Cooled

It was hot today. The fan in my home worked well, keeping me cool while giving me calming sounds. a sound I used a lot when my tinnitus arrived back in 2022.

The heat, however, seems to slow time and bring out the weird in people. A new thing today: complete strangers are now begging at the checkout to use my Clubcard to get cheaper shopping and afford their vapes. Bristol has some brass-neck beggars, but this felt obnoxious to me.

Do I blame the individual in need? Of course not. All I witness here is the consumer machine working as intended. It creates the belief of a "cost of living crisis" while convincing folk that what we need is more than just basic necessities. Are things more expensive, or have we been convinced we need more to be complete?

In my calming, cooled state, I politely pushed back against the demands of the socially excluded now. Clearly, Clubcard points are the new "spare change". But change is not spare, it's something that comes from the undistracted soul.