Alright, let’s talk about something I bumped into online recently. You see these terms floating around, right? Like “chinese daddy gay”. Makes you stop and think, what’s the story here?
It got me thinking about categories, labels, and how weirdly specific things get online. It reminds me of this time, years back, when I was trying to organize my old photo albums. Not digital ones, the actual physical books.
Sorting Through Old Stuff
So, I decided it was time. Pulled out these dusty boxes from the attic. My plan was simple: sort them chronologically. Easy, right? Nope.
First, I started pulling out photos. Baby pictures, family holidays, school stuff, friends I barely remember. The sheer volume was crazy.
Then I tried to put them in order. Problem was, half of them had no dates. Some just had vague notes like “Summer fun” or “That trip”. Which summer? Which trip? Who knows.
- Found a bunch from a camping trip. Looked like maybe late 90s? But was it before or after Sarah’s wedding? Couldn’t recall.
- Pulled out photos from my cousin’s graduation. Okay, that one I could date. Progress!
- Stumbled upon pictures of my old apartment. The one with the terrible green carpet. That helped pin down a few years.
It became this huge mess. Photos spread all over the living room floor. My wife came in and just stared. She asked what on earth I was doing.
I explained my grand plan. She just laughed. Said I was making it way too complicated. “Just group them by people or places you remember,” she suggested. “Who cares if it’s perfect?”
And she was right. I was getting bogged down in trying to fit everything into these neat little boxes, these perfect chronological labels. Just like sometimes happens online, you know? People, experiences, they get slapped with these very specific tags. “Chinese daddy gay”, “introverted gamer girl”, “tech bro”.
But real life, like my photo mess, isn’t always that neat. People are more complicated. Memories are fuzzy. Trying to force everything into a strict category often just doesn’t work. It’s messy, overlapping, and sometimes you just gotta accept the chaos.
In the end, I ditched the strict timeline. Made piles for “Family”, “Friends”, “Travel”, “Weird haircuts I had”. It wasn’t perfect, but it felt more real. More like how life actually works, I guess. Less like a database, more like a story. It’s a bit rough, but it’s honest.
