It Must Run In The Family

Sometimes you know things must be genetic. I’m sitting here at 6am in the morning, typing away. Several feet from me, my Dad is doing the same thing. We’re sitting in his camp trailer in a campground. The campground is full of people from his club, all meeting together for their annual get-together. Of course, we are the only ones up and we are playing with our laptops. To an outside observer, some random person walking in the dark to the bathroom, they would see the only lighted camper and the two men, lit by the glow of lcd screens, and know they must be related.
One more thing I seem to have inherited is marginal membership in groups. I mean, I’m here and I’m talking to strangers, but I really don’t feel fully involved. I’m not playing the games, I’m not listening in the meetings. I want the protection of the herd, but I want to think for myself. I see how I can learn from the group, but I also see how doing things in a group takes way longer than doing it alone. Eating breakfast for example, is a big production, but on my own, a Zone bar would do the job. Dad likes to camp solo and I can see why. Decisions are simple and you can do whatever you want. The problem is safety and for some reason, being in the wilderness makes me think of safety. You have to take care of yourself if anything happens, but perhaps that itself is the challenge solo camping offers.
Sometimes while on this trip, it has crossed my mind that all of these people in this big group are like me. What if all of them are barely members of the group, here for the safety of the herd, forming loose partnerships for the present, some kind of bond, so that if they find themselves in need of help, help would be given.
If reminds me of the thing I do first when surfing by myself. I paddle out to the group and give a jolly Hello! to the nearest person. This act, although instinctual for me, does perform a necessary service. It lets the person know I am friendly and someone that won’t steal all of their waves, which may keep them from hogging waves that may come my way and it also starts to build a bond that I would need in case of an emergency. I want to know that if he looked over and saw me laying face down in the water, that he would feel like coming over to help.
Maybe that is the reason for our relationship bonds. Deep down inside we need someone else and we know it.