your mission...

Yesterday morning I woke up thinking about that line from Mission: Impossible..."Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." I don't know what I might have been dreaming just before my alarm clock went off, but once it did, as I do nearly everyday, I thought about what day it was (sunday), what I had to do that day (get up for church, meet MC, go to church, get lunch, get to work, etc.), what I would wear that day (khakis, blue oxford, and new cole haan braganos which I got for free from work), and then I started thinking about that line, something which doesn't happen everyday.
In particular I was wondering about the second part of the phrase, that is, "should you choose to accept it." What if they chose not to accept it? What if the IMF team listened to what that self-destructive tape had to say and then decided it just wasn't for them? Was it as mundane as a business transaction? They refuse the mission and they miss out on the pay and/or commission and maybe they get overlooked if a chance for promotion comes up. Or, due to the nature of their business, would the penalty for such a refusal be a bit more severe? Perhaps they would become the targets for the next IMF team...should they choose to accept it. After all, they dealt with a lot of sensitive and volatile information. Could you let someone receive that information but then not respond if they ignore the call to act upon it?
That was a lot to think about first thing in the morning, and I'm getting worried again now for those IMF teams that do choose to decline the mission (if there ever were any). I have a feeling there might have been a middle area, somewhere between the mundane and the reactionary. Still, if it were me, I'd be mighty apprehensive about not accepting the mission. My advice would be to always accept the mission 'cause typically it's the good guys that win, not the bad guys, so if there's a chance of the next IMF team coming after me, I'll take my chances with the baddies. But that's just my advice...you may choose not to accept it.

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys were just on the Tonight Show, which made me wonder...did Ryan McLaughlin buy their new album on the day it came out? and if not how many days did he wait? I mean, the last time they released an album I think I remember he got interviewed by the South Bend local news for being there to buy it on day one. Feel free to add a comment with your guesses about that completely heterosexual male's cd buying habits.

/* With apologies to Master McLaughlin, the author offers this correction: Mac has not in the past, nor does he plan to in the future, buy any Backstreet Boy CDs. The author hopes it is understood that he never meant to call into question the sexuality of Master McLaughlin, or his taste in music. Until N'Sync releases a new album and performs on late night TV, this post should be treated as completely irrelevant (as opposed to all my other posts, which are clearly relevant and important to everyone). */