People of the Internet
The Internet is the monster, right? I mean, that’s gotta be how this story ends. The story about America, about Afghanistan, about civilizations collapsing, and about 35% of the species going totally insane? The Internet was both the protagonist and antagonist.
On the Internet, people seem to feel fine and fancy free to say whatever they like with absolute impunity. Fortunately, I have been mostly successful in leading a life that does not attract the sort of humans who just go off and say mean shit to me. In fact, the only people who have ever had the audacity, the gall, to try and blame or scapegoat me, personally, for x, y, z problem are either 1) fellow alcoholics or 2) Millennials. Sorry, I have to folks. I have to come for the Millennials. I will, as I always do with Boomers, grant that I do have many lovely people in my life who are Millennials. You were born in a very weird Changing Time. You are weird. And sometimes also annoying. Forgive me for being blunt, but I’ve had a long day raising the children of Gen Xers, Millennials, with a few “Boomers-Who-Turned-Left-On-The-Red” behind Gen-X and, naturally, never want to claim their rightful Boomer place — and who can blame them? If you could pass for an Xer, would you really want to identify as a Boomer right now?
Fret not. I’ve got shit on Gen X, too, but I’m trying to train my focus right now on the two most pressing problems: Boomers & Millennials.
No, I’m not advocating for Boomercide, Millennialcide — NO “CIDES” of any kind. Please. Just hear me out: for a generation that enjoys the term “problematic” as much as they do, they sure are quite “problematic” for me on many days. Millennials do this thing that I call “Drive By Text & Block” in which they dump some rude shit into your DM’s or texts and then “block” you. In the Before Times we called this “cowardice.”
This behavior is also, from my perspective, often a symptom of alcoholism or another addiction. I’m not judging people who have alcoholism or addiction. I am judging Millennials because how fucking dare you?
I’m being vague here because I am not a fan of personal attacks (particularly now that we have likely entered End Times). I won’t even personally attack people who personally attack me . . . for now. After today’s absurd bullshittery to which I am obliquely referring (I got a nasty message from a Millennial, followed by a Block so that I could not respond — this was a person I had been kind toward, but this person was a Millennial so who the fuck knows why they do half the shit they do), I’m not sure how to proceed; though I do know 90% of the time True Grace has come to me what I’ve returned to the “scene” and decided to shut my mouth.
So I’m going to shut my mouth on this one, though I could, you know, go berserk and start posting screen shots and shit . . .
Hard to take the high road sometimes. Especially when you’re a teacher in America, a cancer patient in America, a person trying to stay sober in America, especially when you’re mired in those activities, it is hard to shut up.
Drama — the destructive, emotional/social kind — is a destructive force.
Heed me, Millennials. Pick your battles more carefully. Know the True Enemies. Sometimes the Enemy is you, is me. Sometimes the Enemies aren’t even people at all. Pick your battles carefully and when you pick them, pick them with True Enemies.
Grace.
Sometimes, right now, I struggle with Grace.
Usually if I allow myself to “let go” of a bunch of items
in my heart, in my mind, the items
I cannot complete now and
the items I cannot complete ever,
I find Grace.
Today’s Grace comes from 90s music, the music of my youth, the music of the last hopeful decade in America-As-I-Formerly-Understood-It. Specifically Joy Division’s “Heart and Soul.” Have a listen. This song and “Digital” (same band), for me, entirely capture the Zeitgeist, the world that I inhabit today, and probably tomorrow.
Listen to some Joy Division:
Peace. Grace. Peace.
