This is the glamorous.

Finding a Louis C.K. interview I hadn’t seen before has now produced this mild rant.

As how things are on the internet, I was looking for something else and somehow snaked my way to a video I hadn’t seen before of Louis C.K. being interviewed by Time in regards to his infamous rant about “everything’s amazing and no one is happy” that he did on Conan back in 2008.  This section of the interview made me think of two things that get me riled up.

1. Everyone wants you to do well.

I often tell people that they should try doing a play, stand-up, or improv a few times so they can experience what that is like on stage.  Most people react by saying how they would be too scared or they wouldn’t want to do poorly.  If doing any of those things has taught me anything is people want you to do well.  People don’t go to shows hoping it’s bad.  They go wanting to enjoy themselves.  Even if the most cynical or mean-spirited person is there, they still go with the idea that they want entertainment even if they are coming from the perspective of them wanting to be proved wrong.  Once you realize that everyone wants you to do well, even if it’s to keep them from being bored or angry, it’s not that scary.  Once I figured that out for myself I realized it could be applied to everything.  People want you to do well in life.

2. Shut up and enjoy the thing you’ve been given.

About five years ago, I was at a meeting that I didn’t want to go but since it was required for work I was there.  We took a break for lunch and the 20 or so of us ordered take-out from this local Italian restaurant.  When we got the food, people were complaining that the sauce was too spicy or the chicken wasn’t cooked the way they liked it.  When one of the people in my group asked me how I liked my food, I responded, “It’s great.  Someone bought me this food.  I can’t ask for anything more.”  The same person pressed me harder and asked if I really liked what I was eating and I essentially responded like this: I didn’t pay for this food.  My employer did.  What I was eating was not the best tasting variation of this dish I’ve had but it’s not horrible.  But someone took the time to make this for me and someone paid for it, so I’m going to enjoy it.  Will I order from the same place again if it’s suggested?  Probably not.  Will I recommend this restaurant to anyone else?  No, probably not.  So I’m not going to complain about the sauce or the consistency because it’s not awful, the meal was made with as much resources as they had, and someone was nice enough to purchase for me.  Or, more succinctly, it was the best meal I’ve ever had because someone else took the time to give it to me.

Whenever I hear people complain about things like movies, music, eating out, plays, television, how someone you barely know looked at you weird or whatever it really bothers me.  You get to complain about these things because real life-or-death things aren’t bearing down on you.  You don’t have to shoot your way to a well to get dirty, germ-infested water?  Then guess what, life’s alright.  Believe me, I’ve sat through so many shitty movies, horrible shows, eaten terrible meals, talked to so many rude people, and never complained.  Why?  Because it doesn’t matter at the end.  It’s all trivial and getting upset about those things is a waste of energy.  If you’re going to spend your personal time and energy on trivial things, spend it on telling people what you enjoyed and people you like.  It ties back into the first thing.  Nobody wants to see someone do poorly but it happens.  So, celebrate the things you like and enjoy and share those things.  (And keep your complaints to yourself.)

This was posted 3 months ago. It has 35 notes.