The Broken Urinal

 

It never stopped, day and night. 

 

The sound.   The sound of non-stop water gushing, flowing, and dripping.   The soaking wet floor.   Puddles.   

 

It never stopped. 

 

No one cared.  It must have been either too expensive, or too intricate to take the time to fix it.   

 

So, it flowed all the time.    The 6th floor of my dorm at college had a urinal that never ceased to gush water, and make the sound of a continous, pulsating beat.  

 

The sound.   The sound that is tattoed on my psyche.    

 

Today, there is no broken urinal sound in my life.   Thankfully, all of the plumbing in my house works just fine.   

 

But, the sound has been replaced.   The sound of broken plumbing, has taken on different scenario's, and different context in my life. 

 

The sound of words with no meaning.    

 

People who talk AT US, but have an agenda to push their own self interest -- they are the equivalent of a busted urninal, that never stops. 

 

Politcs, and the shrill nature of discourse in the "us versus them" world we now live in, has become a broken urinal to me.   

 

People in any industry (but specifically digital media, because it is what I am closest to) that think they are experts -- and they self-promote themselves -- but actually know the least about what they purport to be the experts in -- are broken urinals. 

 

People that are super religious.    Anyone who treats others with a lack of compassion and understanding -- and uses religion to do so --- is the biggest hypocrite in my book, and the largest reason why most times, the most religious people, are the most rigid.   The most religious people sometimes treat other religions with disdain. The most religious lack what the basic tenets of a religion is suppose to be (or so I thought) compassion, respect,  and caring.   Broken urinal. 

 

People who think the lastest craze in all the rage.    The Grateful Dead have a line in their song, Throwing Stones.   "And the current fashions set the pace, lose your step, fall out of grace."   I have great contempt for people who need the latest and greatest to dictate what they wear, what they believe, and what they "push on others."   Big broken urinal. 

 

Speaking of pushing views, the very next line in the song, Throwing Stones goes -- "and the radical he rants and rage, saying someones got to turn the page."  The Occupy Movement, and the people who would protest, and destroy property, and block movement of others -- take over the streets and parks in cities, to push their agenda on others -- is a broken urinal.

 

I grew over time to appreciate the broken urinal on the floor of my dormintory in college.   The flowing water evolved into a sound that I came to appreciate.  I never appreciated the mess, the puddles, or the fact that I felt as though I was constantly walking in urine.   But, I did come to look at it, as......

 

White noise.   In the 80's I dont think the term "white noise" existed, but the broken urinal was my first encounter with the ambient sound, of white noise. 

 

Will the broken urinals that I described above (politics, religion, latest craze, the disruptors) come to be appreciated over time as I come to accept them?    Will they become white noise? 

 

I did come to accept and appreciate the broken urinal over time. 

 

Or, will they be puddles of urine that I will have to wade into every day?

 

I dont know pretend to know the answer.   But, I do know that when metaphoric urinals are broken -- and you dont deal with them, they can create a big mess. 

 

I'm dealing with mine.   Personally, and professionally. 

 

My feet are wet.