I’m at the eye doctor. I’m always at the eye doctor. It’s like this is my profession. I’m no longer a writer; I’m now an opthalmological patient. By the way, this job doesn’t pay well.
Ethan Youngerman: Good morning, Hank. It’s, uh, Tuesday. April 10th.
Hank, that was noted American Nerdfighter Ethan Youngerman, the creator of the Sublet Experiment, a play that is probably going to be performed inside my apartment. (Points to pimple) I tried to pop it but it just got mad. I don’t know about you, but I actually kind of do consider myself a role model, at least in some ways. I mean, I’m cognizant of the fact that there are young people watching this show, including, like, three year olds. By the way, wasn’t it adorable when a three year old commenter said your punishment should be having to build a house? I want a baby! They do such cute things! It’s inevitable that your behavior is shaped by the people around you, whether that means the people physically around you, like your parents, and your siblings, and your friends and coworkers. Or whether that means the people that are only virtually around you, like, say, Lindsay Lohan, or, Christiano Ronaldo.
So I do think that you have to be cognizant of the way that your behavior is helping shape the behavior of other people, and also the way your own behavior is being shaped by the other people around you. That’s why I’m not reading Perez Hilton dot com anymore. It’s started to make my brain go gooey. And then the goo tried to come out of my eye, and then I almost went blind.
But Hank, I do agree that a simplistic notion of role modeling is stupid. For instance I don’t think that anyone’s going to be driven to drink by the fact that you went to a party on Holy Saturday and then had a hangover on Easter Sunday. The fact of the matter is the way that we model behavior for the people around us and the way that they model behavior for us is a hell of a lot more complicated than just wanting to do what they do and wanting not to do what they don’t do.
For instance, the fact that Britney Spears seems to be addicted to methamphetamine makes me less likely to use methamphetamine, not more likely, because I don’t wanna end up like Britney Spears. This topic has been much on my mind lately because I received a series of e-mails last week from teenagers asking me the same question: What is my opinion of drunk driving? What is my opinion of drunk driving? I’m opposed to it! Who the hell isn’t opposed to drunk driving? Drunk drivers and jerks! That’s it! That’s the whole list! I’m not a drunk driver – I don’t even own a car – and I’m not a jerk! Ergo, I am naturally opposed to drunk driving. And here we get to the real crux of the matter, I think. If we spend the next 365 days making a video blog that discussed nothing except for the perils of drunk driving, it would suck. In my opinion, the question of whether or not people should drive drunk – they shouldn’t – is an important question. It’s just not a very interesting question.
There are lots of things that are important that don’t make good subjects for books. For example: (Does pushups) The proper way to perform a pushup is not an interesting topic for fiction. (Eats Mueslix) The price of Mueslix is important. But I don’t wanna read a book about it. I think what’s true for fiction is also, broadly speaking, true for video blogs.
So that’s my opinion on the matter. I think all nerdfighters are role models. But I don’t think we should be role models in boring ways. And also I think we all need to remember the importance of decreasing worldsuck. In the end, I don’t think drinking a few beers at a party increases or decreases worldsuck. It may decrease worldsuck briefly for the time you are at the party, but it will increase worldsuck tomorrow when you’re hungover. And I think that’s okay. I mean, with things where they are, being worldsuck neutral is pretty impressive.
Hank, I’ll see ya tomorrow.
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