Why do people cuss when they claim they don’t care? Shouldn’t the two be mutually exclusive? Isn’t cussing generally an expression of passion or emphasis?
Cover the kids’ eyes and if it vexes your righteous soul, stop reading. I am about to quote Urban and Redneck America on the various ways we cuss our ambivalence….
The most common expression, at least in my experience is, “I don’t give a shit!â€
The exclamation point is essential because it is almost always said with a certain level of emphasis or an octave above the proclaimer’s normal voice. Sometimes, you can even see a vein pulse in the forehead of the person who doesn’t give a shit. Seems odd.
Then there are those who really, really don’t care and they “don’t give a flying shit.â€
Which, of course, is disgusting and a point well taken, though “methinks thou dost protest too loudly.â€
The redneck version of the more urbane expression is, “My give-a-shitter is busted.â€
At least that one is kind of funny.
Some just “Don’t give a damn.â€
This is more difficult to quantify as a currency for not caring.
The really annoyed-and-not-afraid-of-taking-a-name-in-vain will say, “I don’t give a good G-dd-mn.â€
I pray for their souls and I hear them…loud and clear.
More and more, people care less and less…except, of course, when it comes to arguing online. We have become a people passionate about nothing quite so much as our point of view and our own opinion. We will argue everything from barbecue to baby names, from Afghanistan to afghans, from politics to plumbing (but I repeat myself), from sports figures to figurines. For some, Cryptocurrency is the Kryptonite. For others, it is the Man, man…the Machine.
Only the careless “couldn’t care less.†There is no value in vocalizing how much you don’t care. There is no virtue in it, either. It is contradictory and disingenuous because you care enough to passionately declare your disinterest. We usually say we don’t care when we are frustrated by our inability to change the circumstance or at least influence it in some way.
Are you picking up what I am laying down here? We care! We care about being right, about being heard, about being respected…and we care about “likes†and heart emoticons. Beyond that, for many, the give-a-shitter is flat busted.
Here’s a quick fix if yours is busted…
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Get over yourself. You are one in 8 billion people. You are great, I am sure, but you are not that great.
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Get off the Internet. Experience something in three dimensions and I am not talking about virtual reality. I am talking what is real, what is right there where you live.
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Get into something that matters. You know what matters? People matter. Ultimately, the only thing that matters about any of us is how we impact others. What difference will you make in someone’s life today?
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Get a life. William Wallace, The great Scottish warrior-leader who sacrificed himself for the cause of freedom said, “Everyone dies, but not everyone lives.†George Bernard Shaw said, “Life is not about finding yourself; it is about creating yourself.
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Get Jesus. You know what Jesus did? He rescued losers from their dead-end lives. He taught the greedy the benefit of giving. He hung out with the outcasts. He cared. That is what he did. He cared.
Jaded is the word for a society saturated in Social Media, inundated with information, a people who have seen everything and so nothing impresses, nothing makes an impression. No thrill is thrilling enough.
Jaded. What a miserable existence.
I see Jesus looking something like the homeless man you saw at the street corner on your way to work this morning, the one who caused you to lock your doors and look straight ahead to avoid eye contact. I see Jesus, in torn and tattered clothes. I see Jesus, holding a cardboard sign in His nail-scarred hands.
Don’t look away. Look at the sign!
It reads, “Brother, can you spare a damn?â€
Will you be the one to care in a world of carefree, careless, jaded jerks? Will you be the one to care?
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’”