The Peanut Gallery Would Like a Word

Happy April Fools’ day to those who celebrate. My prank to you today is not sending this article in the morning, as promised. Very funny and clever and has nothing to do with my energy reserves being zapped by a bachelor party in Las Vegas. But enough about me and my woes…

If you’re on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Twitter/X these days, you’ve probably seen your fair share of “cringe” content. People acting embarrassingly obnoxious, ignorant, or frankly… uncool. Your morbid curiosity forbids you from looking away. It makes you wince, laugh, or retreat into the couch in a sickly overload of second-hand embarrassment. That is pure, unadulterated cringe, unmistakable.

However, I’ve begun to notice the application of “cringe” to many more situations, like a talented woman leading a line dance at a country bar, or a man giving a speech that got unexpectedly emotional, or a subway performer who is actually somewhat good.

Some of these can cross into the corny realm, and maybe even annoying if the subway performer doesn’t understand the acoustics of a train car, but full-on cringe? Come on. It’s starting to feel like this new use of cringe isn’t necessarily the embarrassing acts of the person in the arena, but rather just the catch-all term for envious judgment of a person from the gallery. The use of “cringe” is becoming a tactic used by fearful cynics to observe and critique without engaging, without hopping onto the dance floor. This refrain from engagement ensures they never look stupid by never doing anything at all.

Shakespeare wrote that “all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

If you want to live in this world, to experience it, to feel it, you have to walk out on the stage. You may look dumb, but who hasn’t? You might mess up the scene, but is that really even possible when you consider that all of life is one giant improv?

There are things in life that are painfully embarrassing to watch, things we typically avoid being the center of, but I hope that avoidance doesn’t turn you into a back-of-the-room cynic. Life is worse when you stay still and criticize the movers. It’s better when you risk it and participate.