Differences!

Everybody knows that the death of one person is a terrible tragedy but the death of a million people is simply a statistic.  Like it or don’t, that’s just the way our minds work.  We perceive some things to be different even when logic and reason tell us they are the same.  This is an intuitive response our species developed back in prehistory when an instant judgement call decided whether we would have dinner or be dinner.  Here in the 21st century, we don’t think about it much and can’t really explain it when we do, but it remains — stuck in our psychic DNA.  Here are a few ordinary examples that demonstrate why we instinctively know some things are different even though they might appear to be the same.  Feel free to add to the list.

The difference between weird and eccentric is a British accent.

The difference between homeless and camping is the trees.

The difference between loser and lover is three shots of tequila.

The difference between Taylor Swift and trailer trash is minimal.

The difference between forgive and forget is forgiving someone who screwed you is a nice gesture; forgetting they did it is stupid.

The difference between an honest person and a dishonest person is who’s watching.

The difference between other people’s movies and Adam Sandler movies is sometimes other people’s movies are funny.

The difference between love and lust is something we don’t learn until we’re about 25.

The difference between skinny jeans and mom jeans is a broken heart, a pail of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and a Ryan Gosling movie marathon.

The difference between bald and sexy is a red Lamborghini.

The difference between a foreign accent and no accent at all is the person speaking with a foreign accent knows one more language than you do.

The difference between rich and poor is rich people can tell poor people what to do.

The difference between rich and wealthy is wealthy people hire rich people to tell poor people what to do.

And one of my favourites:

The difference between erotic and pornographic is the price of the lingerie.