The rules don't apply to me

I'm watching parking wars while waiting for everybody to get ready to go to the store with me to get some missing onion soup ingredients. The onion soup will be awesome, but parking wars is hitting me with one of the major reasons I can't stand the Utah culture.
Sure, everywhere you go you have douchbags. It's part of living in society, but Utah, specifically the Salt Lake Valley, there seems to be a particularly high percentage of these people. The issue isn't that they're generally assholes. My complaint is very specific. These people expect others to live by the rules, but will find nearly any justification for the rules not applying to them. They don't want their kids in a car seat cause they're "just driving down the block," or, as a former boss of mine said, "why can't I pull my boat in the carpool lane? I can go the speed limit" after he got a ticket for doing just that. They think they can talk or text on the phone because they know how to drive while doing it, while the rest of the world seems unable to do it. Their idea of "freedom" is completely out of control. They think that they can do what ever the hell they want when ever the hell they want, and get away with breaking the rules because they had "a really good reason" to do so.
Pull your heads out of your asses and think. Yeah, you're free to do what ever you want as long as your actions don't infringe on the rights of others doing what ever they want. You're not alone in this world, assholes.

That part is over

We've moved across state lines. While packing we learned that the big truck just wasn't big enough...just the first of way too many very painful issues to occur during the past couple of weeks...and we got a very generous offer from someone to drive a second truck, stay with us for a couple of days, and then we'd fly the generous helper back home. Simple plan, then things really went sideways. Without going in to too much detail, we lost the house we had already rented, went totally broke for a couple of days due to money being tied up in bullshit, got stuck wearing the same dirty clothes for a few days cause everything was in boxes, and on and on and on. It was around this point that our generous help started bitching about being tired and dirty, continually asking to borrow clothes or razors (remember we're temporarily broke and everything is in boxes), wanting to take breaks and go out to lunch, missing work (I missed extra work as well), and on and on and on. Finally, just as things started to balance, our help started to come down with bronchitis, or something similar. Sucks, but our generous helper began to insist that there were chemicals in the air in the part of the house that contained not only the helper's sleeping quarters, but also my home office...btw, I'm not sick...
I guess the bottom line is that I was very greatful for the offer of help, and the initial help, but the selfish attitude of this person while my entire family was facing hell, put me off. It pissed me off, and rather than being greatful for the help, I've ended the week glad to be rid of this very uncomfortable burden that was keeping my little family from regaining center after a week of hell and a new start.
I dunno, I guess I just had to get that off my chest.
I'm tired, very disappointed for many reasons in our helper, and looking forward to a real weekend to rest and have a little fun with my family in our new home in our new city and state.

Kirkland

<p>So, we've finally moved. There is a whole adventure there that I'll talk about another time, but for now, I'm just trying to decompress. I'm out on the deck, having a glass or three of chianti, and just drinking it all in, and I'm struck by something. Back home the norm is to work to have the perfectly manicured yard. Time and money is spent on having the perfect shape around the shrubs, money is spent on consultants to choose the perfect shrubs in the first place. All of this to impress the neighbors, and show that you have the best lot in the neighborhood. Of course in utah you have to have automatic sprinklers because it's hot enough to kill the lawn and shrubs in a couple of days, so I can't really complain about that. Anyway, I'm looking out across my yard, and the little bit of those yards around me that I'm actually able to see, and I'm struck by the difference in realities. Nature is in control here. Sure, lawns are cut and watered, gardens produce some food, but give it a month with out fighting the over growth, and nature would take over. People seem to accept that. They accept that they are here for a short time, but everything around them was here before them, will be here long after them, and if nature became sentient and decided to take over, it would simply eliminate them. This place is alive, and in balance. I come from a desert, a place that you have to fight just to keep the lawn alive. Here, you have to fight to keep green things from taking over. I dunno. The reality of this place is amazing.