As a joke, I put my back to her to block her from the conversation.
In doing so, I bumped her wine glass and a portion of it spilled onto the floor. A lovely brand new floor.
Normally, it would be within my character to immediately start cleaning it up… but I didn’t. I let the owner of the wine glass put her glass down, get paper towel and start wiping it up. I even made a joke about her missing a spot.
I mean, it wasn’t REALLY my fault.
What a dick.
Okay, maybe not a full dick move but close by my standards… but I was tired. Like, really tired.
I’ve been consumed by news stories talking about how we’re “divided” (I don’t believe that) and how populist politics is gaining steam (I believe that).
I had to look up the proper definition of the word ‘populist’ to make sure I was using it right. Populist means a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
On the surface, that seems pretty great to be honest. Who doesn’t want to hold the “elite” to account?
However, I feel it gets abused. Badly. Especially these days.
(Side note: If someone who looks a little elitey with political aspirations tells you the “elite” are to blame for your problems… consider it a red flag. It’s an easy scapegoat for any flimsy argument. eg. “The reason you put on 15lbs during the pandemic was all down to the elite”)
In no particular order, Climate Crisis, Racism, COVID, Indigenous Reconciliation the list goes on… it’s a lot. What’s worse is that it can feel like a never-ending to-do list. Like it’s all our fault, or at very least left to us and us alone as individuals to remedy.
So when someone comes along as says it’s unfair that we have to deal with this stuff and hey, maybe we don’t even need to deal with it… that sounds pretty enticing.
But then we’re just like some dick who bumps a glass of wine and expects the wine glass holder to clean it up.
On my desk, I have a little shelf for bills. If I’m busy they’ll start to accumulate. If someone came along and told me I didn’t have to pay those bills or that it was unfair that I had to… I’d be all ears. At least at the start.
I see political rallies here in Canada gathering large crowds. The main attraction eager to tell them that their problems are not their own. Not their fault. That they’re kinda the victims. That they should be released from responsibility.
“You know all those bills that have been piling up? You shouldn’t have to pay those.”
That sounds pretty damn great.
But it’s foolhardy.
I also get it.
We’re exhausted.
In rightly shining a light on various awful issues that have been kept in darkness for decades, we’ve opened a Pandora’s Box of things that need fixing.
More recently, with COVID forcing us to care about the actions of others as we work together to get through the pandemic with as many not-dead people or ill people as possible, we’re knackered.
It feels like a lot of responsibility.
Because it is.
We’re suffering from responsibility fatigue.
This notion that we’re being blamed for everything wrong and we are being forced to fix it, even though we didn’t do it ourselves.
Which leads to that foolish idea that if we just ignore the pile of bills, they’ll go away (spoiler: they won’t, I’ve tried before).
However, we need to constantly remind ourselves that it’s not all on our individual shoulders alone. We can all carry a little weight and do our part.
We can all grab a paper towel and start helping clean up.
You know, and not be total dicks.
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(Pictured: Author protects wine glass from elite)
In the privacy of my home, I succumbed to being a dick. My husband and I vent. It's a release 'cause public would never (I hope) allow it.
Thank you!!! Responsibility fatigue definitely describes what I have been feeling. Have a wonderful day.