Social Media, Opinions & Assholes, Cabbages & Kings

The time has come to speak of many things. Sorry Lewis. As it’s also been said, opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one and they stink.  Sorry whomever originated the O & A quote. It seems to vary. Maybe it was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He seems to have said everything. As promised in a Face Book post last week here is a post including things I think you should know about events in California. Using a search engine is another. Google comes to mind. It’s so popular, its become a verb… Apologies to those reading from outside Cali or the country for that matter.

And now its time to blow your hair back…

As you know or suspect, I’m on a number of social media platforms: Face Book, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat (well, learning) to name the more frequent ones. I post most frequently on Instagram since I like to use my iPhone for artistic expression. And I’ve kept abreast of the current events in my area, the country and the world at large. You all know that a lot of shit has been going down with bombings, shooting of innocent people and…The Election. Opinions & Assholes have been especially ripe on all the above subject matter. Both can be sanitized but that requires self-awareness, self-restraint and a sense of smell. It seems the country is rife with individuals without any of that.

I have all three as well as strong personal hygiene so it’s irritating to me when others don’t. For the most part, I’m quiet on social media with the exception  of picture posting a minor opinion or a humorous comment to someone’s post. Well, that and my drawings and uploading a new profile picture. Shameless self-promotion. I try to use proper spelling also (there, their, they’re come to mind). Punctuation may be lacking though. I was a Design major in college, not an English major.

On two occasions last week, I raised my head out of the prairie dog den and offered an opinion. Checking Snopes.com to verify info before posting in the first instance.  The response I received was sarcastic bordering upon dismissive. So, I pushed back. Citing proper manners, woman-splaining (yes, it happens too), etc. I admit I was a bit harsh, but I dealt back what I was given. I received an apology which I accepted but part of the explanation given was that sarcasm/dismissive verbiage was generally acceptable on social media. And therein lies the problem. People think it’s okay to flip you off verbally if you disagree with or challenge them. Or call you out without any facts. Especially if they don’t know you personally. It’s rampant in our society. We hide behind our computers and in our cars and think we are the only “right” ones on the planet. That’s wrong, actually. I’m the only right one. Kidding. Really.

The second instance, and the one that lead to me actually deciding to post about it, came from me responding to a friends comment about me on another friends FB post regarding her being unaware of The Desert Trip concert in Indio, CA. The comment about me indicated I was there now and I hadn’t let my friends know about it, etc. The first part of the comment was only partially true – I was in the Palm Springs area but wasn’t at the concert.

The second part of the comment was not true at all and I commented back the I had written a post about the concert back in May in this blog, shared the link to the post on FB, Instagram and Twitter, but couldn’t force anyone to actually read it.

I even tried to make it light by posting my Punk Rock response:

The amusement was apparently mine alone. That lead to more comments which lead to the Face Book announcement on my timeline of this impending blog post…whew!

When I was called a name, by said actual friend, publicly, I drew the line in the sand.  Far too many people hijack some else’s post for their own agenda. Saying “Hi” to someone else commenting on the post, asking how they’re doing, where they live, etc. You know, stuff your dad or mom or gramma and their friends do.  TMI.

I don’t play that game. I think long and hard  about my responses to people and in some instances, decide not to post a comment. I think about who will see it, how the comment might be taken wrong, all of that. So I expect others to do the same for me. When they don’t, they need to be prepared to listen. And publicly apologize. It’s what I would do.

If you are going to get personal, if you really want to go there, you’d better think about the consequences. Do so in a direct message, not on a party line. While I may seem all warm and fuzzy on the outside, if you disparage me or my family, be prepared. I’ve got an opinion and an asshole. Beware of blast.