How Bizarre

Facebook, early 2023: Lonely, Bizarre, Emotional Whiplash

I see a post from someone I don't know, but lots of people from my small town are reacting. A man has died unexpectedly. Just his first name is mentioned.

Because a specific local business is also mentioned, I'm 99% sure it's a guy (with that name, who's relative works at the business) I went to high school with.

I am gutted.

I search his name and find his profile, expecting tributes. Instead...I just see just his most recent post (this clues me in...he's not dead). Brittney Griner had just been released and he had a pretty standard (for our times) right wing take on it.

It was such a bizarre mix of emotions. Relief he's not dead. Genuine surprise & disappointment at his politics. Upset at the post and its heartlessness. More relief he's not dead. Anger and intellectualization as I start to craft a rebuttal to his post in my own head. Curiosity as I wonder, okay then who is dead? I wonder if I know them, and go back to the post to sleuth it out.