Susan Bennett: What I know

Other times I’ll think of a subject as I’m driving my car and sometimes even when I’m trying to go to sleep at night.

Other times I have no idea what the subject will be until I sit down to the computer and unfortunately, sometimes I just have no idea.

If you attend any kind of writer’s workshop, the most common advice you will get is to “write what you know."

But that then begs the question, “Just what DO I know?”

You see I am the personification of the old saying, “Jack of all trades-master of none."

I can do a lot of things and even be pretty good at many of them, but I am by far no expert in any of them. So with the experience that my life has laid before me, here are some of the things that I “know."

Technology: the simpler technology makes are lives, the more difficult it makes our lives. Take cars for example. It used to be that if your car had a problem, you took it to the mechanic and they fixed it.

Or, if you were blessed with such skills, you might have even fixed it yourself. You’ll see very few shade tree mechanics these days because all of our vehicles now must be hooked up to diagnostic machines to pinpoint where the problem is.

Televisions: just how many remotes do you currently have before you? One for the TV, one for the DVR, one for the stereo system ... And what happens if your TV goes out? Is it the cable company, the dish company or is there really something wrong with your TV?

If so, it’s probably cheaper to pitch it and buy a new one than to get that one fixed. And that would only be possible if you could find someone to do the repairs. Computers-Don’t even get me started. Wonderful when they work.

A pain in the sweet patootie when they don’t. Tech support? I’m not even going there.

Doctors: the older you get, the more of them you need. For most of us, we were born of our mothers via the assistance of a doctor.

Then from 0 to age 18, you probably had the basics-a doctor for when you were sick and a dentist to take care of your teeth.

Now as an adult (or as one doctor once said to me, “a woman of your age”) I have a doctor, a chiropractor, a gynecologist, a dermatologist, a dentist, an orthodontist, an ophthalmologist, an oncologist AND an eye specialist.

God only knows what future “ists” will come along in my aging health care. Life used to be so simple-you feel good-you play, you feel sick-you stay home. Now with every little ache and pain or headache I get I wonder what I could possibly be dying of.

And all the commercials on television make me second guess if that pill or potion is something I should check into to help me feel better. Because they all are “doctor recommended” you know.

Weight: the older you get, the harder it is to lose. My mother told me that many times when I was in my twenties.

I wish I would have listened. I’ve been on so many diets and weight loss programs in my life, it’s a bit ridiculous.

Over the years I’ve probably lost weight equivalent to several twelve year olds.

And yet, still I am no expert and the battle of the bulge continues even at my “advanced age”. I have just come to the conclusion that my body is filled with so many experiences and memories that it just needed to expand.

That, and the fact that food just tastes so darn good!

It should be clear to you that I am an expert in none of them. But I will continue to strive on, ever a student, ever a learner. Perhaps before I’m called to the Pearly Gates I will achieve expert status in something.

Until then, I’ll just continue figuring things out and living my life sunny side up.