Let's Make Another One

About five years ago, I moved to Indianapolis. It was not a terrible distance away from my hometown, my kids, and my friends, but it was far enough away that going home was a big enough undertaking that I didn't do it very often. Once every few months was enough.

After about my third trip back "home" I began to notice something.

Every time I was about to make a trip back to Mt. Vernon, IL, I would start getting excited about what people I was hoping to visit with, what restaurants I would eat at, and the fun things I would do. However, the trip was often disappointing because people wouldn't be available to hang out, some of the key people I was hoping to see at church that weekend weren't there, or one of my favorite restaurants closed. It just wasn't the same.

Despite having only been gone about a year, I could never recreate some of the memories I had of being there.

My wife had a similar experience when we went to visit the city that she had lived in for 12 years of her adult life. We were in Lewes, DE and were having trouble meeting up with people who had been a huge part of her life for over a decade. Connections were missed and even some of the reunions that were accomplished were disappointing for her. For her, like it was for me, it just wasn't the same.

Nostalgia is like that.

Those great memories of a place are just that. They are memories. They cannot be recreated. You have changed and the place you left behind has changed. Plus, every person you left behind did not just freeze themselves in time waiting for you to come visit. Their lives have all continued moving and changing. You weren't there for it. That does not mean you can never go back to your hometown or alma mater and have a good time, but it definitely means that you should change your expectations. You cannot recreate the past. Plus, you need to recognize that much of that thing you are looking back at has been greatly romanticized in your head over the years.

Those great nights of laughing with your friends were surrounded by days of doing laundry, paying bills, and racing to work. But we tend to forget those parts because they are not worth remembering. It wasn't just awesome all the time.

However, here's the great part about those great memories. They DID happen. They are wonderful memories and it is fun to sit and remember those good times…especially when it can be done with other people who were there.

Those good memories are not ruined because you go home one day and it's just not the same. The original events still took place. Your subsequent visit home did not change that. Your memories are great. Cherish them.

This may be a little hard to accept sometimes, but it is something that most of us fundamentally accept to be true. We may not like it, but we accept it.

But let's make one little change and people lose their minds.

To illustrate, let's try a little experiment. Let's revisit this idea, but this time instead of talking about your REAL life and REAL events that happened with REAL people, we talk about an old movie or TV show. Suddenly, people are unwilling to shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well, I guess you can never go home again."

No. Instead, they freak out.

"Why would you mess with perfection?"
"What are they thinking. They're just going to ruin it."
"Hollywood is attempting to destroy all of our childhoods!"
"This will destroy the franchise."

Do you remember the fury and outrage people felt over the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters?

 
All of these statements I gave above were made about this movie. And I've got news for all of you.

The original 1994 Ghostbusters movie still exists and has not changed IN ANY WAY from what it was before the 2016 remake was released.

Now, I am not defending the quality of the remake in any way. Maybe you hated it and that fine. Maybe you enjoyed it and that's fine too. But it has no bearing on the original. If you liked the original and hated the remake, my guess is that you still like the original. So, what's the big deal?

And let me remind you, this is outrage over something that is fake. Movies are make-believe. It's a story someone made up.

The same things have been said about other movie remakes:

Footloose 
The Magnificent Seven 
The Longest Yard
True Grit
Point Break
Carrie
Total Recall
King Kong
Bad News Bears
Death Race
The Fly
The Italian Job

All of these same things have been said about these movies. However, in the end, the audience either preferred the original or the remake or appreciated both. The idea that no one should ever touch an old movie is ridiculous.

But logic and common sense are thrown out the window as soon as someone considers redoing an old tv show also.

Your day is ruined because
they are remaking MacGyver?

Even if you were a hugely devoted fan of the old show (Magnum, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Will & Grace, the Muppets, X-Files, Twin Peaks, Full House, Roseanne, Queer Eye, Murphy Brown, etc.), how does them bringing the show back for a reboot or sequel or anything else hurt you or your memories of the show you are already a huge fan of.

Maybe the new show will be great and you will have a new set of memories and entertainment you can add to something you already love. GREAT!

Or maybe it will suck. In that case, (pay attention here) you don't have to watch it and it still hasn't affected how much you like the old show.

To illustrate the idiocy of this bad attitude, let's try applying it to another area of life.

Let's say that your grandmother made the most amazing apple pies. They were to die for. The whole family just drooled over them and couldn't wait for holidays when she would make them. Unfortunately, grandma is no longer with us and her apple pies died with her.

However, one day you are at the store and run into one of grandma's old friends and you are sharing a few memories of her and the apple pies are mentioned. The friend says, "She and I used the same recipe. There's several of us that use it. I'll send you a copy."

The following holiday, you walk in beaming and exclaim that you found gradma's apple pie recipe and made several of those special pies for the occasion. What would be your reaction if you heard these statements from your family?

• You did what? Why would you mess with perfection?
• I hope you didn't screw it up and ruin her old pies for everyone.
• Why don't we just leave the past in the past?
• Are you trying to ruin my childhood?
• What didn't you just try to make something original instead of copying what's already been done?

Those would be considered apalling statements and would never be said. The family would be excited to get to eat a piece of this pie. And if it turns out that it still wasn't as good as grandma's, the memory of her pies are still there and her pies were not hurt just because someone today tried to recreate it and failed. But if you actually were able to get it right, then they get the joy of eating and enjoying those pies once again.

