I hate change. I always have. I am the guy that can eat the exact same thing every day for dinner. I like knowing exactly how each week will go. And I lose it when it is altered. I like consistency. I like boring.
But I also realize that things change whether I like it or not. Some are very good changes. For the most part, since my son’s birthday, my life has changed for the better. I have filled into working with someone I thoroughly enjoy. My kids have both grown into their own with their passions. My son with baseball and my daughter with music. Where 8 years ago I worked 80 hour weeks in restaurants, I no longer do that. I can work hard and enjoy my family. And I have not been able to do that for a long time, so yes it is weird. But it is a weird I like.
The one weird change that has been noticable, but I do not think I wanted to accept it for some time, is politics. Before Trump, I was not involved at all. I mean, I have very strong liberal views on social issues. But I was not very much into it as I became in 2015. And during that time, I felt like I made a difference, while keeping myself and others sane knowing that we had some bad leaders and we would survivie it until we could vote them out.
But things shifted. The woman I cheered for saying Impeach the MFer hates me for being Jewish. The man who was thrilled Biden was elected now questions his age after four years. People who loved Obama now look for reasons not to. And honestly, nonw of that is for me anymore.
One of the hardest things in my life was when I would put love and thought into art and try to sell to the masses only to have people like Rex Chapman and some actor from OZ call me a worthless grifter. For the record, selling something you are passionate about is not grifting. What is grifting is pretending to be someone you are not for RTs. or Substack subscriptions. It is promising you news about a political figure that you want to hear, but never do. How many times has P*lmer report done that? How many times have these large accounts, most I would RT to get bigger, do this?
And Twitter made this easy for me to stop there. Twitter is built different now. No one cares if I tell Lauren Boebert to F off. Three years ago, it got 10,000 likes. Today, maybe 8.
No, Twitter care about fake outrage. They care about fragile people not happy with Taylor Swift, or a man sharing thoughts on a woman’s body. I am basically done with that. I have no need for fake outrage.
But I did try to post some political thoughts on Threads. It is not worth it. People are lost. There is no news network I watch anymore. None. Hell, I sell sports cards, and I cannot even watch ESPN at times because I do not need to hear people arguing between Lamar Jackson and Brock Purdy. But, since you asked, Lamar deserved the MVP.
But this post is about change, and the hardest thing for me to really comprehend is nothing around me changed. Bad actors have always been there. Fake people as well. Political views have always been skewed. Butwhat has changed is how I look at everything. Is it good? Not always. I think having some anger made me look at things with more clarity. But the anger is gone. The suicidal Tony from 2018 is not around anymore. I am a better person today. And it is because of better people around me.
So if you are looking for political commentary, I am not the one. I will use this space to talk more about my life and some social issues that mean a lot to me. My one comment on Taylor Swift is if you truly dislike her, you are an asshole. You can but but but me all day. I will listen, and after, I will tell you that you are an asshole.
So I keep going back and forth here and it is not fair to you. But here is what I guarantee. My son starts baseball season next week. That I am talking about. I am back at the gym. That I am talking about. I am talking about a few things that are important to me.
But not going on about politics anymore. Let the bad actors have it. I have local elections to worry about, which impact me and my family.
As always an honest take! 👍🏻👍🏻
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