Flying cruelty-free

While reading Mary Poppins to my daughter, she asked,

"Why is she so serious?"

What do you mean?

"She never laughs and she is always a bit mean"

There are different kinds of people, some are happy, some angry, some sad, some mean, some friendly. And of course, we can all be some of these things sometimes.

"Like when I whine for no reason."

Yes. But also when you laugh and play tricks. Or get angry because you are tired or hungry. We can feel all kinds of things.

For those who have only seen Mary Poppins the movie, it is quite eye-opening to read the books, as Mary is not quite a "teaspoon of sugar" -singing kind of character. And, she is conceited and racist AF. But, the book is closing in on 90 years since it was written, so I don't back date today's culture to apply it to what is good literature. It is surprisingly well-written and interesting.

It annoys me when people go "back in time" carrying their expectations from today and apply it to the past - digging up old tweets from comedians and politicians, content they made in the 80s, and taking Dr Seuss books off the shelves. It is ridiculous. In the case of the Tweets, what they should also do is look at everyone who liked it, shared it or commented on it positively and have them fired also.

My wife and I are watching Seinfeld as she had never seen it, and while that was made mostly in the early 90s, a lot of the things they say in there would be called out publicly now even though they often use the not that there's anything wrong with that. Talking about fat and lazy slobs for example - that is over 70% of America now. Well, not necessarily the lazy part - but you get the idea.

Or don't you?

This is the issue. As people get "outraged" as it suits them, choosing to take the most uncharitable understanding of things that are said, just so they can attempt to inflict pain on a person in some way. It is quite pathetic, but it also shows how the filter of the internet has brought out the "drunk" in people - and there are a lot of mean digital drunks out there.

I asked my daughter before I continued reading,

Do you think I am serious?

"No Daddy, you are silly and always play games."

It is funny I think - because a lot of people actually think I am the serious one because of the topics I tend to be interested in and talk about, but it is not the case at all. If anything, it is because of these serious topics that "weigh on my mind" that I look at the world and see how ridiculous it is to the point that, all you can do is laugh.

Better than a teaspoon of sugar to make the medicine go down, laughter is the best medicine. However, unlike what some people seem to believe online, it takes humor, not laughing at another's expense. Trolls get a laugh out of cruelty, but that doesn't mean it is actually funny - psychopaths get a kick out of murdering people too, does that make it okay?

They say "do what you love" and it seems a lot of people online love being assholes. It doesn't take much to find assholes offline either, but the fear of getting smacked in the jaw tempers most of the cruelty. What I find interesting is that while these people do seem to enjoy themselves, what I suspect is that most of them are quite bitter IRL, with sad and powerless lives, which is why they turn to the internet to "seize control" from the safety of being behind the screen and likely in another country, and generally sydonymous to protect themselves further. After all, they don't want blowback from their behavior - that is too much responsibility and is risky, considering they are assholes.

It is a funny old world we live in now, but one thing I have learned in my growing years is, it isn't nearly as serious as most people make it out to be and I suspect that the reason most do take it so seriously, is that they aren't doing much of value with their lives in other areas - and they know it, so they look for something that matters.

That sounds like work though.