Don't Bother

People say dumb things. I'm guilty of it myself all too often, so I'm really very credible on this subject. I like to think, though, that I and those I know are better than average about withholding stupid remarks. Others are often not so good on it. A prime example of that would be something someone known to a friend of mine. I don't know them myself, and so I decided that it was not for me to involve myself.

The Fresh & Easy grocery store chain is closing down. Started by the British chain Tesco, it was supposed to find a niche and, obviously, thrive. That hasn't panned out. I can only say that I went once and it was basically fine. I would not ever have relied on it heavily or primarily. In any event, while I'm more upset by the loss of jobs and tax revenue, others were genuinely fond of the chain, which I don't regard as the stupid thing.

The substance of what my friend posted on Facebook was that the chain was closing. It was clear and emphatic. There was no maybe about it, the message was that the chain of stores is a goner. If I hadn't already known, I certainly would have after reading this message, with no confusion or anything else. The friend of my friend is not like like me. Their reply was mainly to say "I hope not." That is, they took what was in effect a corpse in a grave and said "I hope he's not dead."

That bugged me beyond reason, I won't deny it. I wanted badly to go off on the person, to set them straight on something I thought they should have instantly grasped, that a child ought to have gotten with a little effort. I obviously didn't do that. As I said, they weren't my friend, and even if they were it would have been pointless. It would be a real misuse of my time to take on the futile task of explaining such a thing to someone who already doesn't get it. Life is too short, and I need the time to address my own very obvious issues.