Cool to Be Cold

I used to have to teach teens seeking success in a job. You have to be all the things that make you uncool at school.

You have to make eye contact.

You have to sit up straight, lean forward, be interested.

You have to speak audibly.

You have to act like you give a s***.

It is odd to me that what is cool is to act…well, cool. As cool as possible. Nearly frozen really. Shrug it off. Don’t blink. Don’t let them see you sweat. Don’t let them know you care. And it’s not just teens. I see it in adults and media, everywhere.

This probably is the biggest change I would like to see in the world.

Laugh. Express joy. Goodness. Cry. Express grief. Pain. Say “no thank you” and “thank you” when it’s true and meaningful. I think so much more would be done for the good if we all honestly expressed ourselves. I know the things I kept in and soldiered through did no me no favors. Whatsoever.

The only thing that seems to be at least as or more popular than apathy, is snark. I love sarcasm. I do. It is my favorite type of humor. People who say it is the lowest form just have not seen it in its most beautiful examples. It’s like saying you don’t like chocolate. This simply can not be true.

I did have to learn to cull the mean edge from it. Let the funny come out, but not at the expense of others. Much in the way I had to learn to love chocolate. In moderation.

My sociology-loving brain finds this part of our culture so odd. How is this- coolness to life and all its intensity- the thing we came to think of as…well, cool?

Any ideas?