Where to Buy 2 Kilos of Anger.
It was one of many conversations that I enjoyed in this interconnected community.
The person ahead of me in the aisle spotted my collar and proceeded to tell me with great vigour about an article they had read in a newspaper. Based on the two sentences they quoted from the article, I understood why they felt so strongly.
Given the effect that it had had on this person’s blood pressure and with the wise voice of my doctor and the word hypertension echoing faintly in my mind, I chose not to follow up on the article.
Understandably, my friend was looking for an agreeable advocate in their line of questioning, but as I had not seen the article, I had to politely decline. It would be churlish of me to comment on something I had not read and did not understand. I would be casting doubtful aspersions in ignorance.
Part of the dilemma is the brevity of time and space that our friends in the media have to dispense complex concepts in bite-sized, easily digestible morsels for our consumption. It can’t be easy. At least the scores in the footy are accurate and indisputable, even if the process of getting the score on the board was fraught with danger, knocks and bruises.
The other thing that perturbs me is that the front page with its BOLD headline is often crafted to incite anger and or fear. I know where to go to purchase a kilo of grumpiness. It might be good for sales and the pharmaceutical company that dispenses my blood pressure tablets, but it doesn’t always make for congeniality and laughter, which are gifts that we all crave.
Ultimately, I look forward to many happy conversations in this splendid connected community of ours.