I admit that I struggle with this.
When should we return to “normal” during an international crisis? How much time should we allow to pass — while people are still fighting and dying — before we (who are fortunate enough to live in remote isolation) go back to posting pics of our lunch or sharing funny cat videos? Admittedly, I don’t know the answer to this.
But I do have some strong feelings.
Frankly, so many people disgust me. It makes me fucking vomit. Last night during the annual State of the Union address I saw poker players (Facebook friends) posting pics of their chip stacks and asking questions about ambiguous floor decisions. Some friends went to a hockey game. Read the room, you clueless fucks. Can’t you take 90 minutes once a fucking year to show some goddamned respect and be engaged in the climate of current events? Pro Tip: The world is much bigger than *you.* Do you really think the rest of the world gives one flying ass fuck about your Wordle score or that you won $427 at a casino in Oklahoma or you got 3rd-row seats at the Golden Knights game? If so, please remove yourself from my consciousness. I don’t want to know you. Let’s just say I am using my “block” and “unfriend” buttons very liberally right now.
Rant over, in part.
But that still doesn’t answer the question as to WHEN we should gradually ease back to “normal” thinking and everyday actions. This Ukraine crisis could last for weeks, months, or even years. We owe these brave people our allegiance, and if we can’t give more, then by goodness gracious we sure as hell should at least give them our attention. Is that too much to ask, for a few minutes? Think about babies dying and pets starving in Kyiv while you post that next Wordle puzzle. How riveting that you aced a word puzzle while the geopolitical map is completely being redrawn.
Okay, my rant wasn’t quite over yet.
When 9/11 happened, Gilbert Gottfried famously unwittingly raised the question about “too soon” when he made an offhand joke at the Friars Club in NYC just a short time after the towers fell and thousands died. I’ll assume most of you know this story. If not, Google it. The Gottfried moment cuts to the core about how decent people react and behave to tragedies. Let’s agree, there’s lots of grey matter here.
Years ago, when I was much more involved in poker I raised the Gottfried question about “too soon” in a column I wrote. I admit to still struggling with this question 20 years later. READ HERE
Of course, 9/11 isn’t the Russia-Ukraine War. All international crises are different and should be reckoned as separate matters with (perhaps) different responses. Nonetheless, I can’t fathom ignorance or indifference.
Ignorance is reprehensible. Indifference is even worse.