It's such a small gesture, requiring very little bodily movement and absolutely no strenuous effort. Yet, in an instant, this same gesture can irrefutably declare to the person at whom it is directed that his or her actions/words/thoughts are, in the opinion of the eye-roller, completely and utterly ridiculous, asinine, unfounded, and unnecessary. It's a powerful and annoying weapon, wielded by persons of every age, really, but is often employed as the heavy artillery of adolescents in particular.
The ability to roll their eyes at someone is stupidly (and quite immaturely) empowering to the powerless. When my boss asks me to do something ridiculous, I glean an inestimable amount of satisfaction from rolling my eyes at her behind her back. It makes me feel as though I've said my piece, even though I really haven't (is it "said my piece" or "peace"? Hmm..."piece" makes more sense to me). I've actually voiced my thoughts before, respectfully, but that only led to a long drawn out explanation describing my boss's convoluted reasoning, which I naturally found faulty in the end, yet still had no power to denounce.
Maybe one day I will no longer be one of the powerless, forced to resort to such petty action in order to release my frustration. Maybe soon I'll grow out of the juvenile habit. For now, though, I'll roll my eyes when I think something/someone is dumb.
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1 comment:
i'm an eye roller and an after the fact mumbler.
it's very satisfying indeed.
and it is "piece," so good call.
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