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Hear Jim’s 4-minute podcast: https://youtu.be/I9Mp5CaoCKk

or read his story below…

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Life, actually…

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HIGHFALUTIN OR LOWFALUTIN? THAT IS THE QUESTION

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 “At times nothing is better than something.”

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Is this a highfalutin statement uttered by a patrician overlord? Or is it something that just popped out the mouth of a regular citizen experiencing a sudden thoughty moment?

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What about this one: “Scratching an itch is just something to do to pass time.”

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If you are a degreed philosopher holding forth at a scholarly function, this seems high and haughty. If you are a barkeep at this catered affair, it may be described by a wastrel as the grumpy utterance of a societal underling.

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Snooty or snotty are the interchangeable attitudes that frequently bounce between us. They don’t make much sense. But that does not prevent us from saying snarky things when we think the person being snarked is out of hearing.

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What in the world is wrong with us?

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Is this “Oh, he’s just a doomscroller.” the same as “He’s such a prodigy, constantly manipulating the internet to gain wisdom and knowledge.” ?

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Look at it this way. Consider an old sight gag—two tuxedoed dudes at a mansion party are drunkenly spraying one another with champagne and laughing their heads off. Meanwhile, at the biker bar two body-shirted dudes are drunkenly spraying one another with beer and laughing their heads off.

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Is one situation funnier than the other? Maybe you have to be inebriated yourself to appreciate the humor.

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These are mysterious questions with shifting answers. Time and distance constantly alter perception.

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Is that too froo-froo a thought?

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People-observing is a lifelong habit with me. It is fun and awesome and frightening and provocative in positive and negative ways. I guess it is my thing. I enjoy watching at a distance as folks live their lives. I learn so much about my own strengths and foibles, my need to improve and streamline myself, my impulse to edit and correct my behavior.

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Don’t try to find logic or meaning or criticism. It’s just the way I behave. You may learn from watching me. And I may vice versa you. So it goes.

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What is most enjoyable is each time I can sit with you and we together observe the world’s passing parade, commenting out of love and fascination, not finding flaw and fault. Just appreciating.

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One more thing about highfalutin and lowfalutin.

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When you watch someone gazing intensely at a small hand-held screen, jot down what you see. It’s one thing when said gazer is lost in virtuality. It is another thing entirely when said gazer delicately raises one eyebrow as if to convince himself that what he is doing is meaningful and intelligent.

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Small things can produce big tells

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© 2026 A.D. by Jim Reed