Participaction…

Have you ever just been part of a conversation but not really participated in any meaningful way? My guess is that you have and I can guarantee you that I have. Perhaps my lack of sincerity in the occasional chat has recently heightened my awareness of conversations around me.

If you have been paying attention to my ranting neurosis about Achmed at all over the past couple of weeks, you are most likely aware that I have become much more aware of what is happening everyday in my life and sometimes in the lives of those around me.

When I first got notice that Achmed was developing a strong attachment to me, I had a lot of people to tell… my family, my friends, my work colleagues and people who I deal with on a regular basis. My immediate family heard it from me in person, a small handful of my close friends heard it in person, then a little bit bigger small handful of close friends got personal e-mails or small group e-mails… then a few hundred of you got a mass distributed e-mail that was meant to lighten the mood, because that is kind of how I handle things.

At least two of you who received e-mails thought I was forwarding junk mail or I was joking… yes, seriously. I don’t forward joke e-mails very often, and when I do, the distribution list is selected very carefully based on who I think would appreciate it. Obviously Pius and Kirk (my two friends who shall remain nameless), don’t know my e-mail etiquette as well as I though they did. I must have really been feeling kind of soft-hearted too, because I am sure I could have made both of them feel really bad when they realized I was serious (if you two are reading this and feel bad, I take cash!)… Although Nameless-Pius was quick to point out that if my head wasn’t so big that they may have found Achmed earlier because he would not have had all that space to grow and would have been pushing on my skull quicker… I think it is fair to say that he did not do well in biology! They will both be sitting to my right from now on.

I am starting to wander off my topic here… I had a great conversation yesterday with a lady we will know as Mrs. X. Not because she worked with Fox Mulder and Dana Skully (for you X-Files junkies), but because I would like to protect her privacy and still tell you all about our conversation. Mrs. X’s late husband had the same little Achmed in his head that I have… it was a while ago so it may have been Achmed Sr. or more likely a distant relative. As you are probably already aware, Achmed’s rare appearances have made it very difficult to properly trace his genealogy.

Anyway, Mr. X had the Gamma Ray Modulator up in Winnipeg and had the same General running things down here on the island, which I have. His symptoms were less and his own personal Achmed was smaller, but the point is, the Marines up there zapped his head full of radiation and he lived to tell about it. And not only lived, but you will be happy to hear, or at least I AM happy to hear, he lived a perfectly normal and healthy life after his nuclear reaction with minimal and temporary side-effects. His regular MRIs indicated that his own personal Achmed was not only dead, but shrinking. In the world of Kevin’s Achmed… this is all good news.

You will also be happy to know, or at least I AM happy to know, that Mr. X passed away from natural causes that were not related to his own personal Achmed. That sounds terrible... I am not happy that he passed away at all, I am just happy that he won his battle with his own personal Achmed.

I obviously PARTICIPATED in all three of these conversations. Nameless-Pius and Nameless-Kirk seemingly did not at first… and oddly enough, Mrs. X (who is actually, really nameless here and doesn’t even know me) participated very much. So you never know when something important is going to come into your life, and I figure it is probably best to either participate in what is happening around you or drop it all together and do something that you do want to participate in… life is too short to just meander.

For now, I am heading off to participate in a nap.

From Achmed and Me… Life Life!