Front Seat Responsibility

When I was little maybe 7 or 8 I remember sitting in the front passenger's seat of the van late at night.  I had specifically been chosen for passenger duty. My mom was driving, and we were somewhere between Massachusetts and Utah. I was chattering away and my mom, her voice tired, said "I've got to stop I'm getting too sleepy."
"But," I said, "wasn't I doing a good job talking."
"Oh it's not your fault. It's just too late."
That allayed my fears somewhat but I was still kind of sad that I hadn't been able to keep my mom awake.

This week I went on a long car trip. Two days one way. I was in the front seat the first day and felt an obligation to converse with the driver. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation but I know I talked more and shared more than I normally would have if I hadn't felt that duty to entertain the driver. The next day and the two coming back I was sitting in the back and I didn't feel that responsibility so keenly, although I have to admit I was a little disturbed how little the passenger seat occupants didn't seem to worry about it at all.
At first I was really confused how this almost inherent feeling of duty could be apparently nonexistent in so many others but then I realized a couple of things:
1) I've probably done a lot more long road trips than most people.
2) I was taught about it explicitly when I was little.
3) The others in the car that did understand passenger duty choose not to sit in the front because they wanted to avoid the responsibility.

Polishing Shoes

I was just polishing my shoes and my roommate asked "Is that how you polish shoes like in real life?"

"Yes, yes it is."

I polish my leather shoes the old school way with a rag and shoe polish that comes in a tin and a brush (except I don't have one). I know most people now don't use shoe polish anymore. They either have shoes that don't need shoe polish or they use the "fake" version or they just don't polish their shoes, not bothering to put in the effort.

My dad taught me how to polish shoes. I remember as a little girl following him excitedly to his bedroom where we would spread newspapers around us as we sat crosslegged on the floor. I remember putting my hand in his big shoe and lifting it up. Getting the crumbling black polish all over my hands and watching with excitement as he buffed the polished shoe and the matte black suddenly became glossy. 

My mom tells stories about how when she was a girl it was her chore every Saturday to line up her families Sunday shoes and polishing them all, all ten pairs.

I have also heard quite a few talks and thoughts that tie in spiritual ideas to polishing shoes. 

I like how peaceful it is to sit there and rub the polish into the leather and put that little effort into maintaining something that has served me well. 

So to me polishing shoes is tied up with a bunch of seemingly unrelated ideas and thoughts:

• Quality time with my Dad
• Peace
• Service
• Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
• Heritage
• Renewal

How often do we end up associating menial tasks with deeper feelings, emotions, stories, etc.

Being Prepared

I started a master's program this week. A masters program in a subject I don't have much of a background in. In fact I have three main classes: GIS for engineers, Principles of Learning and Vertebrate Paleontology. All three of them are based in different departments: Civil Engineering, Informational Psychology and Technology (whatever that means) and Geology. Out of those three I've only taken classes in geology and they were fairly basic.
At first all I could think was "I have no background in any of these how am I going to survive." As I went through this first week I found it interesting how often I remembered things from other experiences I've had. I was more prepared than I thought.
Here are a few examples:
Working with GIS. 
I met a couple of time with a group after classes to discuss GIS in my senior year at college.
Working with GIS layers.
Working with layers in Gimp and other art programs.
Understanding Vector and Raster data.
Doing pixel and vector art and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Being in a class that discusses psychology and learning philosophies.
Attending a histories and theories class in anthropology.
Talking about dinosaurs and geologic time depth.
Reading a dinosaur text book to be ready for the class I'm TAing.

Anyway. I just found it fascinating how I was fairly prepared despite not having the background in the specific departments.
Perhaps it isn't that surprising but all the same it is interesting how things that don't at first seem like they would be relevant can be. Maybe that's why a holistic view of life makes so much sense. Just because we pigeonhole ideas it doesn't mean that they really are entirely separate. I mean who thought doing art would prepare me for an engineering class.