Essay
When Did Hating People Become Acceptable?
I hate everyone but you
Today someone said to me, You know me, Amy. I hate people.
I almost missed it. I almost let that statement pass me by. But I didn’t cause it got stuck on me.
When did everyone start talking about how much they hated people? I hear it all the time. I hate people. People suck. I probably say it too, but if I’m being honest, I love people. They’re pretty cool for being such fuck ups.
Sarah Silverman said that many people in government wish the other party would just die — not see their side, not find peace, not stop being racist, sexist, or big lying doofuses. Die.
We have become so frustrated with each other, we wish each other would drop dead. We’ve normalized hate.
College students are refusing to room with students from different political parties. Democrats won’t room with Republicans. Republicans won’t room with Democrats. What the fuck? You’re kids. Meet each other.
When I was in high school, one of my best friends, who I occasionally made out with, was a member of the Young Republicans Club. He wore a bow tie — granted he was hot as hell in that bow tie, but we talked about teenage stuff — not politics. We talked behind people’s backs, we got stoned, and we intuited what other people were up to.
I was friends with a girl in college whose mother was dating Chuck Wollery, the host of The Love Connection. That guy was carved out of Republican butter. My friend was a beauty queen, a Lakers Girl, and played cheerleaders in movies — we had absolutely nothing in common. We were joined at the hip. I loved her more than any Democrat I knew at the time.
Had I not met those people, I would have never met those people.
My kid’s piano teacher, who is also my friend, used to tell me when I complained about snotty Northshore moms, “Amy, if you don’t talk to them, they won’t know anyone like you. And you won’t know anyone like them.”
Hate didn’t use to be so out in the open. People thought about it, but they didn’t brag about it. A lot of people tell me they hate people now and I wonder if they know they’re also people. Do they hate themselves? Do they hate me?
Sometimes these people, who claim to hate people, say to me, “But not you, Amy. I like you.” Well, I’m a people, so you don’t hate people. And stop bragging about it. Brag about something cool.
