Style over Substance.

 We went out for a meal on Wednesday evening  My poor, long suffering wife deserved a little treat after all the complaining about work that she has had to put up with over the last month or more, (you see, you're not the only ones to have to suffer my rants).

A couple were seated at the table behind me, and my wife had to explain her periodic looks of disgust and amazement before I became paranoid that I had inadvertently mentioned work yet again.  It seems that when first seated, they ordered cocktails, then the procedure went like this.  The girl took her glasses off, struck a pose while a picture was taken, then it was obviously quickly uploaded to their social media platform of choice.  Then it was glasses back on before a sip or two was taken. A similar thing happened when their meal was delivered.  Lots of food and drink were left behind when they left, so the whole evening was obviously just a posing opportunity for them.  I find this whole business, and the idealised personal image and lifestyle that surrounds it pretty sad.

Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly common and not just for idealised posing.  Anything seems to be acceptable behaviour for some posters.  A recent TV segment talked of a campaign to prevent people filming at car accidents, an interview being done with a woman who had stopped at an accident to give CPR to a person who had been knocked down.  Unfortunately the person died, but in a pretty sick turn, once idiots started watching a video taken of the poor person dying, someone recognised them.  After that the person's family started to receive condolence messages, even from complete strangers, some of which contained links to the video!  That cannot have been either easy or wanted by the family concerned.

I'm sure this ignorant behaviour has been going on for years.  Some though seems seems to verge on either controlling behaviour or is perhaps an indicator of mental health problems.  Years ago now, before the advent of Farcebook etc, and again while we were out for a meal, this time in a long vanished local bistro, we noticed and started watching a couple at another table.  From the moment they sat down, he was on his mobile phone, barely saying a word to her throughout the whole evening.  She looked positively anorexic.  Each course arrived with him taking mouthfuls between the constant talk on his phone.  She picked at bits of food, but consumed little.  After every single course, she got up and went to the bathroom.  Since they were both in mid 20's to early 30's, well dressed and apparently affluent, we doubted that these constant loo visits were unlikely to be caused by bladder problems, but much more likely to throw up what little food she had managed to swallow at each course.  It was in no way a valid comment on the food served by the way.  Purely a sad reflection of a relationship built on style over substance.

One more example before I leave you all to think of additions to these few.  While discussing this same subject, a girl in work told the few of us present that  a friend of hers and wannabe 'influencer', had been engaged a few months ago.  The girl in work had splashed out to buy a personalised bottle of bubbly for the couple as part of the engagement present, which had been welcomed and consumed (and made an appearance on social media I presume).  Shortly after, the couple fell out and split.  Yet, shortly afterwards at a new job celebration, the same bottle of bubbly made another appearance on the girls social media, this time presumably filled with cider or water or something, and held suitably carefully so that the ex-partners name did not show.

Any supposed view of a person that requires props smacks of fiction.  Life is short, and not always ideal.   It is not lived on a film set.  We cannot jump off cliffs without parachutes, or dodge bullets, or drive cars on two wheels with impunity.  Kids should have stopped dressing up and playing pretend when they left their childhood behind.  Grow up, deal with it..  In the long run, life is what you make it, not what you see on some screen or VR headset.