The Downside of Getting Over It

Do you ever find yourself in this situation? ... (Oh, please say you do... I do not want to feel like the weirdest person in the room) ...

You are getting a bit low on some product - it could be toothpaste or hair spray or even salad dressing, so the next time you are shopping, you pick up a replacement. But because it's on sale, or it catches your attention, or you are just a fickle brat, you don't buy the same brand. You try something new.

And then you are so keen to try the new product, you break it out right away. You start using the new toothpaste. You open the new salad dressing.

And the old product, which was just fine, sits there with 10% left in the tube, bottle, can, jar, vial, bag, envelope, box, tub.

And in the fridge, and under the sink, and in the bathroom cabinet are multiple, almost-empty tubes, bottles, cans, jars, vials, bags, envelopes, boxes and tubs. All these lonely vessels abandoned in your eagerness to try something new. Your eagerness, your passion, your obsession to get to the next thing.

Is this an American compulsion? An illness of Western civilization? Or is it part of the universal human experience?

(Or am I alone nuts?)

I am beginning to believe all the nearly-but-not-quite empty containers are indicative of a distinctly American phenomenon:

The Glorification of 'Moving On'

I believe in Forgiveness. I believe in it with all my heart.

But I also believe there is something wrong with our inability to hold an emotion (or an idea) for any length of time without people thinking we are fixated. That we should just "get over it" - whatever "it" is.

Sometimes it is appropriate to be sad or angry or afraid. And okay to stay that way for a while.

I know people who are considered overwrought because they grieve for a loved one for what is considered "too long".

I know people who are considered fantatics because they recognize injustice and make it their lives' work to right that wrong.

I know people who are considered hysterical because insist on answers to questions and will not stop asking those questions.

And all these people are told to "Get Over It" - they should just "Move On".

It's as if a short attention span is an admirable state.

And yes, maybe we are happier if we just go on the the next thing, and don't dwell on anything for very long.

But wouldn't that also mean that love doesn't last, and lies don't matter? And people can hurt us without consequences?

It may not matter if the old jar of moisturizer hangs around in the cabinet because I am distracted by the shiny new one.

But it may matter if I don't hold my government officials accountable for unethical behavior because I am too distracted by shiny new promises to remember the broken ones.

I for one am resolving to do my part:

I am finishing the Colgate before I open the Crest.

I am finishing the muenster before I open the provolone.

And I am reconsidering all my half-used makeup -

To decide -

which ones are worth keeping

which ones were mistakes I made and need to admit

which ones have clearly gone bad.

Maybe there is an analogy here?