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It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then -- just
to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more
than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true.
Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the
time.
That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and
asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's. I
began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I
couldn't help myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius and
Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it
exactly we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say
this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the
job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the
boss. "Honey," I confess, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college
professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking,
we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the
emotional drama.
"I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking
lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors. They didn't open. The
library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye,
"Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.
This is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting.
At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then
we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed...easier,
somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly
complete for me.
Today I took the final step............ I joined the Republican Party
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