Kristine Joy, Writer

To Whom It May Concern and FWIW,*

• I needed to not be informed a week out that I was needed to teach college level KIN 385 when I never took KIN 101. And when being honest about my (lack of) ability to teach the class, I may or may not have needed to be told the following as reassurance, “You’re more qualified than the guy that was going to teach the class and backed out.”
  • I needed to find a professor to co-instruct the class with who HAD taken KIN 101. I did. He taught the science; I taught the application and all was well enough (but maybe not well?).

• I was on a walk with two dogs when I came upon an overwhelming smell of lawn chemicals in the air. And by in the air, I mean a mist that you could taste. Up ahead were the emanators; a father and son team armed with Ghostbuster backpacks and 20 foot spray width nozzles. Their entire house, and the surrounding 8 houses were in the danger zone. I needed to not be 0.5 miles from home through the “sure to onset cancer” hazard and 3.5 miles from home via Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs.

• I needed to plan ahead when driving through Indianapolis last Summer because of the chance for severe weather, including tornadoes. I did. I needed for that plan to have worked such that I didn’t end up in a shi+storm of a shi+storm with a fire on top.
  • I was on the phone with my husband who was tracking the weather for me while I navigated it. He insisted that I was in fact on the East side of the storm and to keep driving (to stay ahead of it even though it very much felt like I was in it). The downpour was torrential. I crested a hill and immediately saw a plume of what appeared to be a tornado. I needed to swear at the immensity of what I was now plummeting towards, and needed to tell my husband that I loved him. Between the traffic, hydroplaning road conditions, lightning, thunder, and strewn about debris, it took a HOT minute to realize that I was in the middle of an accident that occurred a HOT minute prior. A semi truck was on its side and very much on fire, despite the rain, in the median (I felt the warmth of the fire from one lane away). The “tornado” was a giant plume of rising he!!fire ironically, heading towards heaven. Another semi truck was stopped in the right lane with a non existent cab. Cars were in the ditch in every headspun direction. For all involved, who also may have planned ahead, I needed for a different fate. #RIP

The “tornado” was a giant plume of rising he!!fire ironically, heading towards heaven.

• I need for our pug (literally attached to me) to display a little less Napoleon complex at the sight of or sensed presence of another dog. #myprotector #littleboyscout

• When being taught how to efficiently make hot dogs, brats and cheddar brats at my Summer job, I needed to think (to humor myself) but not say what I thought and did not say (because it may not have been as humorous to someone else):
  • Don’t worry. I got this. I reached Platinum Level and maximum profits for all 27 restaurants in the app, Cooking Fever!
    • I held my tongue this time around because I mentioned the golf course management skills that I learned from playing Sid Meier’s SimGolf in my interview and it quickly became apparent that they had never played this game in their teenage years.
      • Apparently, I need to grasp the fact that I have played more video games than the average human, which reminds me:
        • I need to remember and relay (in a future post) my pre tennis match coaching speech based on Fortnite.

• I need my neighbor to be the retired District Court Judge of highest integrity grandfatherly figure that he is (!) and who has given me #lifeadvice through the fence for years (I just realized that he’s my Wilson Wilson Jr.).

• I need more people to work because they have fun doing their work as opposed to because they need to work.
  • Maybe there are sanitation workers that truly enjoy that sh!t? Maybe there are underground coal miners that find the risk of explosions, gas leaks and roof collapses in dark, cold, dirty (the literal kind), poorly ventilated environments to vibe merrymaking?
    • Apparently, the rest of us need electricity generated by coal, fast food fried in mass produced vegetable oil, skyscrapers, instant gratification deliveries with the least amount of our own effort (I can have that between 4 and 8 AM tomorrow in 12 steps (to my front door)), data analyzed to the point of profit maximization (and the wealth won’t be shared because that would detract from profit maximization) and for someone to shine our shoes more than that person needs to enjoy 40 hours of how they spend each week, not to mention their sense of safety, self-respect and value.
      • But somebody has to do those things, right? After all, #helpneeded and it feels good to be needed, even if that need is for you to be the one at risk of falling to your death from a bridge that you are helping to build.
        • I need to accept the fact that society and our economy probably would not function, let alone flourish**, under a model based on my ideals.

I appreciate your readership. I need the validation as writer; if there is a like or heart icon for you to depress, I’d most appreciate the support!

Sincerely,

K.J. Sculling

* The content is presented as “needs”, and some of them may front a harsh reality that evoke strong emotions. Others are expressed in pure jest to entertain myself (and maybe you?!?). Ultimately, the notion that we all live in a more idyllic world is at the core and not actual need. Life can be tough; regardless of your own circumstances, please keep up the fight because life can also be grand! The idea of ‘I Need…’ stemmed from my thought process while sitting at a red light listening to the song, Alright by Darius Rucker, on the radio (you can read the original ‘Idealist’ post here and all ‘Idealist’ posts here). If you’re inspired to submit your own ‘Idealist’ “needs” for future reader write-in posts, I’d love to hear from you via this form.

** Are the GDP, unemployment rate, and inflation rate true measures of an economy (and “We the People” behind it) that is failing or flourishing?!? 🤔