Today's selections for "Why Da World Is Going To Hell In A Handbag"...apathy!
Well, it's THURSDAY and I done be stoked!!!
(whoops...forgot to add "yo".)
Anyway, in keeping with the vein of yesterday's post regarding "what's wrong with society today", today's opinion is:
**Apathy
Let's start with apathy, partially because it's an alphabetical thing. (I really use this English degree to its fullest capacity some days...my mom should be proud.)
You have to admit, the guy who wrote this letter kept it short, sweet and to the point...
DEAR ABBY: It's apathy ... but, who cares? -- MALCOLM IN MIAMI
God bless you, Malcolm. Keepin' it real and succinct is absolute skill there, my friend.
Apathy is a tricky area in life to negotiate. I mean, nobody ever gets it right. Merriam-Webster defines "apathy" as:
1 : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness
2 : lack of interest or concern : indifference
So right there, this definition and etymology have me thinkin'..."apathy" is such a blanket statement. Does Malcolm mean "apathy" about EVERYTHING, or just things that other people FEEL you should care about?
Chew on that one for a minute. I'm going to use the concept of being a vegetarian. One of my favorite comedians, Ron "Tater Salad" White, had a funny bit about why one of his friends "went veggie".
Mr. White said that one of his friends "went veggie" because he disapproved of the damage that the beef trade did to the environment (cow flatulence, the clearing of land for cattle ranching, etc). His friend cried, "What are YOU doing to help the environment?"
White replied, "I'm eatin' the cows...but I'm only one man!"
To me this is an example of where one person thinks you're apathetic to a situation, when really, you just have a different skew on it.
And really, a little bit of apathy sometimes does more good than harm. I mean, one human being can't care about EVERY LITTLE THING that happens in this world. They've gotta save those caring sentiments for the big things. I know it sounds harsh, but sometimes when you get absorbed in all the ills of the world, you miss out on what is to be cherished...friends, family, loved ones, and the good parts of life. And as I said yesterday, the biggest squawkers can be the least active in making changes.
Here is an example of where apathy SHOULD be placed. I got this from someone who commented on my site recently, Miss DrowseyMonkey. Her reasoning on the post where this video was placed is different from mine, but I think the effect will be the same - you're going to laugh your a$$es off.
This clip is apparently from Finland TV (Public TV, perhaps? Who knows?), and it's a dance instruction show, teaching the good Finns how to "disco".
Let me explain...
If the instructor and producers of this segment didn't care SO BLOODY MUCH about spreading the joy of disco dancing to the populus of Finland, we might have been spared this display.
However, the person who posted this clip to YouTube is not apathetic as far as sharing humor, especially inadvertent humor provided by our good Finnish disco enthusiasts. If I saw this clip after having a terrible day at work, within SECONDS I would be laughing my sizable ass off.
So you see, apathy is as apathy does.
Tomorrow...the collapse of the nuclear family and my theories therein.
/div>
|