Im willing to give the leading “so”a pass. It serves the same function now as, well, “now” used to. Example: “Now it came to pass that a certain man who fancied female companionship, was, by way of coincidence, afflicted with such wanderlust that no sooner was his appetite sated by the one that he was suddenly stricken with insatiable thirst for the other.”
Same thing. Just as annoying.
I guess I should have said, “Look, that’s still annoying.”