Beyond a certain point the things we take for granted happen to everybody probably don't.
There's the first time we ride a bike, go swimming in water over our head, see a wild animal, go to school, spend a night away from home, make a friend, get cut with a knife, see a meteor shower, break a leg.
Theres the first time we drive a car, our first day on the job, the first time we eat lobster, vote, get drunk and have sex with someone else.
Theres also the first time we steal, get in a fight, get shot at, do drugs, get arrested, have a threesome with our wife and her best friend; get really sick... the times we may begin to cross the line, only to find the lines begin to blur and what's normal changes.
The excitement, the fear, the doubts, may linger with the memory but as other things come along what it takes to get your juices flowing may get less casual.
Not everybody has had a first time for everything we have had. I'm sure that if people wanted to they could mention a few experiences that would shock, delight, amaze and amuse the rest of us.
Once you get past the barrier of having never done it, once you have experienced it, even though that item sort of gets crossed off your list and ceases to be a big deal and you don't think about it much you never forget it and there begins to be a good chance you will do it again.
There are people out there who have never stepped on a nail, fallen off a roof out of a tree, or off a cliff to discover they can't get up, never been in a gunfight, wrecked a vehicle at high speed, had a heart attack or been in an emergency room.
Doctors and Nurses who work in Emergency Rooms probably have first times too and I suppose that applies to front line emergency personnel in police and fire departments, the military and first responders to disasters. Some people get to see things they probably could have lived a lifetime without seeing and never missed.
Theres the first time you realize there are some problems so big you can't solve them all by yourself. You may be stubborn, tenacious, unwilling to admit defeat under any circumstances, a plugger and a trooper, somebody who can get the cork out of the bottle when the corkscrew breaks off in the neck, and you may know exactly what needs to be done and still not be able to do it.
That brings us to where we are at here. Most of us are well informed committed activists. We care about ending the wars, alternative energy, global warming, endangered species, dying oceans and rainforests, torture, healthcare and education. That sort of skims the surface. When there are elections or important legislation we do the visibilities, make the calls, do the canvassing, organize, email and work around other calls on our time from family, work and social obligation.
Its possible we could find ways to open a dialog outside of our blogging.
Some of us have personal problems, we are too old, too poor, too sick. Some of us are too young, too busy, maybe still too confused about what needs our time and energy the most. Put those concerns aside for the moment.
For me this is the first time I have seen so many Americans out there feeling like this isn't their country anymore, talking about guns and civil war and being really angry about whatever it is they think their government has done or not done now.
I realize there are good reasons some of us don't normally talk to family and coworkers let alone strangers about things like politics and religion but there is a first time for everything and this may be the time to push our luck and start the conversation.
To conciously begin to change the converstion, to go beyond casual talk about sports, and reality tv, to serious talk about the issues is one way to get beyond the media pundits, politicians and town hall crazies being the only voices adressing the issues and I'm thinking it might help.
Personally I'd like to hear more about why, now that we all agree we don't need to appease the Republicans and Blue Dogs, and we understand the public option is a compromise, we don't just go into reconcilliation looking for single payer.
Isn't it true that a weak healthcare bill with things like triggers for a public option that never get pulled will ultimately be a bad healthcare bill and end up being used like a vacine to prevent any further expansion of "socialised medicine"?