CSotD: Not that I’ve given it any real thought …
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Watch Your Head scores with one of those gags that will only work in the hands of one character.
That's not only a hallmark of a good gag, but of a good strip, and Omar is the perfect choice for this one: He's so above it all, and someone we all know all too well.
This week, all the Omars are posting messages about how proud they are not to be watching the Super Bowl.
Well, la di da.
If Omar were really above it all, you'd see a post on Monday saying, "Didn't realize I'd missed it until I picked up the paper today … " but then, of course, Omar is far too hip to read the work of the corporate-owned lamestream deadtree media.
And he'd still be annoying. How can you take pride in not knowing what's going on around you? You're not required to buy into it.
For instance, I know there's a show on PBS called "Downton Abbey" that is getting a lot of buzz. I don't know if it's like the buzz around "Sex and the City" or the buzz around the first few seasons of "ER" or "Law and Order," and the fact that only women seem to discuss it may have something to do with the fact that it runs opposite football.
I do know that everytime I hear the name, this earworm climbs into my brain and won't leave:
(Which is doubly annoying because it so easily morphs into "Tonight's the Night." Rod apparently liked the sound.)
Yeah, it's "Downton," not "Downtown." I know. But even a silly autoresponse like that is a sign of having your head up, out and functioning, and after tonight, I'll probably go have a look and see what all the buzz is about.
I would think knowing what's going on around you, and even possibly having a grasp on what it all means, would be one mark of intelligence. But maybe that's just me.
There are, I grant you, other ways of making yourself feel smart.
A couple of years ago, I was editing a small paper when a story came across the wire about some particularly insane act — might have been the guy who shot up the Holocaust Museum, but it was something similar — and, as the portrait of the gunman began to emerge, I groused in my best Lou Grant that he was probably a member of Mensa, too.
This drew a complaint from someone with a family member in Mensa, which became a conversation about people who need the corroboration of being a Mensa member versus people who have a pretty good internal grasp of how smart they are.
Within a few days, I heard a very annoyed grumble emerge from behind a nearby computer screen. It had just been reported that the guy was, indeed, a Mensa member, which meant not only that he was a member but that he carried it high enough on his CV that it registered with whoever was compiling his profile.
I only snickered a little.
After all, when you're right all the time, it's not that much to ask that you also be gracious. Arrogance is such an ugly trait, don't you think?
And self-anointed geniuses are not the most annoying people on Facebook anyway. There are all sorts of annoying people on social media
I can pretty much ignore the "just saw a truck go by" postings, and I actually like the occasional comment on the weather, though, when it's 10F out, the complaints about imperfect weather on South African beaches can be kind of annoying. Folks, if you can feel your fingers, the weather is lovely.
The ones that make my brain hurt are the reposted bits of glurge that are harmless enough when they just want me to change my status if I've ever hugged a puppy or kissed a baby, but become depressing when they are about disease, death and heartbreak and how the person posting isn't going to let these things be a burden.
As the old monk said to the young monk, "Get over yourself."
Or, as Ken Kesey said to Pancho Pillow, "Why should I take your bad trip?"
But then here I am being annoyed by it.
Ah.
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