“Keeping it Real” Can Be "Real" Dumb

A recent Pew Research poll showed that 30 percent of white Democrats – the group HRC needs most for any chance at the nomination – think Hillary Clinton is “phony.” Only half of the same respondents believe Obama to be phony.

Pffff. Big deal. Keeping it real is overrated anyway. Phoniness is the fabric of our society!

Think about it. How many times have you listened to someone ramble on about something that you either don’t have time to listen to or don’t really care to hear about? Yet, we listen, politely and friendly, all the while wondering how they can be so oblivious to their own boringness. (I always wonder after such an experience if people can tell what a phony I am.) The truth is they don’t want to know if we’re just being polite, just like I don’t want to really know when someone is feigning interest in my lame, rambling stories.

I’m not saying some people can’t be genuinely kind, nice, attentive, and just all around great human beings. I actually know people who are. But not everyone can be genuine all the time, and there’s something to be said about faking it, if only to be polite.

“Keeping it real” has become today’s new mantra for life because it means not inhibiting yourself or pretending to be someone you’re not. Keeping it real means being genuine and true to yourself.

I think that’s great! As long as you’re a really nice, kind, and caring person. But what if you’re genuinely selfish and shallow? For your career, family, and friends’ sake, I would stick to being phony. If I blew up every time something irritated me in the name of “keeping it real” I would have ruined my career a long time ago, not to mention destroyed my family life. “Keeping it real” has become a popular way to excuse bad behavior, poor social graces, or worse, purposefully hurting others because “Hey, that’s just who you are, right?!”

Wrong.

I want to believe that we’re all working towards being better people. Every major religion – including my own - holds to the principle that happiness is best achieved when we genuinely care, trust, and look out for others. But until we’ve all reached that point, I think we can excuse a little phoniness can’t we?

(And to all my friends, coworkers, family, and especially my wife: I have never, never pretended to be interested in something you’ve said when I really wasn’t.)