Cynicism is the new "cool"

[Memphis]

A great snapshot of this today is the immanent retirement from tennis of Andy Murray. A great example because he polarises opinion. Those that know him of course know a great tennis player, but more importantly a great human being who's fun to be around and nothing like the dour publicly perceived character.

To cut a long story short, in amongst all the well wishes on social media you can fine "I'm not a fan of Murray or tennis, but I'm glad he's retiring.......the prick" I think that say's it all

[Gandalf]

I love Andy Murray. I feel really bad for him. The surgery has obviously not worked and he is in constant pain. It's absurd that he is even on a court like that really. I am willing him on but it is kind of cruel with every match it just gets more brutal. He is marching up a hill with a big boulder on his back.

[Beanz]

I love Andy Murray. I feel really bad for him. The surgery has obviously not worked and he is in constant pain. It's absurd that he is even on a court like that really. I am willing him on but it is kind of cruel with every match it just gets more brutal. He is marching up a hill with a big boulder on his back.

It is good that you are now supporting disabled athletes and being magnanimous enough to cheer them on. 😁

[Gandalf]

If he starts playing tennis in a wheelchair I will not be impressed. For the sake of his health he needs to call it a day. If he hurts putting on his socks, he is no condition to take on players who know they just need to run him around. Kind of cruel, especially when Murray was perhaps the most mobile of them all in his day. He said he was playing in pain for a number of years, makes you wonder how good he could have been if healthy. He was still always able to take a set or two against the best and sometimes win. Just maybe that pain was the difference in a long match.

[TitoFan]

I feel bad for Murray as it's obvious he loves the sport and hates having to give it up. As a side note, I was hoping he'd stick around and water down the number of future majors won by the likes of Djokovic and Nadal, since I'd hate for either one of them to threaten Roger's (the GOAT) career record.

[Gandalf]

It's rotten luck. Apparently Djokovic toyed with him in a practice match just a few days ago. He must feel terrible. You sense he just wants to say goodbye at Wimbledon this year. The surgery appears to have done next to nothing for him.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc...ennis/46809771

[Beanz]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.