Pardon My Karass

I was reading an article this morning about a young married couple: one a conservative pundit, the other an Obama White House staffer. The latter was killed by a car while he rode in a bicycling charity event outside DC.

It’s a sad story that you can read about here.

The two were the unlikeliest of couples. The story ended with a reference to Kurt Vonnegut who came up with the concept of a karass. According to the Urban Dictionary, a karass is

A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial linkages are not evident.

Time and again I have met people who are part of my karass. I find myself hanging out with them even though there is no logical reason for them being important to me. Somehow they become incredibly meaningful to me and have a great influence on how I think about…everything.

I won’t name any names. (Long time readers can almost certainly guess who some of the members of my karass are anyway.) As someone who read Vonnegut back in the day, I am surprised that I don’t remember this concept. It was lost in all the cynicism and twistedness of his writings, I suppose. I am grateful to finally have a word to put to something that has been puzzling me for years.

So, who’s in your karass?