I commit the same crime. I don’t keep up, and I find myself stumbling blindly into something I simply didn’t know. While that isn’t an excuse, I find it frustrating at times to be attacked for what I have no knowledge of. Your story is similar to my experience. While I understand other’s frustrations that I might be behind the news, I have difficulty with being castigated for not being completely and utterly up to date on everything.

It is one of the few ways I manage my sanity.

I have had some deeply difficult, but respectful conversations lately with certain friends, but they are mostly listening on my part. That is the only gift I have to offer right now: listening without judgment, rancor or comment. There really isn’t anything else available.