The difference between unsweetened and sugar-free; between odorless and fragrance free. The brand marketers sometimes just tell you straight up that their products were designed for self-righteous shoppers right there on the labeling if the euphemisms aren’t clear enough. Oh you want the organic shit don’t you. Here’s a tampon hand-rolled by a cuban cigar maker. The number of times I’ve accidentally purchased santitary pads and iced tea that smell like a 99c store feels like a massive prank I’m playing on myself. I’m embarrassed that I hate perfume this much.
The difference between protesting and voting; between boycotting and shunning. The time it takes to debate the models of what could be versus what could have been. The guest lecturer using Prop 187 and Back to the Future to model the difference between counterfactual historicism and ahistorical activism. I remember her first name—Katherine—but not her last. The coroner’s job is much more forgiving than the surgeon’s.
The difference between regret and remorse. I thanked god the weather was behaving age appropriately today. I only know this because I woke up earlier than I wanted to, to move the car I know I should no longer drive, out of a tow zone to avoid the parking penalty. The smell of autumn leaves lubricated by first rain on the unmetered road. The weather app that says our moon is waxing. In the car, the radio station tells me the bend in Mars’ revolution is longer than that of Earth. The story of Mars and its benefit of extended time.
