Fear and Loathing in Torrance

I have some pretty ok work friends. We go to lunch, we walk around the block. It makes the time pass quicker. Some days though, I just wish they'd be a little less retarded.

co-worker: It's earthquake weather, the weather is really weird. It's hot in the car, but cold outside. The sun didn't come out today? So why is the car hot? The heat must come from the ground. It's the heat from the ground, that's what makes the earthquakes
me: (quietly) ummm. no, that's not quite how it works. stop making stuff up and scaring yourself.

This lead to more talk of earthquakes, tsunamis and "the big one."

Being afraid of the those things is a perfectly reasonable fear, I suppose. They do actually kill people. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just can't jump on the fear bandwagon. as long as my house isn't crumbling, I think earthquakes are pretty cool. It's like that thing at the museum of science and industry, (the science center, I think it's called now), only I don't have to drive my ass all the way there. Have I been in California for too long? am I jaded about earthquakes? Were my elementary school teachers so good that they disseminated knowledge responsibly enough that I learned about earthquakes without working myself into a tizzy? Is my elementary school earthquake knowledge outdated, should I read up more?

One thing is for sure, being scared of earthquakes isn't going to help anyone. After the general preparation is done, you can't change much. And until science makes some real advances, prediction is pretty much out of the question. Much like the doomsdayers, I want to punch people who insist that "the big one" is coming. Not the scientists who suggest there may be a large earthquake the the future, but the average guy on the street. Why are they so sure? What special knowledge do they have that our scientific community isn't privy to? aliens? God? that pet psychic guy? Where is the big one that was supposed to happen within 10-20 years from elementary school? I haven't died yet.

I prefer to fear much more mundane things, things that I can try to have some control over: children, animals larger than small dogs, ugly animals of any size, never getting married and never being able to afford a house.