Hazy Days of Harmony

Synopsis

Forget wilting Florida tomatoes and the Gulf’s dishwater blues—the real crisis is that the St. Pete Times says 5,000 kids are storming DC to protest a '12-day war' with Iran and Israel. The kicker? My radio mentioned a ceasefire months ago. I asked Asimov, my cat and resident expert on existential absurdity, what gives. He just blinked. Back in Berkeley, ’68, we marched against Vietnam with conviction and decent slacks, not this tie-dye, #12DayWarDone nonsense buzzing on X. A 'war' that lasted less than two weeks? Sounds less like history and more like bad marketing, or maybe just another glitch in the simulation. These kids, the paper says, are buying $15 smoothies from robots while they demand 'peace' like it's kale juice. Peace! When I was their age, we were dodging draft cards and protesting actual napalm. Now, activism comes with a side of automated antioxidants and a hashtag. It's less 'fight the power' and more 'fuel the influencer.' The newsletter's got everyone riled up about nukes again, waving signs for a conflict that apparently ended before most people even heard it started. It makes you wonder if the whole world’s gone soft, or if reliable information is just another casualty of the perpetual, low-grade absurdity we now inhabit.