One of the ways that being color blind most affects me in my daily life is in the selection of bananas.
I love bananas, especially in the morning, but almost always buy ones that aren't ripe. I only find out they're not ripe when I bite into it, and get that terrible taste in my mouth, tongue dry, layer of grime everywhere. In the scope of it all, this isn't that big of a problem. When my wife and I are shopping together, she chooses them and the problem is solved. But the banana's shape, and frequent suggestive prop use, make it about the worst fruit to discuss with a stranger. The obvious thing to do would be to ask a stranger for help, but try that. "Um, excuse me ma'am. Could you please tell me if my banana is ripe?"
Sounds bad. Trust me. People look at me like a perv.
Uneven tables in coffee shops really bug me. Especially when they serve coffee out of wide-mouth mugs. Hey. Here's your coffee. Thanks. And then it spills all over the place.
(Disclaimer, this is not unique to me) Social media makes many of us unhappy.
I've been doing a bunch of writing recently, some that's good, some that's not, but I'm really diving into a specific issue, and it's taken me to social media. What I seem to notice is that our expectations are on the rise, while our effort is on the dive, and minds are ever more engaged. Like, it's possible to order something to your house because of a great review, or just because you think it should be great. When it shows up, delivered by someone else, it is below your expectations. Then you share this on social media and expect people to listen to what you have to say about said product / service. No one likes your post, and you feel unhappy that your opinion wasn't validated.
Or, something happens to you that makes you mad. Immediately, you go to social media and share your story. There are dozens of comments telling you that you're wrong. One adds that you're ugly. Still another suggests that you kill yourself.
Contrast this with how it was a while ago: you made plans with someone to be someplace by 8. You knew the route, and didn't map it. On the way there, you hit construction and were rerouted. You got to the place at 8:10. You said to your friend, 'I hit construction.' They responded, 'No problem.' They avoid that route the next time. You talk and catch up.
Or, something happened to you that made you make. You tell the person you're sitting with about the incident, including how it made you feel. You end this by judging an entire group of people. The person across from you says, "Not everyone is like that." You realize that person is correct, and change the way you think.
Our various media and modes of connection are great on so many levels. But, a lot of us are figuring out how to do this and are caught in the middle.
I suck at halloween. I went to a halloween party last weekend, and people asked my wife why she let me wear my costume, which was just a fishing vest.
It was a terrible costume - one in a long list of them. I was once AC Slater. People said I looked good, but they must have really been like, 'AC, you really let yourself go'. I was David Foster Wallace one year. I got accused of being a gangster. Only my cousin Matt liked it, and there was a long time where he thought the JBC at Wendy's was the best food on the planet.