Rule of Life #18

Rule of Life #18: Everyone is good at surviving until they aren't.

So I was in line behind this woman at Wal-Mart. She was pushing her mid-forties and maybe 250 lbs simultaneously. Her cart was full of the most useless upper-middle class crap a person could buy before they had to go to Whole Foods.

She was on her phone as we waited in line, "...but you know, I'm good at surviving," she said to her friend. I gave her a look of incredulity I save for people who "don't want that social justice crap in Star Trek." 

But then I thought for a moment and, yeah, it was undeniable. As she lived and breathed, she was good at surviving. Grizzly Adams bullshit notwithstanding, she was surviving. 

Of course, "surviving" implies overcoming obstacles, continuing on in despite of obstacles. I get that.

But this woman was surviving exactly as well as my 5' 8", seen-some-things-and-some-stuff-wouldn't-recommend-it ass has. Pretenses aside, I was doing no better than her. Probably worse, actually.

The corollary, naturally, is that the fall-off point is pretty sharp. When you quit surviving, it is a pronounced change of status.