Ravin's Ramblings

Imagine this scenario. You're sipping on your coffee enjoying the peace and tranquility of the last fleeting moments of summer. You're out in the wilderness, away from the craziness of traditional consumer driven civilization. You're actually feeling pretty satisfied and morally superior because you've just finished washing your dishes, laundry, and hair with the same bottle of good old Dr. Bronner's (you had an ecological conscience after all before it was easy to be Green). Your iPod is pumping Instant Karma directly into your ears. You're rocking out to the "Working Class Hero" and thinking blasphemously that it might actually be better than the original.

You're thinking that surely this is the pinnacle of existence when your thoughts are interrupted by the high pitched enthusiastic squee of your name. You look up and in disbelief see familiar faces walking toward you. These are the last people you would expect to run into camping on a volcano…and not just because they're about two thousand miles

from where you left them.

"Huh?" Is all you can manage…you haven't finished your coffee yet, so no one can really expect your higher brain functions to be operating.

"It's so good to see you!! What are you doing here??? What have you been up to lately???" they want to know. And this is irritating because they're genuine in their curiosity and well wishes, and you know you can only disappoint them with your lackluster weekend.

"Uh…I went into Seattle last weekend. How 'bout you?" you answer honestly.

"Oh," and she whips out her digital camera to show you pictures, "We just got back from Darfur." Darfur, huh? Figures. Couldn't be something like Starbucks. No. Friggin' Darfur. You glance down at your iPod no longer feeling morally superior and comtemplate telling them you bought the CD, then realize that would just sound lame.. So…how do you respond to easing the human suffering of thousands?

"Um…I got a Krispy Kreme while I was in town."