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<DIV>(From another list. I don't know the original author and I modified the
last line- it indicated the opposite.)</DIV>
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<DIV>It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now
and<BR>then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another,
and<BR>soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone
--<BR>"to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true.<BR><BR>Thinking
became more and more important to me, and finally I was<BR>thinking all the
time. <BR>I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and
employment<BR>don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends
at<BR>lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. <BR><BR>I would return to the
office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is<BR>it exactly we are doing here?"
<BR><BR>Things weren't going so great at home either. One evening I
had<BR>turned off the TV and asked my husband about the meaning of life.
He<BR>spent that night at his mother's. <BR><BR>I soon had a reputation as a
heavy thinker. One day the boss called<BR>me in. He said, "Skippy, I like you,
and it hurts me to say this, but<BR>your thinking has become a real problem. If
you don't stop thinking<BR>on the job, you'll have to find another job."
<BR><BR>This gave me a lot to think about. <BR><BR>I came home early after my
conversation with the boss. "Honey," I<BR>confessed, "I've been thinking..." "I
know you've been thinking," He<BR>said, "and I want a divorce!" <BR><BR>"But
Honey, surely it's not that serious." <BR><BR>"It is serious," He said, lower
lip aquiver. "You think as much as<BR>college professors, and college professors
don't make any money, so<BR>if you keep on thinking we won't have any money!"
<BR><BR>"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and he began to
cry.<BR><BR>I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I
stomped<BR>out the door. <BR><BR>I headed for the library, in the mood for some
Nietzsche, with NPR on<BR>the radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to
the big glass<BR>doors ... they didn't open. The library was closed. To this
day, I<BR>believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
<BR><BR>As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass,
whimpering<BR>for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. "Friend, is heavy
thinking<BR>ruining your life?" it asked. <BR><BR>You probably recognize that
line. It comes from the standard<BR>Thinker's Anonymous poster. Which is why I
am what I am today: a<BR>recovering thinker.. <BR><BR>I never miss a TA meeting.
<BR><BR>At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it
was<BR>"Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided
thinking<BR>since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a
lot<BR>better at home. <BR><BR>Life just seemed ... easier, somehow, as soon as
I stopped thinking. <BR><BR>Soon, I'll be able to vote
Republican.<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>