What if I asked a question, one that is rather taboo, that provoked anger rather than thought? What if we stopped caring so much about who is running for the damn election and stopped quoting the ignorance that has flown out of the mouths of the candidates?
No one is listening.
No one is even paying attention.
I ran into an old friend a few weeks ago, one who is a main character in most of the memories I have of high school, who did life with me from third grade to graduation... but for no real reason, a friend that I sadly just stopped making a priority once I moved onto MU. We talked for a minute but to be honest, I don't know a word either one of us said...
Why?
The whole time we talked, the only thing running through my mind was a Facebook post I had seen before Thanksgiving of last year of an adorable pregnancy announcement with an "... a little turkey coming soon," written as the caption.
Standing there, next to my old friend who should be close to 7 months pregnant based off something I scrolled across and "liked" on Facebook, I realized how unattached I am from the people around me. Confused as to why she wasn't yet showing and taken back by the fact that she didn't mention it, I went scrolling back through her page, trying to see if I remembered wrong.
I hadn't. It was there.
But three weeks later, while I was probably preoccupied with my own chaos and Christmas excitement, I missed a post where she announced that her and her husband had miscarried.
They lost their child and I didn't know.
How can I even claim to be her friend when I am too self-absorbed to even know that one of the most exciting times in her life ended shortly after it began? How did six months pass after the tragic situation before I even took a moment to care?
I have become so unattached from the world around me, from the real people behind those accounts and profile pictures that I don't even know their stories and lives anymore.
Last week, I read a terrible update about a classmate of mine from high school who passed away. While I have known since I was young that this guy had a lot of demons to fight, I never cared in the six years post high school to even acknowledge his existence until I heard of his death.
What does that say of me? my character? my values, my beliefs, my life? me?
Why didn't I care before his death? Why didn't I send a text to my friend who just lost her mother? Why did I ignore the post about the friend with her sick little boy? Why didn't I do more than just comment, "Praying," on an update when someone asked for prayers?
Can't we do more for the people around us, those people on our friend's lists, than just simply liking a photo or commenting on an update? Can't we do more, as people, to show that we care, that we're here, that we see, that we're invested?
I shouldn't know more about a damn primary or about a candidate's family than I do about the one's I have friended who allow me into their lives that they choose to share. I read more articles and interact more with Siri than with real people... but yet, I claim to have a thousand friends.
I follow a thousand people... but yet, I have no idea what even a fraction of those are facing... what trials they're enduring or heartbreak they're feeling. However, I could tell you exactly how angry Donald Trump is based off his tweets about a rally that didn't happen... or I could tell you exactly how Hillary feels regarding NASA's habit of discrimination.
Why is this a problem?
It's a problem because I never claimed to be either one of their friends.
... but I have cared more about their lives than I have about the ones in front of my computer screen. But yet, I keep asking, "What's wrong with these candidates?" when really, I should be asking myself, "What's wrong with you?"
