Normally around this time of the year I would’ve been deep into hibernation. Between the jolts and the job hunt I was still going out, albeit on a limited basis. I wanted to just disappear. My senses weren’t really that sharp.
It took me a little time to realize it, but once it did it hit me like a bolt. Marrianne’s husband was named Kyle. Who was Karl? It made sense now. Of course, she was more interested in Karen’s guy from work story. Was it a slip of the tongue or had she also found a new friend?
I would have noticed it sooner if the night before hadn’t left me feeling fuzzy. Maybe I was overthinking things. I hadn’t done my due diligence. I would ask her the next week.
Maybe she wasn’t really interested in either story. At this age people were tired of hearing about random acts of stupidity, hook ups, crushing anxiety, and complete uncertainty with the world.
I remember being on twit/face/insta/space years ago watching a woman we all knew have a public meltdown. There was a lot going on in her life but a lot of what was going on in her life was for show and attention.
In one of her posts she laid bare what she thought was the greatest tragedy of the moment. There were tear emojis and exclamation points galore. After about two hours she had received 5 responses from her 600 friends. There was an all caps plea of ‘DON’T YOU PEOPLE CARE WHAT’S HAPPENING?’.
Underneath was a small answer.
“It’s not that no one cares. It’s that so many people have so much going on in their own lives that they may not be able to respond right away.”
“But this is important,” she responded with sad eye emojis.
“I’m sure it is.”
And with that it was done. Two hours later there was a post of puppies that got 150 likes. She, like so many other people, had gotten what she wanted, engagement. There was no solution to the problem given. There was no hint that the problem was actually solved. There was no reason to think that the presented problem was actually a problem.
Conflict driven reality shows with no real stakes or consequences are the most popular things on tv, streaming, etc. Maybe people don’t mind hearing about random acts of stupidity, hook ups, crushing anxiety, and complete uncertainty in the world as long as there is a layer of distance. They have so much going on in their own lives.
If you get too close, the terror takes its toll. The distance is deliberate. I still had my questions:
Who was Karl? Was there even a Karl or was it a slip of the tongue? How would Karen’s weekend go? How would this potential new gig work out?
Other than those few little things, I was happily headed into hibernation where my due diligence was to disappear into the distance.
It took me a little time to realize it, but once it did it hit me like a bolt. Marrianne’s husband was named Kyle. Who was Karl? It made sense now. Of course, she was more interested in Karen’s guy from work story. Was it a slip of the tongue or had she also found a new friend?
I would have noticed it sooner if the night before hadn’t left me feeling fuzzy. Maybe I was overthinking things. I hadn’t done my due diligence. I would ask her the next week.
Maybe she wasn’t really interested in either story. At this age people were tired of hearing about random acts of stupidity, hook ups, crushing anxiety, and complete uncertainty with the world.
I remember being on twit/face/insta/space years ago watching a woman we all knew have a public meltdown. There was a lot going on in her life but a lot of what was going on in her life was for show and attention.
In one of her posts she laid bare what she thought was the greatest tragedy of the moment. There were tear emojis and exclamation points galore. After about two hours she had received 5 responses from her 600 friends. There was an all caps plea of ‘DON’T YOU PEOPLE CARE WHAT’S HAPPENING?’.
Underneath was a small answer.
“It’s not that no one cares. It’s that so many people have so much going on in their own lives that they may not be able to respond right away.”
“But this is important,” she responded with sad eye emojis.
“I’m sure it is.”
And with that it was done. Two hours later there was a post of puppies that got 150 likes. She, like so many other people, had gotten what she wanted, engagement. There was no solution to the problem given. There was no hint that the problem was actually solved. There was no reason to think that the presented problem was actually a problem.
Conflict driven reality shows with no real stakes or consequences are the most popular things on tv, streaming, etc. Maybe people don’t mind hearing about random acts of stupidity, hook ups, crushing anxiety, and complete uncertainty in the world as long as there is a layer of distance. They have so much going on in their own lives.
If you get too close, the terror takes its toll. The distance is deliberate. I still had my questions:
Who was Karl? Was there even a Karl or was it a slip of the tongue? How would Karen’s weekend go? How would this potential new gig work out?
Other than those few little things, I was happily headed into hibernation where my due diligence was to disappear into the distance.
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