Embarrassment Redux

Embarrassment is not a malady or syndrome. It's an existential condition. Nearly everyone has had one of those dreams where you’re caught with your pants down either literally or metaphorically. In dream life it tends to be fairly literal eg you realize after it’s too late that you have only your underwear on at an oneiric social gathering. On a more global level, there's the subset of people who suffer from chronic embarrassment over their misspent lives. They’re fuck-ups. Shrinks more benignly allude to maladaptive behavior. You may know somebody like this. Maybe you’re one. Shame. You live in a state of pre-snubual bliss in your attempts to avoid those humiliating social situations in which someone may ask you what you do. Even worse, however, is indifference. You may find yourself lingering and trying to figure out what to do with your hands. The advent of devices like cellphones and androids has been a help since it makes you look too busy to be aware of the sniveling condescension of your “peers.” Shame can be a delicious vigorish to sexuality, but that's a subject for another day.

read The Wormhole Society by Francis Levy

and read The Wormhole Society: The Graphic Novel by Francis Levy and Joseph Silver