Newton's Law, Well kind of.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I woke up this morning around 2 am thinking about this. That sounds strange doesn’t it? My brain works like this sometimes. I will get something that initially seems quite trivial on my mind at the strangest times. I tried to drift back to sleep but no luck. Laying there in my half awake state, I began to put the pieces of the puzzle together and it became quite clear why this was on my mind.
At first I tried to disprove it as far as it pertains to people. In the end I realized that he was right. Even when it comes to people and someone’s actions, this theory is rock solid. It may not seem obvious but it never less is. So what does this have to do with today?.

I apply this theory to my day to day life. You see, I am slow to say what is on my mind or to do something that may offend others. Before I do or say anything, I think about it and imagine what the possible consequences are of what I am about to do. Thank God our minds work fast or I would just stay there staring off into space but this process usually only takes a few seconds. Some more complex actions take longer to go over but usually I have time. Before I act, I analyze what the best and worst outcomes are from my actions. After giving it some brief thought, I decide whether I should act at all.

Some people act and react blindly without a purpose in mind and without considering the consequences. Here is an example of what went on today. As you know I work in a power plant. Our job is to make sure that you get electricity whenever you want it. From time to time, we have to work weekends or holidays to keep the plant running or to do necessary repairs. Today was such a day. We are in a maintenance outage and behind schedule. If our schedule slips then we could possibly impact the reliability of your power. So we had to work today. Now we aren’t working for free either. We get paid 8 hours of holiday pay and then time and a half on top of it.

Our plant manager decided to serve chilidogs today to give everyone a break. That way they don’t have to fix lunch. This was totally free. One group of workers here decided that they didn’t want hotdogs. “That is cheap” they said. “It’s an insult to serve us hotdogs for lunch. We aren’t going to eat that trash." So the whole group decided to boycott lunch just to “show” the plant manager they wouldn’t stand for something this low. So they passed up a free lunch just to prove a point. So what was the point? And what did they expect to accomplish?

Well they accomplished nothing. They gained nothing. They lost out on a good meal and most of them ate crackers or a dry sandwich for lunch. I on the other hand had two chili dogs, chips, baked beans and iced tea. All for free. And the best part was it was prepared by one of the best cooks in South Carolina. That’s right, I helped fix it. Am I angry that they boycotted? Not in the least bit. I still don’t know what they expected to gain from all this but the only thing I heard the plant manager say was I guess I will quit trying to do things for them.

Now the rest of the story; Just two weeks ago, he served them pork tenderloins for a free lunch. They forgot about that. They also forgot that they are making around 50.00 per hour today if you count the holiday. Some people are never satisfied no matter what you give them. I bet the nice meals go away now too. I also bet that the next time someone asks for something for free, they don’t get it. So their action didn’t get the reaction they wanted. Did they really think that he was going to say. Yes you are right, hotdogs are cheap, next time lets have lobster. Not hardly.

And that is why I woke up thinking about Newton's Law. I knew this was going to happen today. I just hoped they would come to their senses.

In case I don’t get to post before then, have a great Easter everyone.
Have a great day,
Greg