 

That's your opinion, and I respect it