Babel 2.1

I am alone it seems. A few months ago, I received an email which was pure babble to me. I had a bit of a laugh, a frustrated laugh. It was a reply to some questions of mine, and it made no sense on the level of being a sentence. The words themselves, each individually possessing meaning, were forced into a sort of arbitrary order irrespective of any overarching point. It was meaningless, to me.

But I am alone. I could show friends this email, and they could, after reading this nonsense, nod knowingly, ready to explain its meaning, which they did. More nonsense, non-sentences. There was no meaning, I realized, only belonging: Some of us belonged to the atmosphere, and whether or not there was meaning to the words, the words themselves were the words people liked to use. They were the catchphrases, the lingo. Some belonged to that thoughtless mindset, but I am alone.

(Thankfully, not everyone pretended that the email said anything. There were a few who understood).