In Remembrance of Me: One of the stupidest phrases I've ever heard.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

One of the stupidest phrases I've ever heard.

I'm sure people think they're being quite practical while they're giving it. Probably they'd go down a pre printed list to get me to shut the hell up when I'm in full blown panic attack. But "There's nothing you can do about it so quit worrying" is just the most clueless platitude. Yeah, I'm panicking about being broke, I'm panicking about John not having steady, reliable work, I worry about ending up homeless again, I worry about the kids. I can't even afford to get Aidan's hair cut right now.

But what people don't seem to get is that the fact that I can't do anything about that all IS the PROBLEM! If there was something I could do to fix it, I'd be doing it and we wouldn't have the issued that stress me out. It's the fact that all this crap is happening TO me, AT me, AROUND me is the thing that kills me. I'm helpless, powerless to protect my family.

Look at it this way, you're skewered over a fire slowly roasting while the cannibals are sharpening their carving knives. Someone comes up to you and says "There's nothing you can do about it so quit worrying". I am feeling like I am metaphorically being basted by life and I have absolutely no control over the situation to change it. And I'm being told I'm being unreasonable because I'm panicking about it. A Dalek space craft is going to crash into my house, but there's nothing I can do about it so why worry? So what, I put out a lawn chair, crack a beer and happily wait to get squashed?

I can't. I'm pretty sure the phrase "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" is coded into my DNA. I'm sure there are many utility workers, customer service reps and school employees who have been on the receiving end of that rage, and ya know, most of the time it gets stuff done. So forgive me if I don't just feel like laying down, belly up, and joyfully wait for my innards to be ripped out by life.