Snark-o-Matic
I’m sitting in a coffee shop. The best one in Richmond. And there’s a woman sitting close by, with one of those voices that just carries. I can tell you all about her conversation. CSAs, fresh peas, getting a chicken from the farm…It’s one those new subtleties of class: I can afford to buy grass fed beef, eat only food raised organically, and am willing to drive all over town for the freshest, greenest seafood. It’s not that I mind listening to her be superior about the way she eats, it’s just that I can’t hear the thoughts in my own head because she’s louder.
It made me think about the fact that I usually think ugly thoughts about the people sitting around me, wherever I am. The lady next to me on the plane. The car next to mine. The cart behind me in line at Target. Do you do this?
I’d like to stop. I’d like to be nicer.
I watched the first episode of Enlightened last night. Laura Dern plays Amy, a corporate up-and-comer who makes some very bad choices (affair with married coworker, among them), has a breakdown, and goes for treatment in Hawaii. She comes back, enlightened, with a message from God, that everything is a gift, even the bad stuff.
I didn’t love the show, but I love the concept. Everything is a gift to us, even the bad stuff. The nutty lady who talks too loud and showoffy about her superior food choices? A gift. The fact that I can’t hear my own thoughts? Also a gift. And my ability to snark? You guessed it. A gift.
- Laura Dern in Enlightened