What is kvetching, you may be asking? It’s a wonderful Yiddish term that means complaining, especially chronically. Here’s an opportunity to get your grievances out into the world. Please, it has to be small and mundane in order to give our brains a brief respite from what’s swirling around us 24/7.
To those folks who know me, welcome to the launch of my new blog. If you got an invitation and don’t know me, or we’ve met and you can’t quite place me, stick around! This place will become one of your favorites, I hope.
If you’re still not sure, please take a minute and answer these questions:
Do you feel overwhelmed by the state of the country and the world?
Are you hesitant to complain about things that seem minor now, like slow lines at the grocery store or drivers who run yellow lights?
Is the Feel-Good piece at the end of the evening news failing to lift your spirits?
If you answered yes to any of them, you need to kvetch, my friend! I’ll start, OK?
Here’s my beef: as some of you know, I enjoy writing, especially poking fun at life and myself. Would you believe I fiddled with the TV/Cable remote last night and now have only one channel–Denver3–along with 40 and 60, both fuzzy versions of Denver3. It was nonstop Family Feud, so it’s off until I call the cable company, I guess. But back to my complaint.
After two years of hard work, I finished a humor book on the topic of Climate Change. Crazy, huh? It’s a story about some senior women, like me, helping the environmental cause in a convoluted way. If you want something done, let a well-seasoned woman do it. (Except for handling anything electronic–LOL!)
Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com
Yeah, I enjoy writing, but the fun is also in sharing it with others. As if getting it out into the world isn’t hard enough, either by self-publishing or catching the interest of someone in the publishing biz, a writer has to have a PLATFORM. That’s promoting and publicizing your latest work on social media, as in this blog. It’s just not fair.
Here’s Clinton, a just-hired publishing intern, reading my carefully crafted manuscript, resting his eyes for a moment. What chance do I have?
Did Erma Bombeck have a blog? Would Will Rogers have tweeted his witticisms? Maybe. Tina Fey is on Twitter, but it seems half-hearted. Busy person, of course.
Can’t people stop all that busy-ness, and read a good book?
Whew-I’m finished. Thanks!
It’s your turn now. Please share your kvetch (it’s a verb and a noun) in the comments, and we’ll see where it goes. There are no prizes or retweeting, just the relief of sharing an annoyance.
Trust me, you’ll feel better.
Ermigal's Kvetch Korner 
Dear Ermigal,
Welcome back to your blog post! And much success wished for your new book whenever it comes out! 🙂
I’d like to kvetch about my city’s “improved curbs.” They are high and with very sharp edges. Coming into the driveway must be carefully navigated or you could blow out a tire. While taking a walk this week I was going to step into the street off the curb and misjudged (possibly due to wearing big, safe and sturdy “clown shoes”) and rolled into the street. At a stop sign. Driver watching. Very embarrassing but she showed concern. (I send my thanks to her!) Anyway, thanks for taking the lid off my kvetch cache. I’ll be a regular and hope I don’t get evicted too soon…I have a s-load of chronic kvetching to share.
LikeLike
Hi Agnes Dawn,
Sorry about your tumble on the street. My question: Why in God’s name are you wearing thick, clutzy sneaks? I think you were asking for trouble, to be honest. Go buy some normal shoes, willya?
I’d apologize for the late response (over a month!) but I’ve been busy. Bet you’ve been kvetching about it to whoever would listen, though. Let us know when you get some new footwear, please.
LikeLike
I will attempt to kvetch with you here, Ermine, but WordPress is treating me poorly these days, I have to report.
LikeLike
My kvetch is the lack of workers everywhere in my town. Help signs up, poor service at restaurants and hours of wasted time holding on the phone waiting for somebody to speak to me! What ever happened to the customer always comes first and is always right?
LikeLike
Hi Diane! Sorry I didn’t answer sooner; I’ve been very busy cooking some of your yummy dishes! Yes, the unemployment rate is low, and if your supervisor makes a suggestion on how to improve, you can give them a raspberry and get another spot–without a reference check! (Who wants to get sued or worse for a bad work review?)
Anyway, after careful thought about your dilemma, I think you could try being “proactive.” If restaurant service is slow, pop back to the kitchen to see if they can use an extra pair of hands, especially since you tend to get “hangry” and it’s not pretty (smile weakly here.) If you’re waiting on hold for customer service, that’s a tough one; you don’t want to lose your place in the queue! Do any readers have suggestions for this kvetch? Thanks for your complaint, Diane!
LikeLiked by 1 person