The Real World

When you are young you lack perspective. You can be well-educated, have a good bit of common sense and have the world by the short and curlys, but there is just no way to actually know how well you have it because you don't have a basis of comparison. Unless you were born in a third-world country or your parents were migrant farm workers, chances are pretty good you had a decent childhood. If you are reading this from a war-torn North African country, I apologize for generalizing my audience.

Today in line at Rancho Market I was behind a man and woman who bought $250 worth of Totino's Frozen Pizzas, ice cream and Monster Energy on a welfare card. WTF? If you want to eat and drink overpriced heart attacks, get a job and pay for it. Until then eat peanut butter and jelly. It's maddening.

The cliche "Welcome to the Real World" was not just what the emcee of MTV's hit reality show would say on the first episode of the new season, it was a warning my dad would give me when trying to cue me in on how great I had it. And I did. I made good money, not great money, but good money. I traveled like dust in the wind, not just around our county but all over the world. People wanted to be my friend, not because of my sparking personality, but because I was fast on a dirt bike. It was a peculiar life, but I lived the shit out of it.

These days I live a normal life. I cannot use my celebrity to get free stuff or negotiate deals to get paid to take European vacations. I go to work and pay my bills, I shuttle my kids to a from an endless array of events and meetings. I watch my bank account dwindle each week before getting replenished on pay day. I can honestly say I am in the real world. The unforgiving, thankless, stressful and often infuriating "real world". It's a far cry from moto-stardom, but nothing can last forever. I sure do appreciate the good old days...