- The Friday Fix
- Posts
- #96: Community is key.
#96: Community is key.
Shem Opolot
November 08, 2024
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
Why should you subscribe?
I have over ten years of work experience in healthcare, program management, and data analytics on two continents. So, I know a little about helping you work smarter
I comb through tonnes of self-improvement content so you don’t have to, and I distill the content into bite-sized wisdom for you
I’ll occasionally make you laugh
If this sounds good, click the subscribe button below, add your email, read my welcome email (check your spam folder or Promotion tabs), and follow ALL the instructions. This is important so you don’t miss future posts.
Hi! I'm Shem Opolot, and this is The Friday Fix, my weekly newsletter. If you've received it, you’re either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter (yes, I’m the kind of person who uses words like “latter”) camp and want to subscribe, then click on the shiny button below:
You can also skim the past posts here.
Otherwise, grab a seat 🪑.
Happy Friday 🎉 My friend invited me to an election watch party this week. D.C., a heavily Democrat-leaning state, buzzed with a clenched fist and nervous tick under the table as election day drew closer. I had work to do, but I hoped to finish in time to catch the good part—the end. I worked at my desk with CNN in the background, and by around 10 pm, it sounded like a vigil. I texted my friend to find out if the party was still on. No response.
If D.C. were an employee in the company called America, your email wouldn’t have found them well this week.
LIFE.
Community is key.
For my next trick, I’ll connect a bag of candy to the U.S. presidential elections.
Remember when I offered a homeless man Chipotle and he asked for McDonald’s instead? My friend Jane, moved by a sense of community, compassion, and consideration, carried several bags of free candy from an event to share with the first homeless person she met.
Her bus stopped right outside her apartment building, and lo, to the left of the double glass doors, nestled in the corner where the manicured potted plant met the building’s brutalist architecture, a homeless man sat among a heap of his belongings.
“I have some candy if you want it,” Jane said enthusiastically, raising the loot slightly to draw attention to it while forcing their eyes to meet.
The man stared at her and mouthed something inaudible, but Jane assumed he wanted the candy. I mean, why not, right?
So she walked closer cautiously like you do when that friend with a massive dog reassures you it doesn’t bite. She opened the bag to show him the candy and laid it at his feet like a bounty.
“I SAID I DON’T WANT IT!” He yelled as he kicked the bag and spilled the candy on the ground.
It turns out several homeless people have dental issues that restrict their diet significantly.
But how was Jane supposed to know that?
Hold that thought.
So,… the U.S. election turned me into a political scientist this week. And if you’ve been following, being underqualified makes me especially qualified to weigh in.
There are several theories about why Trump beat Kamala, and I have mine—community.
Take Africans, for example. To non-Africans, Africans insist that Africa is not a country. And it isn’t. But we also know that when you put a group of Africans in a room anywhere in the world, our minds and stories meld. We bond over the shocking meatless dinners at European conferences and the cold sandwiches for “lunch.”
But despite Africans’ telepathy, several ethnic groups still can’t intermarry, and when I proposed to my wife, there were still people shocked by my audacity.
“Opolot? From where? Who’s your father?”
We don’t quite have community down yet.
And yes, they’ve had much more time to iterate, but it’s a miracle that America—imperfect as it is—has persisted and thrived long enough to [even] export its isms as dogma.
However, that same America—a Mecca for heterogeneous immigrants chasing profit and prosperity above all—is, unsurprisingly, divided.
And fundamentally, the failure of America’s great union is a failure of community.
Community is the best and most vital transaction you partake in.
I invite you, you come. You invite me, I come. Even on a Sunday when I’d rather stay in bed, I come. Even on a rainy day when you’d rather binge-watch a TV show, you come. We build a community. Neither of us is alone.
People get lonely because they fail to participate in this ritual of community—in its social contract. If you don’t show up for people, they stop showing up for you. They stop inviting you for things. And then, over time, you’re lonely, and you can’t remember why.
So when I see angry Americans insulting rural working-class people for voting one way or the other, I see people divided and missing the point. I see people shirking the ritual of community.
And politicians make the same mistake of not communing with the people. Like you, they assume they are smarter and more knowledgeable. That their perspectives are more informed. They assume they know what’s best for people without hearing them out.
Like Jane, they assume the homeless person should want candy and even be grateful for it.
So, how could Jane have known?
Well, everything is political, and politics is a daily ritual. Just like you must check in with your neighbor, the state and the citizen must check in daily.
I invite you, you come. You invite me, I come.
THINGS.
A quote.
The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently."
A tweet.
Everyone’s dealing with the election results differently.
Many people will continue struggling to come to terms with the election results, but there’s still a lot you can do:
1) Be irritable at work
2) Withdraw from people who love you/need you
3) Make an impulsive and self destructive major life decision— Noah Garfinkel (@NoahGarfinkel)
5:34 PM • Nov 6, 2024
A picture.
I participated in a giveaway by one of my favorite companies AND WON! It’s just a bunch of patches I’ll add to the tapestry on my denim jacket, but I’m more excited about just winning. I’ve never won anything in a ruffle or anything before! Going to buy a lottery ticket now, just to be safe.
WORK.
Find and Replace
This one’s quick and easy but massively underused.
You have data with a repetitive text you want to replace:
Instead of ‘United States of America,’ we want to use ‘USA.’
In Google Sheets, you use the shortcut ⌘, ⇧, H on your Mac or Ctrl + H on your PC to pull up the ‘Find and Replace’ window.
The rest is gravy.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Shem’s picks
✅ This virtual sand maker is fun and soothing.
✅ A statistical analysis of what makes a movie bad.
✅ You know the year is almost over when the lists start: the year’s best innovations.
✅ Can you guess where the train is facing?
✅ How companies have gotten better at charging you more.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Reply