Playlist for all the Karens...
by Charlotte Bennardo
The theme this month is Playlists. Generally, the themes revolve around the writing process, the publishing community, and all things books. Unlike almost everyone, I don't like to listen to music while I write. Gasp! Right? I find it distracting. If a song comes on that is catchy, I sing. If I sing, I can't write. If a melody plays that is sad, and I'm trying to write a happy chapter, I can't set the mood. If a tune makes my imagination create a shiny new idea, I can't work on the manuscript I'm in the middle of.
No music.
Silence, please.
That's the only way I can work.
But the theme is playlists, and well, I'm feeling a bit cranky because there are too many idiots out there endangering others by not wearing masks or social distancing, acting entitled and feeling like they have rights that supercede the very lives of everyone around them. You know who these people are- we call them 'karens.' (My apologies to sweet ladies who have this name and are nothing like the yahoos who make the rest of us miserable. My favorite aunt was named Karen so it pains me too.) So I decided I would put together a playlist for those annoying people.
In public places: Don't Stand So Close to Me (The Police)
If you won't wear a mask: Don't Come Around Here No More (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
If you're sick, but don't want the vaccine because you don't listen to science but to stupid stuff on the internet: I Need a New Drug (Huey Lewis and the News)
When you whine about your life/routine being disrupted because you have to protect others: Changes (David Bowie)
When you think the pandemic is the 'Blue Flu' or a hoax and not that many people have actually died- Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton) or Fade to Black (Metallica)
For those denying that Covid-19 is deadly or has lasting or long term effects: In My Time of Dying (Led Zeppelin)
For being a b*tch when things don't go your way: Rich Girl (Hall and Oates)
I specifically chose older songs because a good number of the karens (and the kens) are older and not listening to rap or hiphop. I know there must be a ton of good songs by rap and hiphop artists and I wish I had a better knowledge of them. Now I have to go make a playlist that makes me happy.
Be safe, be courteous, be good to yourself.
I'm with you with not listening to music while I work, but using "Karen" as a name for annoying people is a bad precedent for impressionable young people. I would say that even if it WEREN'T my given name.
ReplyDelete