Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Oct 14 2009
Boos and cheers as group definition
The Dow crossing 10,000 made me giggle, mostly because the folks on the exchange floor were hooting and hollering and booing and carrying on with more enthusiasm than I've seen about such things in quite awhile. Booing and cheering seem to be large part of the human experience for anyone who has a voice. People often cry quietly and they often express anger in silence, but when people have something to deride or something to celebrate they rarely do it without some noise, including vocalizations of one kind or another. It happens at graduations, in congressional sessions, at sporting events, in business meetings, in churches, at fireworks displays, concerts and at many other gatherings.
I realize now how much I have missed that lately. People have seemed somewhat subdued during the recent economic turndown. I heard a glimpse of something a tiny bit nostalgic when the traders on the floor began to yell and howl and boo and express themselves with abandon. We humans probably should engage in that sort of group noise more often. There's something familiar about it, either a sort of collective cry of dismay or a remembered praise for something bigger than we are. It's our way of injecting our individuality into the moment and coming together to agree on something, or someone, affecting us deeply at a particular moment in time.
posted at: 11:01 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
The Dow crossing 10,000 made me giggle, mostly because the folks on the exchange floor were hooting and hollering and booing and carrying on with more enthusiasm than I've seen about such things in quite awhile. Booing and cheering seem to be large part of the human experience for anyone who has a voice. People often cry quietly and they often express anger in silence, but when people have something to deride or something to celebrate they rarely do it without some noise, including vocalizations of one kind or another. It happens at graduations, in congressional sessions, at sporting events, in business meetings, in churches, at fireworks displays, concerts and at many other gatherings.
I realize now how much I have missed that lately. People have seemed somewhat subdued during the recent economic turndown. I heard a glimpse of something a tiny bit nostalgic when the traders on the floor began to yell and howl and boo and express themselves with abandon. We humans probably should engage in that sort of group noise more often. There's something familiar about it, either a sort of collective cry of dismay or a remembered praise for something bigger than we are. It's our way of injecting our individuality into the moment and coming together to agree on something, or someone, affecting us deeply at a particular moment in time.
posted at: 11:01 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
