There are some vacuous minds in the world. Oh… what the heck.  I’m just going to come out and say it.  There are some really dumb people walking around. Okay, maybe they aren’t totally dumb. That is not very nice of me. But some of those folks sure do some idiotic things.

Like this.  An 18-year-old man in Pittsburgh has been accused of burglarizing a market (with three other teens). They allegedly stole $8,000 worth of cash and cigarettes and such. They may have gotten away with it…. but they posted picture of themselves… with all the loot and all the details…. on Facebook. Now there’s some power-thinking for you.

Another Facebook incident…. this one in Georgia. The police there say Trevor Jones broke into someone’s home. While in the house, he used their laptop to log into Facebook. The problem for Jones, allegedly, was that he forgot to log out of Facebook before he left.

What is wrong with people… really?

Two nurses in a Utah hospital’s intensive care unit were fired this week for taping a patient’s mouth shut and laughing about it. The woman’s teeth were chattering and she was moaning and shaking. The nurses told her her to shut up, taped her mouth closed and joked they would be fired if they were caught.  Not only dumb….. heartless.  Remind me not to get sick in Utah.

I am going to offer up the benefit of the doubt here.
It must have started out sounding like a really good idea.

I’ve had them in life…. those moments when it all rushes over me. All of a sudden I am struck by a flash of genius. “Yes Polly. This is the best dang thing you have ever thought of in your entire life. Forge ahead!” Sometimes those spontaneous moments of brilliance don’t turn out to be so sparky.

For some reason, my bouts of stupidity have been mixed with just the right amount of enduring common sense…. and LUCK.

Most of my debacles are a result of me thinking I am bigger, stronger, faster, or more agile than I really am. None of them have been associated with crime… I can assure you of that.

I learned that lesson very early in life.

I was probably eight or nine. My neighborhood chum, Jana, talked me in to giving the old “shoplifting” thing a try. We rode our bikes to Woolworth’s. On that particular day…. I sported my Chuck Taylor high tops,  shorts, a t-shirt, and knee socks.  After much deliberation…. I decided to steal a large red rubber ball. The adrenaline raged after making my choice. I grabbed it from the bin….. “Oh no! No pockets!” No problem. I was really thinking on my feet. I would hide that ball in my knee sock. Yes. Brilliance in Motion.  That would work!   And out past the main counter I ran….

I had locked my bike out front. (More revved-up thinking.)   I just didn’t want anyone stealing the darn thing… I mean…. you never know about people.  So…while scurrying to spin the numbers of the combination on that padlock… I felt a hand on my shoulder. Store manager. Crew cut. White shirt. Tie. Dark-rimmed glasses. All of which spells…… big trouble for little missy.

Thankfully, those times were a little different. I was crying like a baby…. he scared the holy-moly-guacomole right out me. But I was spared any time in the slammer.  My life of crime… started and finished… on that very day… at the Woolworth’s on North Main Street.

I am glad that particular idea didn’t pan out. It was shear stupidity from its inception.

Yet… there ARE other times we manage to come up with a blue-ribbon idea.   I think it is important to give them a go.   To Try.   The trick for me… is to remember to take my time… and to attempt to keep my compulsive behavior in check.

Yep. Sometimes it is good to go out on a limb. But it is also some fine thinking to make sure it is attached to a really sturdy branch.

“No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same time a steady eye.”  – Winston Churchill