Be a Fan

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• October 19, 2025

You know what’s cool? To be a fan. Of something. Almost anything at all, really. Whether it’s of a band or solo musician, movies or books, sports teams or table games— whatever it is, I’m a fan of your fandom. Granted, some people do take it too far. Fandom is cool, turning what you love into a full blown cult is concerning.

But be weary of someone is not a fan of anything at all. First of all, they must be a terrible bore. To not love anything at all? Even if it’s a kind of a lame thing to love. Life is often tough. Why would you choose to go through it without something or someone to root for?

There are somethings worse than being boring— like being a narcissistic sociopath. There are numerous red flags for these types of people. One of them is, they love and/or care for nothing but themselves. If someone shames you for religiously watching football because your team stinks, or being an adult that loves Star Wars, or educating yourself by watching a lot of documentaries, or obsessing over your next travel destination, distance yourself from these true losers who so severely suffer from main character syndrome that they can’t even remotely empathize with the joy you get from things beyond yourself.

Even if they drive me crazy a little, I love when people get excited about stuff. As adults, we often get less and less excited about life because we’ve been beaten down, or tire of the same old routine. Additionally, as a single person, it’s refreshing to me when someone seems excited about dating, maybe not in general, but about meeting me. And before I learn about their job or family, I want to know what excites them. What do they look forward to in this one and only life we’re given (in this body, at least and maybe at best). There’s too much emphasis on cool being you don’t care. I don’t think it’s healthy to care about everything. But I think it’s dope to own several shirts that represent something you love, or even underwear!

I don’t, however, care for people who are fans of politicians. I think it’s very good to be informed and favor certain politicians over others, but remember, all politicians are paid puppets. They are literal servants for the people. Their whole job is to listen to what other (hopefully smarter) people advise them to do. It is cringe to hero worship ANY politician. At least a filmmaker, musician, or writer is creating something. At least a carpenter, engineer, scientist is building something.

Even if I think someone’s tattoo of a video game character is poorly drawn on their leg, I think it’s great that something in life brings them such a level of inner child enthusiasm that they had to get it permanently etched into their skin. I think that’s cool. And, you might say, “well who are you to determine what is or isn’t cool?” I’d say you’re right. I, myself, am a not famous story teller, screenwriter, comedian— but I have fans who care what I think and say, and I think my fans are awesome.