If you would be so kind as to indulge me for just a moment, let me proffer this sad little cliche:
- Life is short -
Really.
It is.
Take it from me; one who's had her mortality dangled in front of her like a withered, brownish carrot.
I'm presently irked and appalled by all of the things that seem to be eating into this finite time we all have on earth. (I realize this post may be pointless for the increasing number of vampires among you - maybe you just want to skip today; I'll understand).
Which leads to my rant of the day, snidely & wearily entitled "Is It Necessary?"
Because, I have had it with so many, many atrocities against manners and taste.
Against kindness and civility.
Really.
I've just had it.
For instance - is it necessary to go off on a little teenaged shopgirl who's only doing her job? At minimum wage? Who's only parroting company policy? Who, at $8 an hour, was somehow not eligible to be present at the board meeting where said policies were cobbled out?
No, it is not.
But it is the lazy way out. Why bother seeking out management, someone who may be able to have some sort of influence over policy?
Why. Bother.
It's so much easier to lace into someone directly in front of you.
Is it necessary to be so completely ingrained in ignorance and personal mythology that you will refuse service from someone who doesn't look 'normal'? And beyond that, is it necessary to do everything in one's power to make that person feel leperous and ashamed? And to make one's viral opinion loudly known to all around them?
Is it necessary to spew out every little iota of idea, feeling, or impulse that runs through one's mind in what should instead be an inner monologue? Is it necessary to thoughtlessly monopolize a conversation, time and again? Does it never occur that the only voice one only hears is one's own? Does that not seem odd?
No, to make an effort to be inclusive would take discipline and foresight.
Instead, let it flow forth. Leave it to the poor person who's in the path of this torrent to filter out what's necessary to know and what's not. Why take responsibility? It is the act of communication, after all. It doesn't always have to run both ways.
Is it necessary to complain incessantly? To no one and everyone, hoping that someone will rally around the cause and magically make things right again?
Is it necessary to preface every sentence with phrases like, "It drives me crazy"?
Really?
Crazy?
Do you want to stay with that? Because I have seen some crazy, and you're far from that destination. Are you sure you don't mean, 'It really is annoying', or 'It bothers me'? Is it necessary to be so superlative? Is what you're saying truly the most accurate thing?
What about the uber-irksome: "F*ck my life"? Is it necessary to plaster this all over every social messenging site? Is is necessary to perpetuate this negativity with its own website?
Think for a moment about the magnitude, - the sheer power - of those words. Is this really what you mean?
Really?
The fact that you've got a life at all is pretty damned spectacular. More that you are able to realize at this moment in.
You. Have. Life. And if you were to actually stop your bitching and moaning, and take a mere moment of introspection, you would have to begrudgingly admit that it's maybe not so bad.
Is it necessary to tear down others in order to feel good about one's self? I'm almost certain that if the same energy (or even less) was spent in doing something to raise one's own self, it would be far more satisfactory. And far less hurtful.
It is necessary to envelop oneself in an seemlessly endless vortex of high drama, every goddamned day, and pull everyone in with the force of nature you've created? Your skill is such that you can manipulate virtual strangers to despair for you, to bleed for you, to suffer mightily along beside you. Is this necessary? Is there no other support system close to you that can give you strength?
I guess with this point there's the flip side - is it necessary to feel empathy for whatever you're reading or hearing about your acquaintances?
On this one, I would say yes.
It is necessary.
It is the quality that sets the kind apart from the cruel.
I just don't believe it's necessary to abuse that quality.
Really.
10 comments:
Written with supreme understanding of the discipline it takes to silence the inner vampire and give voice to words that live on in the hearts of friends and strangers alike. Thanks for laying it on the line and offering to cash the reality check on behalf of those who aren’t savoring the smorgasbord that is life. If life were ‘perfect’, we’d never have to rise to the occasion. If rain did not fall, eventually there would be no trees or grass. The same wind that drives us to our knees will also keep the bugs at bay.
I raise my coffee cup to you, Baroness!
Excellant post Baroness!
<><
Countess Ti: "The same wind that drives us to our knees will also keep the bugs at bay". LOVE that!!!
Welcome, dear traveller, and thanks for the toast. I raise my protein shake back at cha (too late in the day for coffee; too early for cocktails...)
Countess NNG: Thank you, dear one. I just had to get my cranky out before Thanksgiving...
If others didn't immerse themselves in pointless drama, whatever would we have to gossip about over coffee? :)
So very, very well put. Truly. This post managed to capture in written words the way I feel so often. I'm bookmarking this one and sharing it, too.
Countess NATUI: Pointless drama? My point, exactly.
Countess Meg: Share away. Really.
I love a good rant.
Countess Still-A-Laugh-Riot: Hey!! I know you!! Didn't we share a lovely frappajappa on a sun-strewn piazza somewhere?
Yeah, me love the rant too. There is only so much one person can bear.
Excellent.
Countess of La Isla: Sometimes, I actually make sense.
Huh.
Post a Comment