When it's shit news?
When there's nothing to be done for it?
When there are no answers?
When there's nothing of worth to say, you just want to scream and rail and sob?
Who do you call?
The older I get, the shorter and more elusive that list gets. Most folks don't know you well enough, and you'll just be an imposition, making them uncomfortable.
Others know you, but they don't want to hear it. That's why they're not around in the first place. If they hear from you at all it should be either good news ornall about them. Usually they prefer the latter.
Then there's the folks you can't tell, because they just get more upset than you. And doesn't do either of you any good.
There's a small group who could definitely handle the news, but it's usually because they are already dealing with some monstrous shit of their own. And when you stop to think about it, it would be a pretty shitheel move to dump on them.
So, yeah. That list gets mighty small, mighty quick. Even more so when you get to feeling all sorry for yourself.
So when you see that decrepit drunk at the end of the bar, or the nervous lady babbling in the doctor's office, or the rando dude at the vending machine who just blurts out the craziness of their lives to you, I counsel forbearance.
They probably really don't have anyone else to tell.
Always your Huckleberry.
ReplyDeleteWayull sheeit, it all kind of depends on the type of shit news.
ReplyDeleteI find that hardly anyone will listen to my problems and then fix them for me. Which is really quite rude of the world, if you ask me. So mostly I just tell the invisible camera crew that's only there when no one else is.
Oh sure, there's my lovely lady, my closest family members, and one or two other people. Maybe I've had a couple and I forget that I don't talk about such things, and accidentally mention that my life is on fire until I realize that now we're talking about it and they really can't say anything I haven't heard before.
It's funny. It seems everyone would like to be able to dump their shit, without obligating their audience in any way. Just a "thanks for listening." But no one can hear someone else (who they love) dump out their laundry and not want to offer a suggestion, or a fix, or some help. "No no no, shut up. Just have heard this, please, then go away and do something else. All your good advice makes sense, but I knew it already; if you don't have a faerie wand then you are NO USE TO ME."
Only one breed of person on this planet fits that job description (listening quietly, wielding magic), and they have to deal with smelly drunks on a professional basis.
Only one breed of person on this planet fits that job description (listening quietly, wielding magic), and they have to deal with smelly drunks on a professional basis.
ReplyDeleteBreed is the operative word on this. My family genetics make this my life's destiny, even if it's not my chosen and paid vocation.
Dealing with smelly drunks is just another way of saying "Merry Christmas" with my relatives.
Yeah, there should be a safe word for "I Only Want to Dump Shit, No Comments Necessary." Being the uncouth person I am, I have basically said this to people before. But I often feel too guilty to even have those convos, as it just highlights the hopelessness of, well, everything. I try to keep my hopelessness to myself.
While I would appreciate a Magic Wand of Magicalness, I would mostly just settle for somebody pretending to care long enough to listen to me whine.
But that's why Yaweh invented blogs.