Could we just stay in our lane?

Day 25

What is wrong with us … meaning the larger group/society/culture … that we revel in someone else’s alleged drama and their imagined misery?

I’ve wondered for months why the tabloids, print and online, and trolls on Facebook, Twitter and the like perpetuate rumors about feuding between Kate and Meghan, and now between William and Harry. Headlines in the checkout lanes this week announced Prince Charles is disowning Harry. The royal couples are accused of being too affectionate in public or not enough so. Too much speculation, criticism and judgement about other people’s lives that have zip to do with our own.

On this side of the pond it’s the “certain” love affair between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, who performed together in a remake of “A Star is Born.”

When they sang their duet, “Shallow,” from the movie at the Oscars Sunday night, their chemistry was proof that they’re in love, and goodness, don’t we all wonder how Bradley’s girlfriend, Irina Shayk, really feels about Gaga “moving in on her man”?

What drivel.

One, if we’ve learned anything recently it’s that different camera angles can tell very different stories. And two, WHO CARES? How could we possibly be interested when their relationships have nothing to do with us and our lives? Why are “we” so obsessed with these stories?

From my experience writing for our local small town newspaper, I can tell you that people aren’t interested in good news. They think they are, they’ll even tell you they are, but it’s not true. The most read stories are not the ones spreading good news about someone doing good deeds. I mean, yeah, it gets noticed, but then tomorrow comes and no one remembers. They’re back to paying attention to the bad news.

But people don’t see themselves that way. They criticize the media for spreading bad news. But in reality they gobble that shit up.

Why can’t we stay on our own lane and worry about our own life and those actually residing in and around in it, rather than the strangers we call by their first names as if they are part of our family or social circle but don’t have clue one about what goes on with them — and frankly it’s none of our business?

Don’t we have enough in our own lives to hold our attention? And if we don’t, maybe THAT’S a problem we need to remedy.