STUPID FRIENDS - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #8
It’s been two months since we started this. Fun, right? Happy Sunday. Even Brighter days ahead.
STUPID FRIENDS
When the pandemic hit and the first lockdowns took hold, the gym I went to had to close.
I felt terrible for them. I loved going to the gym (no, seriously). It played a large role in my defense against anxiety and depression. I didn’t request that my membership be cancelled. I was happy to keep paying because the pandemic wasn’t their fault obviously, plus I wanted to ensure they could reopen with safety procedures in place and ready to roll.
Then something weird happened.
When gyms were allowed to reopen in our area, I expected them to be ready with some splashy social media posts and maybe a couple of emails touting the various things they were going to do to keep their members safe.
Nope. Nothing.
I saw one person ask them on their Instagram post about what safety and cleaning procedures would be implemented. An entirely fair question as this is, for some, life and death.
They were told to DM them.
Weird.
Then something weirder happened.
They replaced their profile pic on Twitter with a picture of Donald Trump.
Then they posted a series of Tweets and ReTweets claiming the pandemic was a sham and just an attempt by the government to implement communism.
A gym. In Canada.
Bonkers. The gym went out of business.
That’s a pretty severe case of the stupids, but this pandemic has revealed a spectrum of stupid. Or maybe not revealed… reminded us?
One of my favourite shops posted a copy and paste bit of text that compared the pandemic lockdowns to an abusive partner. Like the only reason for the lockdowns was some sort of perverse power trip by the… provincial government?
It made no sense and I was actually pretty angry about it. Then I took a deep breath and remembered something…
These regular folk around us aren’t in charge. Their Tweets, Instagram and Facebook posts are not decrees, facts or even well thought out most times.
All people are varying degrees of stupid in some way.
If we cut out every stupid person who said or did a stupid thing, we’d have no friends.
You need to be flexible on what the lines crossed are, based on harm to you or others.
The gym owner that went full Quazy? Yeah, I don’t need that. It’s harmful and dangerous. They’re out.
The shop owner who hated lockdowns so much (who doesn’t?) they posted a crappy hot take? I can overlook that or at the very least simply put it in a ‘Urgh’ column for that person. I can still enjoy chatting with them and supporting their business.
A social media post is not necessarily a person’s manifesto.
Sometimes it’s just a stupid social media post.
Overlook the non-harmful stupid stuff and find the good in people and nurture it.
We all need friends. Guaranteed a lot of them will be stupid. We all are.
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Friends of mine in midst of cake eating wager. Totally not stupid.