Main Entry: de·tached

Pronunciation: di-'tacht, dE-

Function: adjective


1 : standing by itself


As a tool of survival in many societies and tribes, the members therein practice exclusion of the weak. Survival of the fittest-Darwin would be proud.

On sport teams, when a player is injured, he is sidelined. Obviously, because he can't perform the duties required to be on the field.
In schools, students are put on probation from extracurricular activities when their grades or behavior don't meet certain requirements.

In litters of piglets, the runt is pushed aside when milking from the mother. With the exception of Charolotte's Web, the runt has a slim to none chance of survival.

In army batallions, when a soldier is promoted or leaves for some reason, the soldiers of the betallion hold a "Hale and Farewell". The leaving soldier is praised and presented with gifts and sappy goodbyes, being wished "best of luck" by his fellow soldiers.

When a person finds themself in a position to leave a place, they often experience some sort of hale and farewell. A comfortable good-bye party with friends, a formal farewell at a workplace-some form of closure. But often times, the misunderstanding occurs when the friends say the good-byes too early.

It hurts a little less to let someone go when you break away slowly.
What's the purpose in maintaining what was there if it will soon be gone anyhow?

It hurts no matter how slowly you let go.

When you take off a band-aid, you can follow one of two techniques. You can peel the band-aid slowly from your skin, or rip it off in one quick motion. Of course, there is no right or wrong method, however, it is my personal experience that when you peel a band-aid slowly, it hurts as you go. No matter how quickly you take it off, you are still left with a sting. Sure it will end up off your skin by some means or another, but I would rather experience the fast flash drive-thru of pain with a side of ouch, than a sit-down, 5 course menu of agony, followed by the house specialty sting.

The tribesmen don't often consider the pain of isolation until they find themselves in a similar position themselves, excluded from the tribe and written off.

The benchwarmers on the team, or the players on probation watching from the sidelines, don't feel as much part of the team as the players in uniform on the field.

The runt piglets experience a death by starvation and malnutrition.

In the army batallions, they hold the hale and farewell a short while before the actual departure. For several days, the soldier walks around with good-byes and a feeling that they are already gone.

When friends say good-bye too early, thinking to avoid some pain, the person leaving becomes detatched. In the time between when the person leaves and the good-byes are said, or more often felt, it is a terrible thing to be standing by oneself.