LIVE WITH IT - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #55
LIVE WITH IT
I had an acquaintance message me yesterday.
They sent me, out of the blue, links to a YouTube video that was presenting some long since debunked conspiracy nonsense. I replied, politely, with a link to an actual news source that addressed this conspiracy from years ago.
They replied again with another link to a ‘condensed’ video that was taken from another YouTube video that is 5 hours long and a link to another piece of drivel from a prominent purveyor of pure drivel.
It was embarrassing.
I like this person. The fact I like this person made these messages more than embarrassing… they were depressing.
I’ve had this same embarrassed/depressed feeling with a few people I like in the past two years.
Not really a growing number, thankfully, just one or two here and there… but it still sucks.
As we enter the (hopefully) final lap of the pandemic, it’s dawned on me that I’m going to have to live with it.
I’m not talking about COVID. I mean, that too but I’ll just get my shots when I need to and do whatever else I have to to make sure I’m not part of the problem.
I’m talking about stupid.
When this is all done, we’re going to have to learn to live with stupid.
Will our experience with them in the face of a deadly virus that has killed 900K in the US and 34K in Canada have an affect on how we view them?
Uh, yeah.
Will we forget that they helped prolong one of the crappest times in our lives?
Uh, no.
This pandemic has been great at revealing people who, if they made me a sandwich, I would not eat it. That’s good information to have.
Their actions or inactions will forever colour how we engage with them.
But the world is smaller than you think and life is a game of constant necessary interaction. We can make that interaction as sour or as sweet as we want.
I’m not expecting myself to forgive but I do know that I’m going to have to bite my tongue a lot and smile as the blood trickles down my chin.
I’m just going to have to learn to live with it.
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Not Pictured: Author's wife who has learned to "live with it" in a different regard