Hello folx. I’m back. For those who missed me, it’s good to be back. I missed all y’all.
For those who had hoped I wouldn’t return, I’m not sorry I’ve disappointed you. I’m not keeping you captive here, so if you dislike my little corner of the interwebs, you can mosey along.
For those who don’t know me, welcome to a peek inside my warped mind.
Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? A lot has happened, and I’m older for having experienced it. Not yet sure if I’m wiser or just less tactful now than I was before.
For those who actually know me IRL and know that “tact” and “Ruth” aren’t often found near one another, well…
This is your cue to check your seatbelts.
In glancing back, I see I haven’t dropped in since June 2021. A lot has occurred since then. Some of it was good. My spouse and I also faced a lot of loss and some hard times. We have some new adventures brewing, and time will tell how it all works out.
I may, at some point, circle back to some of the hardships and loss. Not yet sure if I’m ready to share a lot of that publicly. First, it feels a bit like fishing for sympathy, and that doesn’t sit well with me.
After all, a LOT of people have dealt with hardships, even before the pandemic. And, the pandemic added entirely new levels of fuckery to the mix.
With most of us still grappling with understanding the post-pandemic changes and figuring out what the “new normal” is (as if there really IS such an animal), I’d rather not add anything here that makes another person’s burden harder.
But, I will say a few things about how the pandemic has changed people. And, y’all, I am saying this with as much love, empathy, and genuine concern for my readers as I can.
Some of y’all have either ingested far too many substances or you’ve gone completely fucking feral.
But damn, folx, rein in the nasty treatment of people around you by at least 5%, would you please?
Look, I work tech support for a small software company. And, I absolutely get it. When my computer starts acting strangely or I suddenly lose a bunch of my files and my writing and can’t figure out why, I absolutely flip my shit. At first.
Anyone would, and I understand that.
But, once I’ve connected with a customer-service person who is actively trying to help me fix what’s wrong, I really hope I can rein in my stress, frustration, and anxiousness enough to be polite with the person trying to help me.
At my job, all of our interactions are written, and I know that tone can be hard to convey on a screen.
But JFC, some folx seem to get even MORE anxious, frustrated, and nasty once I’ve actually started the troubleshooting process with them.
Fun fact: Getting pissy with the person who is trying to help you does NOT make that person work harder. If that person is anything like me, it’s taking all of their energy not to tell you where to shove your laptop.
And, hey, I’m a writer. Not only can I think of really c r e a t i v e places where you can stick that laptop. But, I ALSO can find a great many words to explain EXACTLY how to put it there.
Please folx, be kind. And if you can’t be kind, then please be mature enough to walk away and scream into a pillow.
I’ll be back soon. Heed this warning.
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
Ruth F. Simon 