The
state of Georgia and other points south of the Mason-Dixon have had an
uncharacteristic number of wintry encounters in the last month. We had about three days of surprisingly cold
weather, coupled with a few inches of snow. SNOWMAGEDDON paralyzed traffic in Atlanta and in parts of Alabama. This past week we had some ice and snow that
led to downed trees, lost power, and displacement of the population. It was...(drumroll)...ICEMAGEDDON. It was scary.
It was inconvenient. It was not
the end of the world. Neither of these
events were cause for the proliferation of
“-mageddons” that I have seen and heard.
Not
every meteorological anomaly constitutes the end of the world. Exaggerating is certainly a part of everyday
lexicon, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
After surviving a plane crash and parachuting into the ocean, Mrs.
Incredible (aka Elastigirl from the movie The Incredibles), instructs her children: “…both of you will get a
grip or else I’ll ground you for a month.”
We could do with some more people who have a grip. But, we all lose control of what we actually
mean and just say things, right?
Especially in the heat of the moment.
I have heard and been guilty of such extremes in every day speech since
the New Year. To wit:
Example One:
Son #2: “I’m
so hungry I could eat a horse, a hippo, and four puppies.” He had pasta and was satiated.
Example Two:
Me: “Son, I
have told you a million times not to have toys in the kitchen. Not a million times, but it sometimes
sure feels like it.
Most
of life is just living. It’s just
snow. It’s just a tree branch (or
ten). It’s a hunger pang. We seem to have become so bored and
complacent in regular life that we need to exaggerate to give meaning to
regular happenings. Normal things can be
meaningful, even important without crazed invented language. Sure, snow in Georgia isn’t usual, but it
isn’t Snowmageddon either. This
linguistic phenomenon crept out of social media and into mainstream journalism.
A certain amount of serious concern is in order when things go awry, and when
this does happen, we certainly get a large dose of perspective, don’t we?
Then,
just as some power was restored, the ice began to melt, and people settled in
to watch the Men’s Figure Skating Finals, we had an earthquake. The quake had an epicenter in Edgefield,
South Carolina that was felt distinctly at my home, 28 miles away. And, by some reports, it was felt from Florida
to North Carolina to Alabama; it was 4.4 on the Richter scale. Youngest son thought it was the coolest thing
ever. High school students were talking
about losing their quakerginity.
Um,
what? This is a perverse use of neologism
+ hyperbole to talk about what is happening. The “–maggedons” had taught their
offspring well. Granted, teens have long been notorious for calling everything “awesome”
or “epic.” Unfortunately, there are
repercussions from such exaggeration. If so many things are amazing, then nothing is amazing.
The
movie Notting Hill was unremarkable
as a romantic comedy, but the main character, William and his flat mate Spike share
barbs, reminding each other to keep things in perspective:
Spike: Hi, hey, you couldn’t help
me with an incredibly important decision, could you?
William: This is important in comparison to let’s say
whether they should
cancel the third world debt?
Spike: That's right. I'm at last going out on a date with the great Janine, and I just want to be sure I pick the right t-shirt.
Perspective
is important. This is the film where I
believe I lost my Hugh Grantaginity, and I didn’t actually remember the main
story line, but I did remember the perspective checks that these friends toss
at each other. Words matter and
perspective matters and the words we choose for the things that happen around
us matter. It is the language that we use that frames our outlook. Our outlook helps define our resilience in
the face of unusual and commonplace events alike. How we use language defines our
interpretations of daily routines and world events.
Can
you imagine reading a history book if everything that happened had to have a
nickname or the suffix “-mageddon”? It was an awesome negotiationmageddon in Yalta
where Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt all lost their meetingaginity as they
discussed the epic future of the post-warmageddon world. Huh? It seems that in the past we were able to
frame events more appropriately. The
Yalta Conference was certainly important, but it was not equivalent to the
Rapture.
Our
world may have many things going wrong; we will encounter events that require
preparation. We will be caught unprepared. However, we simply need to
deal with things, appropriately and with correctly corresponding language. Snow – even in ill-prepared southern states –
is not the end of the world. Likewise
falling branches. Below zero temperatures in the Midwest don’t constitute the
Second Coming, and a heat wave in the summer doesn’t mean the mouth of hell is
yawning open to swallow us whole. Power loss for three or more days is not fun,
for sure; maybe is a challenge; it’s disheartening and worrisome. That’s it.
William: (about
not being able to find his glasses) It’s one of life’s real cruelties.
Spike: That’s
compared to like earthquakes in the Far East or testicular cancer, yeah?
I
don’t advocate that we go around always forcing ourselves and others to realize
how much worse others have it than we do.
However, a balanced view of the relative importance of the events in one’s
life is really an asset, and having accurate vocabulary
to discuss one’s mindset is important, too.
Frightening and bad things do happen.
But, as Mrs. Incredible orders, “I’ll tell you what we’re not going to
do: panic.” To their credit, most people around here did
not panic as snow and ice rolled through.
Most people prepared and dealt with the cards that nature handed
out. Many people reached out and helped
friends and strangers alike. It was not
epic; it was not awesome; it was not amazing.
What was it then?
Quite
simply, it was inspiring.
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