Thursday, March 04, 2021

on notice

You're on notice. Give notice. Take notice. Give or take. Notice this: Brits loathed notice as a verb. It was seen as an Americanism. Ben Franklin went to France. When he came back to America, he noticed that notice as a verb was notably a new thing. For gamers, a pending loser is on notice. If someone puts you on notice, doesn't that notably add stress to you? It's like they're waiting for you to crash and smolder. Performers are on notice, in a different way. They want to be noticed. Sometimes, though, the spotlight seems too bright, way too hot. (Not-ice, get it?) Being on that kind of notice can freeze one in their tracks. Caught in the flicker of the strobe light. Paralyzed. You're on notice, son, girl, spouse. How servile one feels. Everyone, anyone, working for The Man is on notice from Day 1. (Do people now work for The Woman? The Person? The Military-Industrial Complex Android?) 

Politicians, you're on notice. As if they care. As if we care.

On notice? We notice what we want to notice, see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, believe what we want to believe.  

And we call this freedom.

1 comment:

Only1CoachG said...

Take NOTICE: "You know, if you don't do nothin, you don't do nothin."

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