A Facebook friend shared an article from The Washington Post on Sunday. I couldn’t read it because I’m not a subscriber. I thought she wasn’t either—anymore. So I checked.
On October 25 she made a big deal out of telling everyone who reads her social media posts that she’d cancelled her subscription. She ended her spiel with the hashtag #democracydiesinsilence.
Her sudden revulsion for the paper that she had once “revered” had to do with publisher Jeff Bezos’s refusal to support Kamala Harris for president, I’m guessing. Good for her, I thought at the time. She felt strongly enough to take a stand and let others know how she felt.
Fast forward to today when I came upon her post from The Post and chuckled. I’ve been there before. Made a big stink about something and then had to eat crow. So maybe she didn’t re-subscribe and was passing on a story that someone had shared with her. I doubted that. I also resisted the urge to type in the comment section: “I thought you dropped the newspaper. What happened?”
I can’t tell you how much restraint that required. She would have known that I wasn’t just being curious; I was throwing a spotlight on her hypocrisy. #pastremarksshrivelinthesunlight.
I’m not being too critical. Well, maybe just a little. I have said and done many things that I wanted to walk back. The one that comes quickly to mind is the time I screamed loudly about never frequenting a business built in a section of Indianapolis that had once been a thick forest. Three years later, I was invited to dinner at a fabulous restaurant that had been constructed where mighty oaks once grew. I didn’t say no.
In retrospect, I should have kept my mouth shut. The forest had already been felled when I launched my objections. Or I should have followed through on what I said and never darkened the door of the fancy eatery.
Speaking without thinking–or conviction–is a mistake I often make, and I’m not alone. A friend of mine loves to complain about climate change and fossil fuels but thinks nothing of driving two-and-a-half hours in her gas-powered vehicle to get her hair done every three weeks. This is the same person who clearcut a section of old growth trees to build her home and now blasts others for the cutting down of forests.
Eight years ago my brother said he was moving to Canada if Donald Trump was elected president. He’s still here.
Snoop Dogg, the darling of rap fans, was also looking to join my brother in Canada several years ago. Not only did he not leave the country, but he was one of the featured performers at Trump’s inaugural party on Sunday. His appearance drew “fire from some of his loyal fans” the Daily Beast reported. Was it four fans or four million? The Beast didn’t say.
I guess there are at least two lessons to be learned from all of this.
The first is, don’t make public commitments that you can’t or won’t keep. “I’ll never” is probably a phrase to be avoided. Secondly, be vocal about admitting that you’ve made a mistake, acted too hastily, or changed your mind. It’s often best not to say anything unless you’re willing to stick with it through thick and thin.
If all else fails, you can hope that people who read your posts or listen to your rantings have short memories.