How to Be Cynically Correct
Happy New Year!
What are your wishes for 2004?
"What are your wishes for 2004?" my friend asked me. It should have been enough to say, "more wisdom to the world," but wasn't. She wanted to know what I demanded from myself for myself. From among several choices - like having more time for family and friends, being more patient, etc., etc., I answered that I wanted to continue to avoid using cynicism and sarcasm with my "enemies", even if too hard and sometimes a strong temptation. She looked at me seriously and questioned me again, "Aren't those important tools for survival?"
Are they?
A long talk began.
See, I have a different perspective. To me, cynicism and sarcasm are signs of intelligence (like humor) and because intelligence is so expensive I don't think we should waste it on those we don't care about. What I see out there masquerading as "cynicism" and "sarcasm" aren't really signs of intelligent speech. Actually, they are nothing more than cheap attacks disguised as witty conversation by the use of fake smiles and polite manners. And what's the point of wasting the little intelligence I have with those who wouldn't get it anyway? I prefer to save my wit for the ones I love instead of spending it on "amateurs".
"But you can be very sarcastic when you write," my friend said back to me. Yes, I can, because as a matter of principle I like people I haven't met yet.
So I use cynicism, sarcasm and rude humor among my people to play with the nonsense I read in the news (example: in a country like Portugal where the minimum wage is less than 400 dollars the price of bread was going to increase 35%); to describe our government's blindness (example: illegal immigrants were allowed to pay taxes but not remain in our country); or to describe the cheap attacks I see everyday between people that are supposed to be adults. Because if there's something I really like it's a good laugh among friends. And the world is out there full of reasons to laugh (though basically they are exactly the same reasons to cry).
Here's to 2004...
And now I am too sleepy...
Regards,
Proverb