Pomp and Circum-Fluff
I recently attended my nephew's high school graduation. It occurred to me during the ceremony that I haven't been to a high school graduation since my own *gulp* 20 years ago. While of course we all felt relief and happiness that he'd finally made it to the end, what struck me more than anything else was the complete superfluity of a commencement speech from a middle aged or senior adult to a gaggle of teenage-adults who despite even the highest levels of maturity aren't truly able to HEAR or heed the wisdom of what is being said. You know the kind of speech I'm talking about: laborious, nostalgic, barely disguised self-righteousness, awkward jokes that are only possibly funny to the other adults, topped off with the little engine who could kind of pep talk. I will give this guy enough credit to say that it started strong - he led us all to believe it was going to be short, sweet and candid. But then, oh but then, his self-editing app quickly disabled a
