Wednesday, January 12, 2011

things we do

We're not so different you and I.

Along with the McRib and KFC's Double Down Chicken Sandwich, America has subtly been advertising and marketing something intangible: The importance of the individual. In a nation that constantly stresses individualism, uniqueness and being that "special guy," people have been trained to focus on the ways in which they differ from one another as opposed to focussing on the ways in which they can relate. By doing this, people become self-obsessed and isolated in the sense that they consider themselves an original  human copy. We have an undiscovered and undiscussed set of common denominators that have the ability to simplify any equation, yet we ignore these similarities in order to appease the American ideal of being that "special individual." The truth is, we're all people and if a large ball of fire comes raging towards us, every difference we've ever had will be dissolved and we will all act in the same manner and shit our pants and run for our lives. Hopefully, looking at a few small commonalities between ourselves can help society to realize that complete uniqueness is nothing more than an idea. 
So, here's some things I do, and I think you might do too them too. 


-Pretending middle school NEVER HAPPENED.
-Gotten into a fight with someone and suddenly realized your in the wrong but are too ashamed to apologize so you just keep acting mad. (good people may be exempt). 
- Drunkenly and stupidly befriending someone you don't even like at a party. For the rest of the night you hug this person, take shots with them, pee with them and then put them in your phone as MIRANDA MA BEZT BITCH 4EVA I CANT BELIEVE I EVER HATED YOU. The next day you act like it never happened.
-Missed a stair and then caught yourself a moment before breaking your face open and feeling like the luckiest person in the world for just a second. 
-Leaving the house thinking "I look alright today" and then catching your reflection in a mirror hours later to find that you actually look like a haggard beast. 
-Trying to sleep next to a person who wont take your uninterested grunts as a hint that you can no longer keep your eyes open. 
-Your singing along in the car and suddenly butcher the lyrics. You are embarrassed. Whether you're with your best friend, your mom or even if your alone, somehow messing up the lyrics is always embarrassing. 
- The awkward moment in a sleepover before two people go to bed. Without saying good night and without ending the conversation, you take that seemingly out of place silence as closure.  
- Not wanting to share your food but allowing your friends to scour your plate anyways and then watching angrily as they eat your food. 
-Been insulted or challenged and remained silent at the time or laughed it off only to regret it in the seconds that follow. You then create a fake replay of the event in your mind's eye and say all the things you wish you had said in person.
-Turned down your ipod in fear that the people nearest to you can hear "Landslide" by the Dixie Chicks leaking from your headphones.
- Owned Phat Farms/G-unit sneakers/Etnies. 
- Feeling uncomfortable when thinking back to the inappropriately strange things you and your friends used to do/tell each other when you had to make your own fun before the days of drinking/drugs/going to the mall/concerts.
-Been scared your hiccups would never stop and you'd end up like the man on 'Ripley's Believe it or Not' who had hiccups for 60 years. 
- Wanting to be different but at the end of the day appreciating that the dysfunction in your thoughts and the oddities in your actions are shared by a population greater than 1. 

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