May 15, 2021
I Don’t Care
“…I had to write this paper right, what is the relationship between colonial ideology and representation, and I thought I don’t care, I don’t know and I don’t care…” — lê thi diem thúy
Everyone has said something like this at least once in their life. Whether it be in school or at a job, everyone has muttered the words “I don’t know and I don’t care.” In this particular case of “I don’t care,” lê thi diem thúy was tasked with writing an academic paper but kept on being swept into stories and songs from her past. All of her past hardships, ecstasies, memories, and friends and family she met and lost along the way kept coming back to her. Her mind knew what was truly important and the world thought otherwise. The world wanted her to write an academic paper and disregard her past memories — all that mattered was the paper. But the world was wrong because years later what survived was not the conclusions of the research, but lê thi diem thúy’s memories. Her memories survived to be spread through her TEDx Talk and her writing while her paper slowly sank in the sea of other, forgotten academic papers. Just as her paper was lost to time, this post may also be lost to time. Will this post live on in some reader’s heart or be forgotten in a day? I don’t know and I don’t care, I have a life to live.
