Some of life’s opportunities are just spam

Got a call yesterday from Radha, who was my old meditation teacher back in the day when I was being vegetarian and chanting Hindu mantras.  Yes, that was a very long time ago.  Not for her, it seems.  Nope, she’s still there.  Along with a bunch of her scrawny fellow devotees. 

So I go to meet her for coffee, and find myself amongst a bunch of folk setting up for some religious retreat.  It seems they’re all assuming I’m one of the gang, there to help out and get all spriritual.  Yup, including her.  Okay, this is weird, I’m thinking.  I’m feeling distinctly uncomfortable.  I’m waiting around for her to finish her work and come and chat.  After all, that’s what she invited me for.  I’m feeling stuck in a time warp.  Nothing’s changed.  There’s cheap stale incense and prattle about feeling "inspired" and soppy mantra music playing. 

I had to get out of there.  Something makes me shudder.  I want them out of my hair, out of my day.  I am definitely having an Astro Boy experience. 

Astro Boy experience?  Glad you asked.  There was this great party, see, back in 2000 or so.  We were a bunch of closet geeks sitting around slightly drunk, comparing favourite childhood cartoons.  Then we got to Astro Boy.  Oh yes, we’d all loved Astro Boy.  And then some of us had seen an episode as adults, and had the heartbreaking experience of realising it was really, really crap.  Oh yeah, it had made our hearts soar as eight year olds, but now in the cold light of adulthood, there was no way to deny that it was utterly trite, sentimental garbage.  It always had been.  What had we been thinking?  

Thus, Astro Boy experience.   

My usual policy is to be polite and friendly with anyone who reciprocates, but this is just creeping me out.  I just don’t want anything to do with these people.  I don’t know how this cloying, wistful, desperate crap ever appealed to me – maybe a result of my fringe religious upbringing – but it sure doesn’t now.  This is not my scene, these people are not my crowd.  One to beam up, please.