giving back

Why do I dislike the phrase “giving back?” After all, it’s usually a benevolent context: often, a multi-millionaire rock star or hockey player giving some kind of charitable donation or service to the community. What could possibly be wrong with that?
     Some background: I dislike tropes, those overused phrases that suddenly appear everywhere. For example, the “COVID-19 Pivot” phrase that was used during the early pandemic, particularly in health care and education. Previously, the word pivot evoked, for me, either a basketball manoeuvre, or the hilarious episode of “Friends” where Ross shouts “PIVOT. PIVOT,” while the group of friends moves a couch. Suddenly in 2020, pivot became a euphemism used by those in upper echelons, trying to make us all think that a complete, unprecedented change in our lives and workplaces was just a little thing, a slight turn, a tweak. The reality, of course, being that it felt more volcanic. The “COVID-19 total upheaval and shit show” doesn’t sound quite the same, but is more accurate.

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