It's not rlly a war tho is it?
An unemployed young man briefly considers his world.
This very short piece was originally posted on rs_x on March 12, 2026.
I shouldn’t be living in my parents’ house at 27. I should be looking for jobs.
But I can’t stop looking at the war on the TV.
In Russia you go to jail if you don’t call the war in Ukraine a ‘special military operation.’ Everyone can see it is a war though. They have drones and all the beep boop Star Wars Call of Duty shit, but they also have a frontline that you can track. They have trenches with soldiers in them. We call what is going on in Iran a war but baby be protesting too much. It’s just something on the TV. I guess it is real. It’s real for the people dying. But it’s not a real war, it’s something new and strange, something between a war film and a season of reality TV.
It begs to be taken seriously just like I do. It performs endlessly, throwing bombs at places like Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Nobody knows who is pressing the buttons. Just a big room of Mayor Petes. And somewhere in Iran there’s a room full of Iranian Mayor Petes. Somewhere in Tehran there is a guy (or girl?) whose parents want them to leave the house more.
Maybe not.
Maybe it’s just an American thing.
It probably feels more like a war over there.
 | A guest post by |