Living in the Hub City teaches you a very specific survival skill: selective awareness. You see everything, but you do your best not to acknowledge most of it. It’s not because it’s necessarily bad or icky or shocking. But, because pointing out whatever odd thing it is would require effort, and Lubbock prefers its peace.
Things We Just Kind Of Ignore Here:
Broken things. Run-down, long-closed restaurants. Signs that haven’t worked in years. The lights flicker like they are just doing their best. Some entire stretches of road here feel more or less experimental. We notice them, but we don’t usually discuss them. At some point, these broken-down buildings became landmarks to us. “Turn left where the old Hastings was.” You know. That kind of thing.
Read More: Lubbock’s Odd Quirks: What Makes Life Feel Strange?
Photo by Felicia Montenegro on Unsplash
Then, there are the smells. They usually aren’t bad enough to investigate and not strong enough to send you into a panic. They are just…mildly present and often mysterious. A strange smell rolls around town in the breeze, and we all simultaneously decide, nope, that’s none of my business. Asking questions about strange smells only makes them real.
Photo by Simon Hurry on Unsplash
We also pretend not to notice how often we see the same people EVERYWHERE we go. I have seriously seen my friend from elementary school 4 different times shopping at Target in the past year. We hadn’t spoken in a million years, and we likely won’t ever chit-chat anywhere, but these occasional run-ins, and that’s totally fine with both of us.
We also tend to ignore the weather (and the weatherman) and just dress for the day by whatever vibes we are feeling when we wake up. Do some people wear shorts when it’s snowing outside? Yes. Is that stupid? Who cares.
Photo by Coleman Glover on Unsplash
Socially, we ignore quite a bit. People FaceTiming loudly in public. The guy with the Bluetooth earpiece who may or may not be talking to you. Or, the person who tells you their life story every time you buy gas from their store. We nod. We listen. We move on.
Photo by Onur Binay on Unsplash
The biggest thing that Lubbock residents pretend not to notice is how good we are at not noticing things. Sometimes, we need to pay attention a little harder when it counts, but if it’s not actively causing a problem, it simply becomes part of our strange environment.
Now, I’m just wondering if our ability to ignore reality is a coping mechanism…
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