These are easily recognized as ludicrous statements and are no less ludicrous when said about a piece of entertainment. Why would a writer/producer/movie studio not want to create a show that already has a previously established fan base.

But there's no way they can recreate
Tom Selleck's magnificent moustache.

There is no rule of etiquette that says you have to like everything that is created for the screen. Let's grow up and move on.

Vietnamese Banking

If you follow me on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). you are already well aware of the fact that I LOVE Vietnam.

I have lived in Vietnam for just over three months and I love it here. I love the food, the friendliness of the people, the weather, the cost of living, the clean air…absolutely everything. It is incredible here.

On a daily basis, I turn to my wife and say "This is SO much better than freakin' China!"

We had some great experiences in China and we learned a lot, but it cannot be denied that things are so incredibly and unnecessarily difficult there. Anything you try to do is stifled by mountains of ridiculous and redundant paperwork that must be completed and filed at 27 different government offices scattered all around the country who do not communicate with each other to share your information.

To give you a glimpse at what I am talking about, I will tell you about a recent task I had to tackle in Vietnam. I dreaded this task so much, I put it off for almost three months. Last week, I opened a bank account.

I was able to put it off for so long because the cost of living in Vietnam is unbelievably low. We have lived the past three months off the cash we brought with us from China. My pay has been getting dumped into an international account, but I haven't had access to it because I did not have a local bank to funnel the money through. We just lived on (not only bought groceries but paid rent and all our bills) the cash we had on hand FOR THREE MONTHS!

Our cash was starting to run low, so I reluctantly succumbed to the pressure to finally take care of this. I really dreaded it because my only experiences with opening a bank account in another country have been in China and it was not pleasant.

Take your time to count all the smiles in the room.
I'll wait.

Visiting the bank in China is like going to visit someone in prison:

• You have to wait until your number is called
• You must carry proper identification 
• The person you are talking to is behind a thick pane of glass
• Guards with large batons are watching your every move
• The tiniest little (or imaginary) infraction can get you thrown out
• There's always someone screaming in a back room somewhere

And all of this had to be tolerated to visit the bank for anything. The first time I went was to open an account and it was SO much more complicated…and took four attempts to get it right. Seriously, I went back four times. It was not pleasant. Add to this the fact that China doesn't really let you choose your own bank and it gets worse. You have to bank where your employer tells you to because they will only pay through direct deposit and they will only do it at the bank where they do business. And then, in order for you to pay your company-supplied insurance, they will only deduct that amount from a particular bank (not the same bank, a different one because…well, you know…reasons. Shut up!). They don't deduct it from your pay, they will deduct it from your separate bank account.

This means you must open accounts at these two banks (one to receive your pay and one to pay your insurance) and each month you must transfer money from one to another to have the money in the proper place for the insurance.

And none of this was told to me until after I had already gone out and opened an account at the bank I had decided would offer the best customer service to a foreigner. So, after doing all the research to choose just the right bank for me, I wasn't able to use it. I spent the next two weeks sitting in bank lobbies getting all the proper accounts needed to be able to receive pay that never ended up going through any of those banks anyway.

China was fun!

So, you may understand my reluctance to start this process again.

So, back in Vietnam now, after doing a lot of research and talking to other expats about what banks they use, I finally decided on the bank I wanted. The bank I chose had an impressive English-language website (this is one of my requirements) that suggested I register myself with their bank before I go in to save time on the paperwork on site.

So, I started an account and plugged in all my info (passport #, name, address, etc.) and hit enter. I then received an email asking me to set an appointment to come in. I scheduled it to be as soon as possible and set out the door with all my legal documents under my arm.

Twenty minutes later, I walk into the "bank"

Does this look like a bank to you?

This was not what I was expecting. I had to go back outside to ensure I was at the right place. This was the bank. Except, they don't like to call it a bank. They call it a hangout.

As soon as I walked in, a young girl approached me. "You must be Mr. Minor. Have a seat. Would you like a drink?"

They had water, juices, several types of coffee, and even beer.

You conduct your banking business
at a coffee bar counter.

I sat in one of the large cushioned chairs by a low round table while she whipped me up an espresso. She returned with my coffee and the paperwork from my online registration. Over the course of the next ten minutes that I was there (yes, only 10 minutes), she got a copy of my passport, had me sign two papers, gave me a bank card with my name already printed on it and explained to me some of the features of the new account I now had.

DONE!

I stepped back outside unsure about what had just happened. That was way too easy. Even for America. A new bank account in minutes? I didn't need any of the paperwork I brought with me? And I could have drunk a beer if I had ordered one. Incredible!

Here is part of what saved time. The place is able to have the more personable setup because they don't handle any money on site. I could not have made a deposit if I wanted to. This bank is a purely digital bank. It is designed to all be done online. If you want to make a cash deposit, there are a few banks around town they are partnered with where you can do that for a small fee, but it's rare that people do that.

Because there is no money on site, there is no need for all the extra security, guards at the doors, thick glass walls, or cameras everywhere. This place facilitates paperwork and they are incredibly efficient at it. Since I had already filled out all the needed information online before I came in, they didn't need me to do that when I got there. In fact, the only reason I had to go to the office at all was was to physically sign the papers, let them scan my passport, and hand me my card. The only reason they don't just mail you your card and have you do the other two digitally (which would be easily possible) is due to banking regulations to prevent fraud. You must physically show up with your passport. Small price to pay for this kind of ease.

I love this country more and more every day. Vietnam is awesome.