Insert sarcasm here

“Slow news day, huh?”

Share any story from a general news site that’s not related to uncovering vast government conspiracies, adding insight into inevitable environmental catastrophes or offering analysis on the potential for a nuclear crisis, and this is the response you’re likely to get: a sarcastic and overused comment on the triviality of whatever it is you’re posting online.

For those with better things to do than read a bit of celebrity gossip (but oddly, nothing better to do than inform us that they have better things to do), it’s worth mentioning that no one equates the latest happenings on Kim Kardashian’s reality series to what’s going on in Syria. Not one of us imagines our review of Patriots Day to be of the same importance as a dossier full of unconfirmed allegations against the presidentelect of the United States. We don’t even pretend commentary on the way we consume media is of comparable consequence to questions surrounding whether or not our Prime Minister broke federal law.

Other than the rare bit of cultural criticism that might challenge some aspect of a reader’s worldview, we’re offering a distraction when we write about entertainment, art or life. And we realize as much. While it wanes in terms of importance when compared to general news stories, that doesn’t mean it’s without any use at all. Distraction is really rather lovely. It’s the parts of dinner you consume for reasons beyond mere nutrition. It’s the bits of life that, in and of themselves might be meaningless, but added together become the difference between existing and living.

What those decrying lighter fare fail to realize is that while while they may not have use for an accoutrement, others do. If there is any danger to distraction it’s found in its tendency toward becoming a focus. Certainly, if the majority of your reading time is devoted to what late night talk show guests said about Donald Trump, then you may not be working toward becoming the most fully formed human. However, I’d wager that the majority are perfectly capable of calling a timeout on deep news dives from time to time to enjoy a moment of schadenfreude at a celebrity’s expense. No, it’s not the most important thing in the world. But it does have a way of putting those important things into perspective.

Anyway, my apologies for wasting your time. Now, about the Aga Kahn’s private helicopter ...