Scuttling and Scurrying

[fiat_knox]

To the Mundanes I see all around me.

I see you all.

I watch you as you scuttle to work, and scuttle back and forth to lunch and back to work, and scurry back home or down to the pub.

I observe you as you scurry directly home from work, straight to work from home; and I watch the worst of you as you get out of the house in the morning to stumble onto the bus and, once you arrive in town, lurch straight into the JD Wetherspoons to begin the day's hard drinking regimen that has become the sole focus of your lives.

I see you chasing the pounds, chasing your own tails, chasing after oblivion.

I see it all, and I can hear the voices inside your heads.

I hear them all, screaming.

I am not surprised. If I lived a life as pitiful as this, I'd be screaming, too.

Comments

[cdave]

How do you identify which of the people scuttling/bussing around are mundane? Are you not being judgemental? People in transit could be doing/going anywhere!

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

It's their eyes. You can see it in their eyes. There's no mistaking it.

Look at the eyes of the actress Megan Fox. It's the same look, exactly.

It's the look of a vessel made empty. The look that the wearers chose.

My whole life has been one long struggle to maintain control over its course, lest interests with not so gentle intentions take the reins from me; and to seize the opportunities when and where they come - case in point, this weekend and the events I aim to set in motion tomorrow, which ought to guide my life for some time to come.

But in the years I have had, I have rarely never seen anyone else sit up and listen, captivated by a lone blackbird singing its heart out on top of a church spire in a busy street, or look up at an evening sky turned to fire by the rays of the dying sun on the clouds.

Today, it was an immense cloud of starlings in the sky. And to my amazement, nobody on the street below seemed even the slightest bit interested in the spectacle overhead. Honestly, it was as if someone had discovered how to apply a cloaking device to naked 18 year old cheerleaders, and had them marching down the road past everyone - while everyone was too wrapped up in their little lives to notice.

Life is spectacle and chaos and wonder, and if all a person can think about on their little way through life is getting that bill paid, or getting to the bookie's in time to place that next bet or getting to the pub to get a good seat in the outdoor smoking section - they walk like mundanes and they quack like mundanes. Trust me on this.

[cdave]

I often scurry from A to B across a long familiar route, dressed in my suit and tie; I may well not take the time to stop and listen to a rare song bird that has decended into old London town.

I resent that that makes me mundane in your eyes.

Often I will see some small detail that catches my eye, and tell my companions if there be any, or quietly admire it. But life is too short, and I have too many plans (often silly plans, but plans nonetheless) to spend the whole day in contemplation of the world around.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Whatever gave you the impression that I consider you a Mundane? I consider each and every person on my f'list extraordinary.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

Threadjumping, but it seems to me that the point cdave might be trying to make is that just because you see these people going about their daily business and not looking at the same birds or sunsets you do doesn't mean that their lives are completely mundane or devoid of magic or wonder.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Bitter experience has shown me that yes, there are many people Out There whose lives truly are devoid of all magic and wonder.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry that your view on people is that pessimistic, shallow, judgmental, and bleak, and it honestly surprises and disappoints me that you think that way. I didn't think you were that kind of person.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

All I want is for people to just wake up.

We're all dying. Some day, for each and every one of us, the breath of life will be snuffed out. No regret; no joy; no anger; no fear.

And that is how I live. Not in preparation for that time, but simply because that is how I feel. No regret. No joy. No anger. No fear.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

Well...if lack of emotion is supposed to explain you being unnecessarily judgmental of everyone you see on the street, cool for you, I guess. I certainly wouldn't want to live like that, but everyone's gotta do what they can to get through the day.

I hope it works out for you, or something.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that you're angry at me, and believing me to be all judgmental. I'm also sorry that I can't seem to be able to tell you otherwise.

That's two people I've pissed off with this post, and I am really sorry that my post has pissed you both off.

But I could not control how you feel about the things I write, any more than you could control how I feel about things other people say.

And I truly can't not write stuff if I'm always thinking "Hey, wait! What if I piss somebody off with this? I can't write this, or else I'm gonna lose their friendship!" or "Oh, I can't say this. What if some future employer finds my blog and reads this?"

Like my words. Hate them. Fear them, or loathe them. But understand that you are all on my f'list because you are my friends. And even the best of friends sometimes piss off one another, despite the best intentions.

But it doesn't stop them being friends.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I'm not angry that you wrote this. I certainly don't expect people to censor what they truly believe in their own journals, and I'm glad when they don't. I'd rather know the way someone thinks so I can accurately evaluate whether I want to know and interact with them, and get as good of an impression of them as I can.

My impression of you has changed considerably since I first friended you; this and entries very much like it have seen to that. The impression that I've formed of you is that while you are a creative, funny, and often kind person, you can also be dismayingly entitled, judgmental, and bitter, and I'm not sure if these are tendencies you've been able to observe in yourself or not. The only thing you could do to convince me otherwise is not to tell me that you are not exhibiting judgmental behavior, but to not be judgmental in the first place.

If you truly don't believe that you are being judgmental, or if you truly feel that your judgment of people whose lives and thoughts you don't know is justified...well, that's your right, and I don't begrudge you your own space in which to voice your honest thoughts. But it upsets and saddens me, and it's not something I wish to read on my friendslist.

[cdave]

This sums up my feeling on this far better that I could.

[cdave]

Just the stuff which can be used to identify people.

:scuttle to work
:scuttle back and forth to lunch and back to work
:scurry back home or down to the pub.

