What’s the most useful thing you know?

It’s telling that I’m drawing an absolute blank here. Bless it.

Maybe the fact that deep breaths have to be done carefully or they can make panic worse. Or that butter and a little half and half create divine mashed potatoes. Or perhaps that trying to power through certain headaches only kicks them to level ten so it’s best to lie down in a dark, quiet room for an hour instead.

I suppose “most useful” may depend on the day.

What impact do you think it would have on the world if bananas were illegal?

Well, I can think of at least one person who’d be thrilled but seeing as three of us here actually love bananas…I won’t get into the nitty gritty of it but bananas are super healthy in lots of ways so outlawing them wouldn’t exactly do societal health a favor. I also think it would be a serious economic hit for countries where bananas are the main export.

What social stigma does society need to just get over?

Growing up in America for me was a strange combination of media screaming SEX DRUGS AND ROCK ‘N ROLL while society screamed GOOD GIRLS DON’T DO THAT AND ONLY GOOD GIRLS END UP WITH NICE FAMILIES AND A GOOD LIFE SO KEEP IT STRAIGHT. They pushed this on women for decades before me and girls todays still get the same treatment.

I guess the best way to sum it up is this: if you wouldn’t put it out there with reversed pronouns then kindly eff all the way off.

“The thing is, James, wearing shorts like that is really distracting to these girls and we don’t want to do that, right? No, those sweatpants are pretty tight, too. You don’t want to distract them from their education, right?”

“Connor, think of your affection like a stick of deodorant. Every time you do [ahem] affectionate things with someone it wears down that stick. Who’s gonna want to marry someone with a little stub for deodorant?”

“Wait, Mason, weren’t you just on a date with a different girl last week? You don’t want to get a r-e-p-u-t-a-t-i-o-n, do you?”

Do you prefer the moral viewpoint of consequentialism*, which focuses on the consequences of actions, or deontology,*  which focuses on the innate rightness or wrongness of the actions themselves?  

[consequentialism: the doctrine that the morality of an action is to be judged solely by its consequences; deontology: the study of the nature of duty and obligation]

I’ve twisted this around so long I’m not even sure I’ve got the question right. In the end I’ve got to go with consequentialism. It seems truer to the Impact Over Intention belief I follow.

Please feel free to share something good that happened to you in the past week.

I’ve had some particularly nice bonding moments at basketball games this week. There’s something about reaching the end of the season that makes us all family. Oh, and not for nothing but OUR GIRLS ARE GOING TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. (Boys team, too, and that’s great but y’know…I’m super psyched for my kiddo.)

Sparks from a Combustible Mind hosts Share Your World.