My First Hair Cut of 2008

As I sit here with my clean cut, BYU approved haircut and I feel powerless. Even though I may feel like Samson, Delilah didn't cut my hair; it was the local hair school girl. How could something so ridiculous like the length of your hair, have some kind of great significance to me?

I think back to the Bible and Book of Mormon when everybody had a mop of hair on their heads. Did it signify something spiritual or religious, or was it just because there wasn't a Paul Mitchell close by? I think of the hippie movement when long hair promoted peace and was a sign of being one with nature.

On the contrary, why does BYU have an honor code against the length of persons hair? Is there something about long hair that promotes uncleanliness? Would it be possible to achieve the accomplishments that BYU has if everyone was walking around with the Peter Brady du? Does it take away from the individuality and creativity of the students?

I wish I had the answer to this question. What I do know is that I got more compliments from people about my hair than I did complaints. If BYU was to come out and say, ok the length of your hair no longer is part of the honor code. What would be next? Would it have a domino type of effect with all the other rules? or would people even choose to copy the hair style or their favorite Beatle?

In a society with so many individuals, the minority has become the conservative. Individuality is important, but not the kind of individuality that is present in the world today. We have lost the togetherness of being different. BYU has achieved a level of success because they have students that care more about what they do in the world and in school than how they look doing it. They may not dress cool changing the world, but at least their making a contribution.

Hey Thanks Bro

Saturday as I was walking to the BYU football game I decided that I was going to buy a drink at the Chevron on the corner and save myself $5 rather than buying it in the stadium. I walked in the store, look around a little bit and picked what I wanted. As I was checking out, two guys I had met this summer playing sand volleyball walked in and picked up their drinks. As i was talking to them and checking out I remembered! Oh ya, my "buy a stranger a coke" assignment. So I said to them, "hey guys, throw your drinks up here this ones on me?" Really hesitant and insisting that they could buy them I had to convince that they were on me. Finally I put them on the counter and paid for them as they awkwardly stood behind me silent as could be. As we walked out of the store and to the stadium, they both said a few times "Hey thanks bro" and seemed anxious to talk to me about whatever.

These guys weren't complete strangers but I had only met them a few times so it was still semi awkward for them. I learned that people seem to open up and are overly grateful when you do something for somebody without them asking, especially when it pertains to money. It surprised me to see how involved they were in my life after the incident when in the past they had never really cared. I thought this assignment was fun and I would like to do it again but this time with a complete stranger and maybe something a little bigger like a meal or movie ticket. I learned that people are naturally a little closed or shy; but once they feel comfortable around somebody and are able to break the ice, they open up and are very willing to get to know each other.

Wow! Its taken you long enough

In a era when the newest technology seems to change as much as the gas prices, how come we are so hesitant to move along with it? At least four new editions of the Ipod have come out so why I'm a still listening to what looks like a brick attached by a cord to my ears. We've had cell phones with Internet capabilities for a couple years now, so how come I'm so content with just a phone that calls and texts? For the first time last week I made myself a facebook page, facebook has been the biggest thing since slice bread for over three years now. What took me so long?. Best of all, my grandma may be the only living person in the United States that doesn't own a cell phone. What took her so long? This is the first time I have ever blogged; my twelve year old cousin has a blog. What took me so long?

We live in a technology driven world when its almost impossible to keep up with The Jones'. Technology has made our lives so much easier; the ability to do many things online instead of in person(the old fashion way).

So why do we continue lag behind when technology can make our lives so much easier and efficient?

I think the main reason we choose to stick in the back of the pack is because its so dang expensive to try and keep up. Every year when the newest Ipod, computer, cell phone, etc... comes out, you have to take out a loan if you want to be a trend setter. Most of us don't have this kind of money so would rather wait a couple of years and buy the one that was the next big thing like two years ago. That's why I would consider the majority of American citizens to be trend followers, not setters. In comparison to the majority of the rest of the world, were probably more than 10 years ahead in many things.

Another reason I think many of us are hesitant to wait in line at midnight the day before the new big gadget comes out is because we enjoy our comfort zones. There is a reason that a comfort zone is called a comfort zone. Naturally anything that may make us uncomfortable or require us to do something outside of our daily routine, we shift away from. Many times when we get something new it requires a change in lifestyle. This change in lifestyle, even though we may know it could make our life easier and for effective, we shy away from change because we enjoy our daily routine. I think many times unless we take a leap of faith into some new technology, we will never know what kind of effect it can have upon us. We can only experience so much through the third party opinions and that is why I think taking the leap of faith, even though I don't do it, can be beneficial.

Technology is something that we love to learn about and see, but don't like to experience it first hand until it has been proven to the point that there is no fear when we experience it ourselves. I think like many things in life they must be experienced on our own. However, with technology I feel that the average person needs to have several testimonies to have the courage to follow or trend. Even more courage is required to be a trend setter. That kind of courage I just don't have.