Don't you think? An explosion is imminent? I do. Increasingly. This world has had it. From flipping people off in traffic, to yelling at people who leave their dogs locked in the car while they shop at Target, to blood pressure rising when the vacuum cord won't wrap up right after housecleaning....things just are not right.
I've noticed my own curmudgeon-itis going full tilt lately. I hate children who yell, scream and misbehave. It has left a big old bitter pill stuck in my throat. I look at a stroller and get nauseous. I see a baby bottle and turn my head in avoidance. I see parents come into a restaurant and immediately start looking around for another, far away, table. And it's often the little things that kick 'er into high gear. The glass that is dropped on the counter and broken. The gas tank that is left empty because the last driver didn't take the time to stop and fill it up -- because surely someone else will do it. Traffic is a bitch. Service is rotten. Bank accounts are drained. Proposition 8 in California leaves a ripple effect and bad attitude across the nation. Kicking people out of our very own military because they are gay grates deeply on me. Those who you try to actually help and assist have bad attitudes....nothing is ever right. The dog has to be walked -- even when I don't want to nor have the inclination to. I still have to get up at 04:00am for work....again. And again. For what? To deal with the aforementioned children and parents who don't know how to be....well, parents. Family members need attention, even when they are adults. You'd think it would get better. Not so.
There are police officers who pull triggers with fleeting urgency and leave mentally ill citizens dead. There are those who sue large corporations out of pure ignorance and lack of oversight on the part of the customer or parent. We don't take responsibility. It's always someone else's fault. Period. Helpless animals are harvested illegally out of our oceans and land, household pets are left in their own feces and not attended to by breeders, bicycle riders ride like there is no one else on the road. City and state budgets are zeroed out. Health care companies turn down perfectly legitimate requests for scans or tests. Because they can. Emergency rooms are brimming with idiots. Faux victims. Poor people. Because our world doesn't take care of those that it says it will. Cigarette butts are tossed flippantly out of car windows...and that pisses me off in a huge way. Drivers who don't know how to drive properly stop dead in traffic to decide which way they need to go next. Everyone has to wait for those who are not prepared -- in shopping lines the person ahead of you doesn't have their money out when it comes time, passengers in airplanes can't stand sitting next to rude and loud parents and children, customers who haven't quite discovered yet that First Class is actually a way of life, not a seat on an airplane. Fake smiles rule.
Yeah, I pretty much think we're on a short course for destruction here. From the inside, out. From the human level to the global level. I'm not sure when, or how, but it just can't go on indefinitely in this wild ride fashion.
9 comments:
Too true....
I am with you 100% on this. I am tired of having to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator because everyone is acting like a dimwit. As it was so eloquently stated on an AbFab episode years ago: "Just tax the stupid people or let them die!!"
I really think that we are headed for a massive reboot as well. Perhaps that ol' chestnut of 2012 is what this is all about.
I remind myself to be thankful every day and to open my eyes to the beautiful that surrounds us. I do. And I'm trying to grow this more because the world has had it. And if I can offer a moment of grace to someone else, I believe in the ripple effect. From allowing someone to merge on the freeway without riding their bumper, to offering to watch someone's dog while they run into the store, to finding a moment of zen in figuring out the most mundane of things, like wrapping up a vacuum cord.
I have been a curmudgeon and been the person who has grown impatient and snapped at a grocery checkout person because they took what I thought was too much time chatting with the person in front of me and all I wanted to do was purchase my items and get the hell out of there. But when I alter my world view, outside of my own crazy world and busy life, and truly see the world around me, I see a caring worker sharing words with an elderly person who may not have any other person they will speak with that day. And I'm grateful for the moment, to witness it, and to hope that I myself can show that same kindness to strangers.
I wonder what it must be like to have children who yell, scream and misbehave, and still hold it together and brave the world with a smile. I see these parents often, and the parents of wonderful children, though I have zero desire to have children of my own.
I remind myself that the gay movement is still a baby movement, and that change, big change, takes years, and decades, and that I need to put in the hard work, too, if we're going to change anything. Those tough conversations and putting myself out there aren't going to happen on their own. And everytime I feel kicked in the gut from it, I share that feeling with every straight person I know, so that they know this impacts us. And that we matter.
I live with a police officer who cares about those she serves, and the families and kids she can be a conduit for. Not because she likes driving fast or playing with guns, but because she wants to make a difference in this world.
Every day I read about animals who save their owners lives, and I hug my blind dog a little closer. When I feel sorry for her, she shuts down. But when I give her tasks and rewards and praise, she perks up. We manifest what we put into the world.
I hear you about your venting. I do. But once we exhale all of that venting, we eventually have to inhale. I'm trying to make my inhales sweet and calming, cool and refreshing....it's almost sounding minty, isn't it? Perhaps we just need a mojito or two.
xoxoxox,L
I've thought about this a lot in the past few years. I think a big part of the problem is there's too much information sharing, and it's all bad news. So few share the good news.
People seem to tend more toward a "me first" attitude than ever before. We've replaced cooperation with competition. And it's all about the bottom line, the people be damned. We aren't people anymore anyway. We're "resources."
I've heard so many yoga instructors talk about the increasing enlightenment of the world, but I mostly think they're living in a bubble of their own imagining. I think 99.999% of the world is becoming more hardened to the suffering of others.
I don't know how to undo all the damage without an "explosion" or a "reboot." There's gotta be a better way than a bloody revolution.
Welcome to my world.
I concur, alas.
I struggle with not running away. More of a struggle is not stooping or paying like with like. This is called Shaming Them or Setting A Good Example. Meager weopons I suppose but that's all I have.
Count me in. *sigh*
I think we're reaching critical mass.
You're not alone in your feelings. I was driving to work the other morning and was pretty much thinking along these same lines. Where does it stop? How do we turn things around. Sadly, I don't think we can. I know it sounds very negative, but I don't think there's any hope for this country; from politics, religion equal rights on down. I think for the most part a lot of people have lost their humanity. I see more and more where a few people control the wealth in this country and it's taking its toll on the middle class. We're being exterminated. Maybe we'll rise up and do something about it, but I doubt it.
I agree! Seems Americans are angry everywhere about everything. We are near 2 trillion bucks for a war lasting longer than any we have waged, but we can't repair our streets. Why do we continue to elect these people?
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