We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can.
Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935,
American humorist, social commentator, and actor 

How many of us have a moment or several moments when we say "This can't be real" or "Pinch me.  I'm dreaming". 

Life seems so odd, so illogical at times that we wonder whether we would be dreaming.  Our five senses are insufficient for us to figure out whether we would be in a dream.  Even if we concluded that what we were experiencing were real, most of the time there would be nothing which we could do to fix the oddity or illogic.  So, perhaps with a sigh, we would laugh or lament. 

There are many odd or illogical experiences in our lives that one wonders where to begin.  And what would be the point of talking about these experiences if we knew that, in the end, we could do nothing other than laugh or lament? 

We have explored in past essays and community lessons the useful notions of thinking outside the box and of taking charge of our lives.  One example came in the community lesson “My $90 Bill to the State of California”, June 28, 2007.  (And it seems as if the paralegal with whom I work is about to bill AT&T for poor customer service which has taken much of her time.)  If we combine the two notions, we might do something other than laugh or lament—we might actually fix something which is odd and illogical. 

So, where to start?  Let us take a look at long lines and long waits, which should not happen ordinarily because life is short and there is much to learn and do.  As in the case of the aforementioned community lesson, about lost time because of an error within the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the paralegal’s lost time yesterday, because of an error by AT&T;  we could ask for compensation for our time which somebody had abused.  (In that regard, even unintentional abuse would be cause to ask for compensation if that abuse were egregious.)  The measure for compensation which was used in the community lesson was $18 an hour, based on an evaluation by the nonprofit organization Independent Sector, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteerism . 

True, charging the State of California or a large corporation for lost time would not guarantee that we would be compensated, but if we persisted and let others know about it, like the news media and state and Federal legislators, we would see a resolution, if not for ourselves personally than for the public generally.  If we used the open suggestion box mentioned in the community lesson “The AOL Founder Stole a Montebello Idea?”, March 8, 2007,  we could find people who had lost time in dealings with government and large corporations.  Working together, all of us with lost time would have a better or quicker resolution, as there would be strength in numbers.