Some days all I want to do is watch T.V. Yesterday was one of those days. I spent the majority of my time tuned to a box, useless. Useless to myself, and against my better knowledge. I tried to read a book somewhere in the middle of the day, but after about six or seven pages I started to yearn for the ease of the glowing box. Even more discussed with myself than before I needed the thoughtlessness, and I turned the box back on. Completely turned off, I wasted another day.
At work yesterday a woman sampled some blueberry gelato. She like it, and after deciding to order, threw into the universe, "Plus it's got all them antioxidants (she pronounced, annie-og-zidents), so it's good for you..."
No, that's wrong. I knew it. I've study herbs and vitamins for years. And how dare she pollute the environment with such a dumb and thoughtless statement. I rolled my eyes about to just let it happen, knowing that the comment meant one of only two things. Either she truly believed that a cold dessert could be beneficial to her health. Or, because she was a little over weight, and alone in an ice cream shop, perhaps the woman felt a little self-conscience and was simply trying to make a quick joke to sooth her unease. Both scenarios made me want to vomit. I consciously threw her a look that could only have read, you have no idea what your talking about you dumb twat. My urge to correct her and set the universe right again took over, so I said simply, "Well, it's not the same as eating a hand full of blueberries, this is a little too processed to have anything really valuable left, at least in that sense." I thought this a fair statement.
Well, I really must have offend her because she whipped her head around at me, grabbed my eyes with hers, zeroed in, and repeated like a some kind of future-robot-of-information that could only be envisioned in the darkest of negative-Utopian/Orwell/Huxley wet dreams, "Oh no Mr., I know blueberries have annie-og-zidents, OK, so don't try to tell me what I know... I'll take a large." She snapped and locked her neck and lifted lifted her right eyebrow so confidently, as if because she had seen one Dr. Oz episode of Oprah she was some kind of fucking Blueberry Scientist. I instantly gave up. I walked away from her and washed some dishes at the other end of the bar. At least I can fix these I thought. I'll have to correct the universe another day.
Why do we give up on ourselves, and others?
Why do we want things to be so easy?
Why do we watch T.V.?
Why do I buy iced tea, when I should buy water?
Why do I want to look like Gael Garcia Bernard some days, when I should want to look like myself every day?
Why do police officers consistently get new cars, but in schools never get new books?
Why do we spend $37,000 a year to imprison 1 person, and only $7,000 to educate 1 person?(US)
Why are 5,000 pedestrians killed each year by cars, including in 2001, but we don't have a War On Cars?
... Think about it, more Americans were killed this year alone by other Americans driving drunk and using their cell phones, than all the road side bombs and insurgencies combined, five years plus, in Iraq... (And that's only counting Pedestrian vs. Car fatalities)...
Why do we want better schools, but fail to educate ourselves and maintain even lower standards for our neighbors?
Why don't we do better when we know better? Or do we just not know any better?
Words and Video by Conrad Benner, Photo by Eric Gillet
3 comments:
Seems like more and more we're living in a connected world, replacing our social connections with wired ones. Maybe we'll have to come to terms with a new reality?
The computer is a box, too.
That video was the most annoying thing I've seen on the internet since the last time I read your blog (a few months ago). WAY TO GO YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN, and you can't even type in English correctly.
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