Tired of It
Can I share a pet peeve of mine? Of course I can, it's the internet, after all. Here it is: tireless.
That's it. Just the one word. Writers I know use it, writers I love use it. I have grown to hate it.
Like anything, it's the context that matters. I usually see the word “tireless” used to describe people, particularly in it's adverbial form to show what good works they are doing in the world. Tirelessly distributing aid to wildfire victims. Tirelessly advocating for the rights of our trans neighbors and friends. These everyday heroes simply never tire from their efforts to right the world's wrongs.
But it's all so unrealistic. And dare I say, unhelpful to describe people as beings who don't wear out. I get it: writers are trying to indicate the enormity of the effort that people are putting in to making the world a better place. The idea is that folks are stretching themselves, putting their everything into the cause/task at hand. The job doesn't end, and tireless people don't quit. They continue plugging away.
I guarantee you they're all tired, though. Maybe they get tired and do the work anyway. Maybe they get tired and take a break. But they're definitely tired. After all, people aren't machines. Work takes effort. Living creatures need to recover between bursts of work. In our admiration of the people doing work we value, we accidentally erase the effort it takes when we label their efforts as “tireless.” They're tired, let them pause. They're tired, go lend a hand.
The problem with heroism is when we think that heroes are some kind of different creature than the rest of us mere mortals. That they have reserves of strength or energy or time that normal people don't. It's not true, though. People doing good work are just like the rest of us. Fatigued, exhausted, tired.