These are tough times, and I'm sure I am not the only one who cried into my soup (from the soup kitchen) when everything went to hell in the crash of 2008. But somehow I survived and am still surviving, if only by the skin of my teeth, and I find myself a lot less prone to melting into a sobbing mess. One thing that helps prevent such is that I now have developed dry eye, for whatever reason. No chance I will get to the doctor any time soon to have it checked out of course, as I now face the ugly compromise of having to choose food over medicine.
I have also been seriously evaluating who I really want to hang out with these days. It used to be I felt that anyone who cried at a Pixar film was at worst, sort of oddly endearing. Hmm. Not so now. There are things happening right now that are so dark, so surreal, as to defy logic. And someone who cries over a Pixar marketing campaign won't be able to help society at large with any of these recent developments. It is not at all mysterious actually, this sudden hatred I have developed for Pixar, and all things yuppie. An Apple brat getting the wrong flavor latte at Starbucks is not something we should be terribly concerned about either, obviously.
There is a place for sensitivity, of course. I'm not an unfeeling drone. And certainly, I'm not saying that anyone needs to be some tobacco-spittin' cowboy/girl type character. But we have to be really careful right now and do our best to differentiate between the superficial reactions of a touchy ego to our current reality, and what we really feel in our gut. It's the latter that affects change. Bitchy, whiny egos can air insignificant grievances and drama ad infinitum, but they never accomplish a damn thing. We have to choose who we look up to very carefully as well. It's no longer the flashy CEO, smooth politician or weepy Emo yuppie, hopefully. It is certainly not the 'faux sensitive' man who is really just putting on said act to get into the pants of his latest crush. Well that's one pathetic example, and I've known similar characters in real life, unfortunately.
I think my point is that ego, superficiality, flattery and fakery are the very traits and flaws that got us all into this mess in the first place. Right now, real comfort to me is hanging out with those who say it like it is, and never flinch from a direct approach. No, it doesn't always feel good. But do we all want a fake sense of stability, or do we want the real thing? If we want to live in an authentic manner, we have to fight for it, and not have withdrawal symptoms when we are not being served a steady diet of fluff and corporate cotton candy. Yuppies can sit at Starbucks, crying into their lattes. The real heroes right now are the youth occupying Wall Street, because they know they have the most to lose. They are staring the enemy straight in the eye, not feeling sorry for themselves for one minute. The direct approach is confrontational, ugly, even brutal sometimes. But it really seems to be the only way to save ourselves right now. Who will you stand with? What qualities would you rather embody? Better decide now. It's coming down to the crunch. For my part, I say "bite me, Hallmark bitches." And for those who get all weepy over movies like 'Cars' or 'Finding Nemo,' I'm sure you'll be glad to know that Hallmark has now come out with a new card line of pleasantly weak platitudes for those who have lost their jobs. I'm sorry, but I'd just have to shoot anyone who handed me a card like that out of faux-sympathy...
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