Jacob Romney Day

You only get one special day a year and that's your birthday. Six months later you are as far from your birthday as you can get. It's a very depressing time. Well I'm not going to go that long without a day for myself. My half birthday is March 8th. I hereby declare March 8th to be Jacob Romney Day. It's a day we will celebrate all things Jacob Romney. Here are appropriate activities for Jacob Romney Day:

1. Send Jacob Romney a gift. Money is a perfectly acceptable gift.
2. Call or message Jacob Romney if you have his phone number. If you are only facebook friends with Jacob Romney you may leave him a message there.
3. Talk about Jacob Romney. Share Jacob Romney stories. Laugh at Jacob Romney antics. Tell friends about Jacob Romney.
4. Read Jacob Romney's blog. If there are no new posts then feel free to read over some of your favorite posts. Or just start back at the beginning and read them all over again.
5. Leave comments on Jacob Romney's blog. He likes comments.
6. Send Jacob Romney a gift. This is for those who skipped number one. If you did send a gift, but you want to do everything on the list you may send another gift.
7. Pray for Jacob Romney. Not for anything in particular. Just for his well-being. It can't hurt.
8. Write interesting blog posts that Jacob Romney will be interested in reading. You may link your blog post in the facebook message you sent when you were doing #3.
9. Use your imagination. There are countless ways to celebrate Jacob Romney Day. Make it a special day for Jacob Romney. It comes but once a year and is second only to the actual birthday of Jacob Romney.

Less than three weeks until Jacob Romney Day. Start your preparations now!

Disdain of the Masses

When I was 17 I moved into a ward with about 30 young women. Most of them were a couple years younger than me, so we weren't in the same Sunday School class. They all lived in different towns, so we didn't go to the same school. They had all been in the ward for years, so they all knew each other really well and had formed their cliques.

I was very socially inept as a teenager. I wasn't good at initiating conversation, making small talk, or stepping out of my comfort zone. In a new ward my comfort zone consisted of me and me alone. So I kept to myself. Later I got to know a couple of the guys in the ward because I had to give them a ride from seminary to school every morning and the silent car rides were getting awkward.

I never got to know the girls in that ward. They never tried to talk to me and I wasn't about to step into a group of girls I didn't know and try to get to know them. I was too shy for that kind of thing. A couple years later I found out that the girls in that ward hated me. I didn't understand it. How could you hate someone you've never talked to or even tried to talk to?

Turns out they had decided I was a stuck up snob who thought I was too good for them. This was because I had never been nice to them or tried to get to know them. Well, I figured that it's the job of the people who are there already to make the new guy feel welcome, but I guess I was mistaken. Why did they decide I was stuck up instead of shy? Why jump to such a drastic conclusion? Why, over ten years later, do some of them still harbor a grudge against me when I never even learned their names?

I was a good-looking, athletic, muscular kid. I don't say that to brag, but to lend context to the situation. I've seen it played over a number of times since I experienced it myself. The general assumption is that a person who fits that criteria must be popular and social. Which means that if they ignore you it's because they must think they're too good for you. If a person is unattractive and quiet then people assume they must be very shy. Oh, that poor shy guy, let's go make him feel at home. But since person A isn't repulsive he must be a jerk since he didn't leap into our lives and become our friends.

Yesterday I posted a dumb comment on the wall of one of those young women from my ward in the past. Not sure why we're facebook friends since we were never really friends. She got very angry, tore into me, and then wrote another of those young women and said, "Remember how Jacob Romney was an a****le when we were growing up? Well he's still an a****le. Go check my facebook page." Wow! The fact that I can get that strong of a response out of someone I haven't seen in over ten years and haven't ever spoken to is incredible.

Things Jacob Says

Due to the large and somewhat unpleasant response to my last post I have deemed it appropriate to expound upon its background. Let me make clear what I was doing when I wrote the last post. I was sharing something that both my wife and I found amusing with the people who regularly read my blog. Those who know us well know that we joke around all the time with this sort of thing. My wife went over the blog. Had she asked me to not post it I would not have done so. It was harmless fun. She has her own blog where she posts silly things about me as well. Had I known how people would react I probably wouldn't have done anything differently. I very much enjoy getting comments.

Julie and I were driving home laughing about how often she says certain things. We decided to make a list and we laughed at each phrase we found. It was a fun drive home. I thought it would be fun to share our mirth on my blog. There was nothing mean-spirited or spiteful in my words. I exaggerated a few points for comedic value. However, due to the post sharing things of a personal nature I made sure to check with Julie about what I was doing. I wouldn't want her to be upset in case I was being callous and insensitive. I was pleased to see that she was amused by the post as well, so I deemed it appropriate for public viewing.

Have I learned some things from this experience? Yes I have.
1. I have more readers than I knew I had.
2. Inflammatory posts get more comments than other kinds of posts.
3. People need background and context.
4. Angry people are more fun than content people.

Now, I'm a blunt person. I say what I think and I don't cater to the whims of sensitive people. This is my blog where I write what comes to mind. That's always how its been. If you don't like what I said then feel free to post your displeasure as was done on the last post. I will take your thoughts under advisement and decide whether or not I made a mistake. If so the post would be deleted and an apology issued. If I think you were mistaken in your assessment of the situation then I will let you know as well. Let's keep things lively!