General Discussion

If introvert / extrovert tendencies are viewed on a continuum, I’d place myself at roughly 35% introvert, 65% extrovert. I used to interact with those in proximity, including the free expression of my displeasure with those drawing my ire.

Perhaps it was the realization that a good percentage of the people I encounter daily support the orange shitgibbon.

Perhaps it was during mandatory mask-wearing, where facial communication was limited. Did you know there are 50 ways to say ‘FUCK YOU!’ with your eyes alone?

Perhaps it was an incident in a drug store. Coincidentally, this was during the mandatory mask-wearing. I was navigating a crowded aisle and decided I should be closer to the shelves to make room. I’m kinda gorilla-like in handling stuff, so I did a quick pivot-point adjustment that made a bit of noise and didn’t look elegant in performance. A man older and smaller than me rolled up in my face, demanding to know if I had a problem. I assured him I didn’t, but it was an eye-opener to observe how close to the edge everyone seemed.

I succumbed to the madness myself, as you’ll see in this example, where a lesser ‘energy level’ would have sufficed. On a day that I visited a Bob Evans restaurant with my wife, I was wearing a ball cap with the name of the ship on which I served. There was a bit of a wait, and due to lingering COVID-19 restrictions, we had to go outside. A MAGAt, outfitted with that ugly-ass MAGAt hat, said loudly from around 20 feet away, ‘thank you for your service!’ Impulse control took a vacation, and I said back, ‘FUCK OFF, TRAITOR!’ Aside from the shame of embarrassing my wife, I opened up the possibility of receiving a beat-down in a parking lot.

There are other reasons, probably, but I’ve given my paradigm shift a title: do not engage. I don’t make eye contact as readily. I don’t make witty rejoinders to strangers in public places. It’s like I start gauging possible reactions with excruciating detail -to the point that all interaction is unpleasant and angst-ridden.