Last night when the election returns were turning truly nightmarish, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and switched from MSNBC to Netflix to watch the latest episode of the Great British Bake-Off. GBBO is my security blanket in stressful times — a digital Xanax lick installed next to my sofa.
My husband, who I’ve mentioned before is a “normie,” i.e., not a politics junkie like we are, was snoring away on the other half of the couch. Later, he woke up and saw that I was watching GBBO and said, “Oh, shit. That bad?”
I let him know it was bad indeed but that all was not irredeemably lost, at least not yet. He nodded, got up, went to bed and slept like a fucking rock.
I want to be like that.
It’s not that the mister cares less or enjoys more privilege than the average reader here. He votes in every election and votes the same as me 99% of the time, with the 1% representing rare disagreements on stuff like ballot initiatives or primary preferences. He just doesn’t feel compelled to pay attention all the time.
I want to be like that.
He was happy when Obama won. He was horrified when Trump won. He’s dismayed that the current election is so close. He gets what it all means. But he can compartmentalize or something in a way I just can’t seem to manage, and I think that makes him a happier person.
He was interested in the returns, but he would never sit around refreshing a voter turnout database from Duval County, Florida, trying to read tea leaves, like I did yesterday. He cares about who’s in charge, but it’s mostly background noise to him.
I want it to be mostly background noise to me too. I don’t want to care less, donate less, volunteer less or anything like that. I just want to focus on it less.
Valued commenter Baud and I briefly discussed the concept of converting to normie-hood this morning, in a joking way, but I’m serious. I’m ready to kick the habit. Or at least cut back.
As soon as I’m done with my projects for the day, I’m going to go spy on some birds. Expect blurry photos later!
Open thread, and I mean any topic is fine, including the raging catastrophuck.