Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Some Thoughts on a Tuesday

Yesterday Middlebrow and I were doing yard work. Or, Middlebrow was doing yard work and I was approximate to him in a way that might suggest I was also invested in this labor, whether I was or not. The point is, we were in the yard and we were doing some manual type labor, wearing gloves, using tools, getting into and near the dirt.
Not very long, minutes-wise, into this endeavor I might have said something like, "This is boring." Because it was. It's basically the same physical action or actions over and over. Then one might look down the long row of rose bushes that stretches from the sidewalk to the fence and using some kind of fancy algebraic formula, one might guess at the amount of time it will take to finish the project and then one might imagine the boredom stretched out over those minutes and days and one might become instantly exhausted.
"This is why we went to college," said Middlebrow. To avoid such labor, I'm guessing. And it's true. I hated weeding in the summer, when my mom made me, I hated mowing that one day when I actually did it for money.
But it's necessary, isn't it? The labor? The weeds grow, and they grow and grow unless we pull them and then put down this miracle fabric which prevents them from growing. And the roses bloom and then they die, and someone has to trim them otherwise, how will the new buds find the sun?
I contemplated these ideas, labor, adulting, as I did some light weeding in the cool morning breeze. It felt good, but it was still boring. Also, my back hurt.
And then I thought about social media, and how obsessed it is, right now, in this moment with one particular gorilla. And how everyone and their fucking dog is using it as an occasion to bludgeon everyone else about a pet obsession: The gorilla proves that we don't care about endangered species (this one might be true); the gorilla proves that parents are distracted/lazy/bad; the gorilla proves that unless we are vegans, we're not allowed to feel compassion for the gorilla; the gorilla proves that zoos are bad; the gorilla proves that zoos are good; the zoo was justified in killing the gorilla; the zoo was unjustified in killing the gorilla. All these ideas basically come down to one thing: people who don't agree with me are stupid.
This seems to be the general sentiment these days, in social media, in politics, in entertainment, in sports, in life.
I have been guilty of it, but the quiet boring contemplation of yard work and the busy, hectic meaningless posturing of social media has given me a lot to think about.
Also I am contemplating a daily "black out" for my whole family.
I look forward to your thoughts.

5 comments:

Lisa B. said...

It's so tricky, not to fall in the 'everyone who disagrees with me is a dummy' trap. To be fair, I regularly felt that way when my media diet was mostly a print newspaper. I just couldn't so easily broadcast my rage/judgery. Yard work IS boring, though, unless you're planting something, in which case it is thrilling and optimistic.

sara said...

My weeding contemplation was far more simple, I kept thinking of my dear O. Chem professor who loved to wax poetic about entropy. All systems without energy input return to chaos. Maybe it's time for entropy to win.

Unknown said...

I also hate yard work, but I love gardening. Totally different mindset for me...

Nik said...

I have given up on weeding. They say (probably the same gorilla talkers) that dandelions are good for the bees. I'm pro-bee.

Rae said...

I may be the only one out there who likes weeding. Or not likes it but is obsessed with doing it. Or used to be when I actually had a garden. Now I don't even own a plant. Maybe you can import me from time to time to weed?