Hugging, ‘Real Housewives’ and laughter: She’s unloading trivia cluttering her mind
I’m in a thought cycle where three random tidbits won’t stop swirling in my brain. It’s annoying and even worse is that the more these thoughts swirl, the more I fear they’re making grooves in my prefrontal cortex. Grooves that mean I’ll be stuck in some kind of thought hell where this will be all I’m able to think about.
Granted, there’s a small upside. If this does indeed happen, for the first time in decades I won’t have to think about what I’m making for dinner. You know what no one tells you? That when you get married and have kids, the question you’ll get asked the most is, “What’s for dinner?”
But enough about that. And just in case you’re wondering what’s for dinner tonight, I have no idea. This is because I have bigger things to ponder, like liberating the aforementioned tidbits from my brain.
In an attempt to make this happen, I’m going to share them with you. Hopefully releasing these thoughts into the cosmos will free them from etching any more grooves in my prefrontal cortex.
Just to be clear, I don’t know if that’s how the brain works. Note that nothing I ever say should be mistaken for science — or really anything that requires a mastery beyond 10th-grade biology.
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get into releasing those tidbits. I’ll start with hugging.
Why does everyone hug now? You could have the briefest of chit-chats with a former co-worker from 10 years ago and it finishes with a hug. Or you see an acquaintance in the grocery store cereal aisle and it’s hug time right there by the Cap’n Crunch.
As a non-hugger this disturbs me. It’s not that I’m not friendly: I’m just not a hugger. I’ve literally had to train myself to accept hugs. Did being deprived of hugging during the pandemic turn us into super huggers? I don’t know but I’m telling you the handshake is out and the hug is in.
Moving on, have you ever thought about what kind of TV shows will be played at your assisted living facility when you’re really old? I have because the last one I visited (just to be clear it was as a guest and not as a resident) was showing the TV western “Bonanza” in its living room.
I think that when my age group starts residing in assisted living, the TV shows on a continuous loop will probably be all “The Real Housewives” programs from yesteryear. I can see myself with my fellow elderly divas shouting at the TV and calling the housewives names that cannot be shared in print while cackling.
This brings me to the third tidbit whirling around in my brain like a pinball powered by a nuclear reactor. Have you noticed that as you age your laugh changes? I’m now segueing into being a cackler. It’s a robust cackle but still it’s a little unsettling.
I went from a hearty guffaw to sounding like a cross between Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians” and Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.”
It’s a lot to think about isn’t it? But now that I’ve shared these thoughts with you I feel better. It’s like I’ve handed them off and now the whirring sound in my head seems to be subsiding.
Thank you and my apologies for implanting my perhaps nonsensical thoughts into your brain. But are they nonsensical? Because really people: Why all the hugging?
Reach Sherry Kuehl at snarkyinthesuburbs@gmail.com, on Facebook at Snarky in the Suburbs, on Twitter at @snarkynsuburbs on Instagram @snarky.in.the.suburbs, and snarkyinthesuburbs.com.
