Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
I. Do. Not. Get. People.
I had a conversation today, while waiting for a bus, with a woman who is a neighbor, and with whom I have chatted before and found friendly and reasonable. Today, we were talking about the weather, and the snow, and how odd it was. I know a lot of the people I talk to from day to day are not walking around with Global Warming Anxiety, the way I am, but, when I made reference to the fact that we might be beyond the point of being able to avert catastrophe, the conversation went something like this:
Me: ...so, who knows; in 20 years, we may well be all paddling around in rubber boats, wondering what happened.
Her: Well, I won't be here in 20 years, so it's not like it really matters.
Me: (after a pause) Well, but... surely it's got to matter some? What we leave behind?
Her: Nope! I deliberately didn't have kids, so whatever happens, I'm off the hook!
Me: (after another, longer pause) But... How would it be if everybody thought like that, that it didn't matter what happened to anybody else, after they were gone? Surely, some people... Child molesters... Robbers... How would it be to tell them it doesn't matter what they did to anybody, once they're dead?
Her: (after a pause of her own) I try not to think about things too hard. I just take one day at a time.
Now, I'm probably not recalling the conversation properly... And I didn't put my side of it especially well... And she may really be a perfectly nice woman, or I may have misunderstood, but if you have any moral obligation to your fellow human beings, that burden lies on you NOW, doesn't it?? Even if the impact wouldn't be felt by them until after your death? Can people really, really not see that?!?!?!
Conversations like that make me sad. Especially the part about "I try not to think too hard..."
I had a conversation today, while waiting for a bus, with a woman who is a neighbor, and with whom I have chatted before and found friendly and reasonable. Today, we were talking about the weather, and the snow, and how odd it was. I know a lot of the people I talk to from day to day are not walking around with Global Warming Anxiety, the way I am, but, when I made reference to the fact that we might be beyond the point of being able to avert catastrophe, the conversation went something like this:
Me: ...so, who knows; in 20 years, we may well be all paddling around in rubber boats, wondering what happened.
Her: Well, I won't be here in 20 years, so it's not like it really matters.
Me: (after a pause) Well, but... surely it's got to matter some? What we leave behind?
Her: Nope! I deliberately didn't have kids, so whatever happens, I'm off the hook!
Me: (after another, longer pause) But... How would it be if everybody thought like that, that it didn't matter what happened to anybody else, after they were gone? Surely, some people... Child molesters... Robbers... How would it be to tell them it doesn't matter what they did to anybody, once they're dead?
Her: (after a pause of her own) I try not to think about things too hard. I just take one day at a time.
Now, I'm probably not recalling the conversation properly... And I didn't put my side of it especially well... And she may really be a perfectly nice woman, or I may have misunderstood, but if you have any moral obligation to your fellow human beings, that burden lies on you NOW, doesn't it?? Even if the impact wouldn't be felt by them until after your death? Can people really, really not see that?!?!?!
Conversations like that make me sad. Especially the part about "I try not to think too hard..."