Oversharing; Voting Info Fatigue

 How Much Info to Share

I was thinking this morning about how one could share information about a situation, and how one decides how much to share. I could say, for instance, to the woman at the lab where I popped in to see if they could do my bloodwork then, that I stopped by because I was in the area. In fact, that's what I did say. But I could also have said that I was nearby dropping off a package at the UPS store; it's more information than she needs, but it could count as making conversation. Some people like that conversational padding and others just want you to get to the point, and it's hard to know which is who. (I heard, years ago, about a company that had some sort of indication that went on employees' badges, to show whether they would prefer you just ask directly for what you need, or would like to chat a bit first.)

I also amused myself by thinking of how I could easily have gone full-blast into babble-level oversharing. "I was dropping off a package at the UPS Store. It had a return label, so I didn't need to pay or anything, it was quick, but it's very time-sensitive and I made sure to get a receipt in case anything goes wrong. Have you heard of Cologuard? Well, what they refer to as your 'sample' has to be back to them within 72 hours of your 'collecting' it, so they have a next-day delivery label on the box. And believe me, the collection process was pretty gross, so I don't want to have to do it again. Can you imagine working for that company? They must have to wear nose plugs to do that job. It makes me queasy to think about. I told myself, doing it this way can't be as bad as an actual colonoscopy, but I wouldn't know; I've had appointments for a colonoscopy twice, and each time, the day before, I got one of my killer migraines, you know, the ones where I want to die, and I couldn't even drink water without throwing it up, so I couldn't do the prep. I told my doctor that I've hesitated to reschedule it because those days were so awful, and she said I could try the Cologuard first and if it's clear, I'm off the hook for three years at least. I hope it's clear! Maybe in three years I'll have gone through menopause and my hormones will have settled down and I won't be as prone to migraines. I'm about to turn 52, you'd think the system could shut down already!"

Not my style, but kind of funny to think about.

VOTING

I could not agree more that voting in the upcoming election is hugely important, perhaps more so than ever before. But recently I have started to notice some signs of fatigue in myself related to the reminders to vote. They are everywhere! And I'm already voting! I'm registered, I've checked, and I don't just have a vague intention to vote, I have it planned out. But I open Instagram and there's a reminder to vote. I open Facebook and there are reminders to vote, to check your status, here's where to go for more information...and these are good things for those who might need them, but oh my god, I'm going to vote, I promise, could you just chill out a little. I'm scared about how this is going to go, and I'd like to not be reminded of it constantly. I'm just so tired.

Though if it can make me laugh, I will love the reminder, as I did at this image, tweeted out today by Mark Hamill (who you should follow if you don't already):

Trump Refuses Inauguration Ceremony, Flees Capital in Disguise! I cackled out loud.