:scurry directly home from work, straight to work from home
:get out of the house in the morning to stumble onto the bus and, once you arrive in town, lurch straight into the JD Wetherspoons to begin the day's hard drinking regimen

:chasing the pounds
:chasing your own tails
:chasing after oblivion

:their eyes. You can see it in their eyes. There's no mistaking it.

:rarely never seen anyone else sit up and listen, captivated by a lone blackbird

:nobody on the street below seemed even the slightest bit interested in the spectacle overhead.

:think about ... getting that bill paid
:getting to the bookie's in time to place that next bet
:getting to the pub to get a good seat in the outdoor smoking section

As far as I can see that's your criteria. I definitly meet 11, don't meet 2, and am not clear if I meet 2 as they are not something you can really be self aware about.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Here's a silly plan for you:-

(http://cheezburger.com/View.aspx?aid=2665762816)
moar funny pictures (http://icanhascheezburger.com)

That took me most of an afternoon and cost me £8. All for one seemingly cheap, spontaneous gag.

And now I'm aiming to embark upon a life of wandering and patrolling, of sitting in a library writing, and possibly also working out a little in the gym.

And none of this was planned.

There is nothing wrong...

[wolf-heart9.livejournal.com]

...with taking the time to chase your tail from time to time. It can be quite the stress relief. Especially, if you're an astute ol' mutt, you can catch it. Then you've accomplished what you've set out to do and the rest of the day is yours to lie about in the grass, letting the sun warm your belly and daydreaming about steak.

I would kill for some time to do all that...

Re: There is nothing wrong...

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

That's why I'm a cat person. Observing cats, I have come to the conclusion that they basically do all that tail chasing shit early on in the day, so they can get on with all the fun things during the best part of the day.

That's why you only see them lazing around and laying about. Efficient time management. :D

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

I see it all, and I can hear the voices inside your heads.

I hear them all, screaming.

You know, they make tinfoil hats for that.

Tinfoil Hat

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

In my case, it'd be to protect the mundanes from hearing my broadcast thoughts.

Re: Tinfoil Hat

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

"Hi, Marge! We're freaking out squares!"

Re: Tinfoil Hat

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

:) I consider that my solemn, sacred duty.

Randall Munroe said it better than I could.

[innocent-man.livejournal.com]

Re: Randall Munroe said it better than I could.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. :) That was one of my favourites.

Re: Randall Munroe said it better than I could.

[tears-of-nienna.livejournal.com]

Sorry to butt in here, but isn't the point of the comic that all five of the people are thinking the same thing? That we all sometimes feel like we're the only person who notices these things, but it isn't really the case at all?

Re: Randall Munroe said it better than I could.

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Perhaps so. But then, which one of the five are the reader supposed to be?

How about the one person on the outside, looking at all five in that carriage and laughing?

Or the viewpoint of Randall Munroe, who drew the panel?

[scifitwin.livejournal.com]

hail fellow erisian!

saw you on friendsfriends

congratulations, you will be internet famous (http://community.livejournal.com/metaquotes/7253107.html)

enjoy your 15 minutes

Another 15 minutes

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Cool. And it looks like it's freaking out the Mundanes on the forum you posted the link to.

I wonder. If I fed them a line from the Tao Teh Ching, would they call it "crappy school poetry" too? Probably so.

Re: Another 15 minutes

[scifitwin.livejournal.com]

it's amazing, right? i bet your life must be really magical. i bet everyone who even sees you just freaks out. squares! we'll show them. i'm going to go put on my jester hat and blow bubbles at my grandma now. that'll freak her out for sure!

Re: Another 15 minutes

[hyper-ion.livejournal.com]

It's Daodeching, by the far less cumbersome pinyin romanization. Just so you know, you're using the outdated Wade-Giles method.

Re: Another 15 minutes

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

To the Chinese, that book is just a pamphlet they hand out at the Taoist temples, rather than the vast, scholarly tome it is over here.

And you did not respond to the question about whether or not people would respond that a line from that book would be considered nothing more than rancid schoolboy doggerel.

Fair enough, because my question was, in the first place, rhetorical.

Re: Another 15 minutes

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Here via metafilter -

I hope that I am witnessing one of the best troll-jobs ever, but, if not, just give me a minute here to find you a ladder so that you can get over your pretentious, faux-thoughtful, special-snowflake self.

(The fact that you completely miss the point of the xkcd cartoon makes me think it's Ladder Time.)

Re: Another 15 minutes

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Oh, I get the XKCD cartoon.

But it's still just a cartoon. It's entertainment, not Gospel.

I mean, XKCD's just this decade's Garfield / Gary Larson.

[pete23.livejournal.com]

and now... from london... SHEEP ON DRUGS!

for some reason, that song resonates with me here.

[sleepinbeast.livejournal.com]

Here via metaquotes.

So how is you life better than other people's lives?

(Except for the obvious fact that, like me, you have enough time on your hands to write on livejournal instead of working 14-hour-shifts in a sewing factory in Bangladesh)

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

I'm not upset, myself, but I think the problem people are having is that lots of us--even weird, extraordinary people--look like the Mundanes you're describing, and they feel like you're judging the book by its cover here.

Some of us blend in on the outside and carry all our uniqueness inside our heads where you can't see it. Heck, there're days I walk around glassy-eyed and blank as anybody, because I'm not even paying attention to anything but my thoughts.

[lyny-wolf.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Is it bad of me to laugh insanely at everyone getting upset? Because the way I see it, if you're getting offended that you might possibly be viewed as a Mundane, you've got too much of the mundane in you. :P

But...that's just me. ;)