Dear Evan Hansen, You Are A Sociopath (Spoilers)

1. It's not a funny bit to nod your head and agree with lies a grieving mother is grappling with. It's not even funny if you were just "following the advice of a friend." I wasn't laughing.

2. You committed fraud on a huge level. You stole 50K.

3. You left a memorial to a dead person based on something the dead person hated. Connor's mom told you Connor hated the old apple orchard. Now, he is immortalized in an apple orchard. It's like if I died and you raised money for a ham factory to be resurrected in my honor.

4. Oh boo hoo, you didn't have a college fund. Welcome to America, Evan. 1% of people's parents pay for college. You never even filled out a single scholarship essay from the heap your mom spent hours compiling.

5. Your mom works a lot and your dad left. This is hard. Does it justify using a traumatized girl's dead brother's death as a bargaining chip in a romantic relationship with her? No.

6. You rewrote someone's life and never set the record straight.

7. You made your mom feel guilty for a bad partner out of her control.

8. You were not punished for a single one of your illegal, terrible, ridiculous actions and yet you still managed to feel sorry for yourself.

I am very over stories of men who see themselves as underdogs and thus feel entitled to bend societal and literal legal rules to fully experience their privilege. Some of the music was very good.

Open Sesame

Most of us have had the thought, "That person is pathetic." I'm not proud of when I've felt that way, but it's cautionary. If we're using Inside Out as a framework for emotions, judging another person is Disgust protecting us from being so aloof, broken, disillusioned. I never pity others because I don't like them. I do it because I want to tell myself to avoid their fate. But what's so weird is the more I pity others, the more I feel pitiful. Base logic tells me if I am putting myself a step ahead of someone I don't want to switch places with I should feel confident. But that tactic is just so blatantly corrupt. Instead when we set ourselves on ledges, we succumb to the concept that there are ledges. And if we're in that mental playground, we then must recognize everyone on ledges higher than us. Life is not a ladder. Life is not a track. Life is not even a hamster wheel.

To feel less judged, stop judging. To feel less alone, be loving. To follow your dreams, believe fiercely in others'. At first it doesn't seem to make sense. If I want apples, why would I give people apples? My apples. Well, I guess because then more apples would be out there, seeds dropping into soil, accidentally planted. The love for and thus demand for apples would be higher. Hand pies and slices by the wheelbarrow.

New York Cab Driver in Summer

The summer after I graduated high school, I went to New York with my friend More. I was trying to save up a significant amount of money that summer in preparation for my first year of college, so I was pretty stingy during the whole trip. IE I brought a bag of apples and string cheese, so I would only have to buy one meal a day. But, I had a very good time and saw a lot of theatre and wondrous NY landmarks.

On departure day, it was my job to pay for the taxi to the airport. The driver didn't speak much English. When we arrived at JFK, the meter said the price of the ride was just under $25 dollars. I got out my wallet, and the driver got out of the car, held out his hand, and said, "Theerty dollar." I had obviously seen the real price, but it totally didn't even cross my mind that the cabbie was lying. I just figured there was some other tax I was unaware of. I had never paid for a cab before. I gave him the $30, and then, knowing you're supposed to tip driver, another eight dollars. He looked confused, and I said, "For tip." He suddenly looked extremely ashamed and gave me back the ten. "No..." he said, looking at the ground.

Oh. And then I got it. He saw two young girls and worried he wasn't going to get a tip, so he lied. When, actually, we had no intention of stiffing him. I was even going to give him a bigger tip than the one he fabricated. And then we took our suitcases and went home.

Fact: It's better to get things the right way.