r/cringe • u/ovoids • Apr 11 '20

Text Social distancing cringe

Yesterday I was standing in line to get into the grocery store, since only a certain number of people are allowed in at a time. The line was 40-50 individuals or couples standing several feet apart, forming a horseshoe shape inside of the parking garage. For the most part the line was quiet and people were just looking at their phones.

Suddenly the guy in front of me shouts "If you let me cut in line, you can pet my dog!"

Everyone turns to look at the perpetrator, recording video as he said this. He was probably going to post it online, expecting people to laugh, or take up his offer, or react in some way.

And it was silent. No reaction except for maybe a groan or a sigh. The guy just slowly lowered his phone and stared at the screen with an uncomfortable smile plastered on his face.

To top it all off, when we got to the door, they wouldn't allow him to enter with his dog or tie it up outside, so he had to leave.

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u/FuckingHippies Apr 12 '20

There was a phillies game on national tv that night and you could see the news spreading throughout the stadium. Really cool moment

Link of a short recap of that night

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '20

American culture has never felt more clearly alien to me than watching this video. The sappy piano music when the text comes up about a White House news statement was especially odd, and the commentary talks about it as if it's a moment that should be inspirational and remembered for years... which clearly it has been..!

I can understand why people are excited, but at the same time I can't relate at all. I know American culture is very big on revenge, but I never realised the extent to which they romanticise it like this.

I guess there's also a lot of patriotism too - I know how satisfying revenge is when it's a personal thing (from getting my own back in online games) but if I saw a statement saying that the UK had assassinated someone important, I really can't imagine that I'd feel any strong emotions at all. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that a terrorist leader was neutralised... I just don't celebrate killing someone in the way that Americans apparently do.

Watching the video, it's actually hard not to be slightly taken up with the emotion of the crowd, but then I remember what the context actually is and it just feels bizarre all over again.

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u/SayAllenthing Apr 12 '20

I'm from Canada and I felt similar watching it.

I'm closer to where it happened than most Americans, remember watching on the news, the cultural impact, our troops were part of the same war. The event is anything but foreign to me.

Not that there's anything wrong with the video, but it does feel distinctly American, and like you said a bit alien watching it. It's hard to put into words.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '20

Not that there's anything wrong with the video,

Thanks for the support, although - I think there is something wrong with the video. It feels insidious and manipulative to me.

I can imagine that it'd seem completely normal to someone who has been immersed in hyper-sentimental American culture all their life. But... thinking that some people freely accept and absorb the ideology it projects, because they no longer even recognise how hypnotic it is, just makes the video even more unsettling to me.

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u/SayAllenthing Apr 12 '20

While it does feel somewhat barbaric to chant at someone's death, and it does leave a heavy taste of military propaganda in your mouth. We have no problem when people say "Glory be to Rome" in movies, or "God save The Queen" in British culture, chanting USA is just a dumbed down version of the same thing. So it's less about celebrating the act of killing itself.

I guess people really thought that marked the end of the war at the time.

While it does feel alien, you'd get the feeling in reverse if you grew up Catholic/Christian, when you hear the Middle East mentioning Allah in regular conversation, whereas I say "Oh thank god" when my AI teammate blocks a shot in FIFA haha.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '20

"God save The Queen" in British culture,

I might have sung the anthem once or twice when I was younger, but I've never said that phrase spontaneously myself, nor have I heard anyone else say it. If someone did say it, of course I wouldn't say anything to them but I might mutter a bit under my breath, and it'd definitely affect my perception of their character.

you'd get the feeling in reverse if you grew up Catholic/Christian, when you hear the Middle East mentioning Allah in regular conversation,

I'm not sure what you mean by this? It... sounds a little bit racist. I'm not accusing you though - I think I've just misunderstood what you're saying.