Olympic joys

I have not been watching the Olympics very closely, partly because they just started, but also because I don't have normal TV, don't subscribe to the right streaming services, and Olympic coverage in the US is horrible.* But today I saw the headline that Tunisia had won the gold in the men's 400m freestyle and I had to check it out, because if I love anything, it's seeing someone completely shock first world countries and get a medal when they don't. That may be awful of me, but I'm telling you, if you watch Ahmed Hafnaoui react to winning, you also will feel pure joy and be glad that he won.

It wasn't a feeling of, "Ha, down with western capitalism" or any kind of anti-my-country sentiment. I'm happy when our athletes win, but I'm not overly competitive, so I'm generally pretty happy for anyone who works hard and wins. It was just seeing how excited and happy he was, and knowing how much it must mean to him and his family and his country, it is just impossible to not be elated.

Also, because I knew he won, I was super vested in his performance when I watched the race. You would think that knowing the outcome, there would be no tension watching it, but no. I was seriously on the edge of my seat, thinking, "Come on! Come on, you can do it!" And then reminding myself that, yes, yes he could because he DID. But I was still kind of stressing out about the outcome. Which, I find hilarious. 

I am a little disappointed that I can't find any other footage--nothing of him talking to reporters, nothing of the medal ceremony (the US coverage is really just not great**). But, maybe it will pop up in the next few days. At any rate, I now have a new video to add to my "This makes me so happy" watchlist. And, so much congratulations to Hafnaoui. Thank you for sharing your joy with the world, and well done on your win. 

*People, we need to get our act together and fix all the other problems--poverty, inequality, racism, all the isms, etc. so that we can finally protest how bad the Olympics are. And, won't that be an amazing world, when the biggest problem we have is bad Olympic coverage? I SUPER want to live in that world. Let's make it happen!
**Interesting side note: I found video of the event broadcast in Arabic. I do not understand a lick of Arabic, but they were saying his name from start to finish--a LOT. The US coverage, he got hardly any mentions until he won. Which was interesting, and confirmed to me that someone needs to run with my idea for a thesis/dissertation: study how the Olympics are covered in the media in different countries, and figure out what that tells us about the world. I think it would be fascinating. 

The friends

A while ago I was thinking about friendship. Not sure why, as is the case with most of the things I think about. Anyway, I was thinking about some of my dearest friends and I honestly don't remember how we became friends. 

I know how we met, the where and the circumstances that led to us meeting each other. But I don't remember how we went from strangers to close friends. And that is probably because, for me, friendship isn't instantaneous. So, there isn't going to be a moment when I say, "And now we are besties."

Personally, I think that it is wonderful that I can't recall the details of how I gained my friends. It's lovely and just how I like my friendships. But I think not everyone is like that. I think there are some people who decide after 5 minutes that you and they are going to be pals for life. 

For me, that is MASSIVELY stressful. I feel anxious just thinking about it. What's the rush? Let's just take a beat. And some of that is because, for me, I don't reveal my entire self in the first five minutes. So when someone decides after five minutes that they like me, my reaction is, "You know nothing about me. You love the facade me, who is polite and friendly in public. But that is NOT me."

Gasp! Horrors! Someone not revealing their true self on first acquaintance?! 

Yes. And furthermore, I have no shame about that fact. It's normal human behavior (I hope!!!) to put our best foot forward when meeting new people. To be civil, even kind. But don't assume that means you know what I'm like. Also, don't assume you want to know all of the real me right off the bat. That is definitely not the way for me to win friends and influence people.*

I don't think the friends-in-time approach is necessarily better than the friends-at-first-sight mentality. They are just different. And for me, the friends-in-time approach works. My friends are definitely amazing!

*Not that I am a horrible person. As far as humans go, I'm pretty decent. I try to do the right thing, I try to care about other people and not just myself, I work to be honest, and I find myself hilarious sometimes. But I also get massively frustrated at things that make no sense to my brain, and the shenanigans of this planet!!! Also, I'm tired almost all the time, and as mentioned before, being social with strangers stresses me out. I've got my crazy. So do you.

When I was a kid...

When I was a kid, we'd do wheelbarrow races, the ones where you hold the partner's legs and they have to go around on their hands. I haven't done one of those in ages, or even seen anyone do them, and it just randomly popped into my head, the memory of doing those. 

Also, sticker albums. I can see it, the pink pages and I have a vague idea of the design of the pages, but not super clear. And you'd stick all your stickers in there: scratch-n-sniff, puffy, everything in between. Pages of stickers. 

Also, Duck Hunt. I was SO good at Duck Hunt. I couldn't play Mario Brothers worth a darn, but I was super good at Duck Hunt. It was the summer trips to my uncle's and while he was at work, we were at home playing video games. That's as close as I ever got to being a gamer. 

Sometimes it's nice to remember the little things from childhood.