Edited by: Ananya Khandelwal
(At this point, I must provide a pointless warning. I have been informed some of you dear readers may not be up to hearing a detailed rant filled with my deep annoyance and frustration. Such readers may now click away from this piece, so that they may not have to endure my extreme eye-rolling at their delicate sensibilities.
On with the show!)
Well, here we are at last. Two long years since the great pandemic shut us all inside our homes. But it feels now like we have weathered the storm, like 2022 is the light at the end of a long (long) tunnel, and that we may have come through the worst at last. It was difficult, no doubt, but with our combined strengths, we have made it through to the end. This is what we tell ourselves, patting ourselves on the back, claiming life will soon be back to normal.
Right.
Of course life will go back to normal! That is what we’ve been thinking for the past two years, and sure, we have been wrong every single time, but we’re definitely right this time. Of course, things are going up, and nothing at all could possibly make it all crumble down again! Of course the delicate Jenga tower of our world is assembled again. Why would you think someone/ something will pull out the bottom brick of our precarious lives? Pfft, that would never happen.
Right.
No, really! Covid infections are finally decreasing, the pandemic is nearly over! I mean, the last time we thought so, it did set off three (hundred) other variants, but that’s all in the past now! The world is moving on, into a new age.
True enough. We are indeed moving into an age of new catastrophes. We seem to continuously open endless vistas of new problems. The variety we seem to have achieved is truly impressive. From massive forest fires in Australia, to blocking the Suez canal with just one ship, to charging the US Capitol and trying to unseat democracy — we have great range! And judging from our past record, we have no intention of stopping there — I wonder what great novel acts we will come up with in 2022?
If it is not abundantly clear already, these past times have left me with little sympathy for those positive thinkers who seek to turn every event into a meadow of sunshine and flowers. I have been told all about how the quarantine periods encouraged people to explore new hobbies, or helped them make new online friends. Believe me, I am happy for them. But I assert my belief that the last two years were bad. Really, really bad. If you would not like to hear this, my apologies, but we seem to be all out of inane platitudes today, please check back with us never.
What’s that? Do I need to be more optimistic? I need to see the silver lining? Oh, you needn’t hold back here. Say what you are thinking — I’m being terribly unreasonable, or pessimistic. I’m just being a downer. Yes, I am all of these things, and proudly. None of this is nice, and I’d very much like to not pretend that it is or could be for a few minutes. For just a few moments in the day I’d like to be absolutely exhausted and annoyed and ticked off and tell everyone around how much these past two years have resembled an infinite cesspool of terrible things. I am well aware that my unfortunate condition of being human confines me to remain in the cesspool, but I reserve the right to complain loudly about it.
And sometimes, it helps! Sometimes it really helps to just be able to admit when things are terrible. Consider, just for a minute, just how incredible it is that we can say these things! Incredible, for three reasons. Firstly, that we all can say it. We can know that others are there, who feel as horrible as we do, who have hated the past two years as much as we did. Our shared misfortune is now a bond that all of us have, and that we can hold up, express, and be proud of by being angry.
Secondly, it is incredible because once we’re angry and annoyed, we can change things. The power of our collective anger is nigh unstoppable, if only we all admit to it! Anger gives us the will, the tremendous power to actually do something about it. And finally, it is amazing that we can say when things are bad, because we can admit what we have come through. This was a global pandemic! A veritable constellation of disasters! And we are still here.
So with two terrible years under our belt, and with the collective might of our shared grievances at our backs, we can face what 2022 has to offer us with grit.
And if it sucks, meet me back here in a year for rant 2.0!