There has been a lot of snarling going on the eBrandon site lately ... although the last day or so it has cooled off a bit (unless I have missed those threads) but maybe postsers are just taking a breather. This is not a new thing here and it seems to come and go in spells. It has got me thinking that maybe there are some other folk out there who should be doing some thinking too.
The main thing here is that you DO NOT KNOW the person on the other side of the monitor screen (unless of course he/she is actually your friend - acquaintances you really do not know either). You do not know if he (sorry going to use the masculine here as I dislike using "they") ran over a cat on the way home from work, his dog/best friend just died, his father is in the hospital with a terminal illness, he is using his laptop at the local cafe because his hydro was just cut off and he can't afford to get it put back on (which means he is probably also losing his apartment). You do not know if he had a bad day at work ... I mean a really bad day and was maybe fired - or the service garage just told him that he better buy a newer car ... this one is going to cost too much to fix. You do not know if this person is being abused, is suicidal, has an alcoholic mother or a child with severe disabilities. Or maybe it is just someone who wanted to take a peaceful stroll through the eBrandon pages ... post a comment or two. The day was going along well until ...
Last night I couldn't sleep so I was cruising around the message boards. Climate change really interests me but to be very honest I find it very confusing and it goes way over my head. The conversation was great ... I thought a true discussion. That was until I got to the one that started "you are retarded" ... well to be honest any post that starts off that way might was well have no words following because in my mind they have no credibility anyway. You know the old saying about flies and honey!!!
Now this doesn't apply just to websites. I got an email last night (yes another one!!!) that while it was not rude was not polite either. I think any personal (not forwarded) letter type email that does not begin with some sort of salutation is impolite. The first sentence was negative, second - negative ... negative ... posss - no negative ... positively negative ... not one sentence had even the slightest hint of a positive note. Considering that I was just getting up from being nailed so hard, just starting to brush myself off, this sent me in another tail spin. But after brooding for awhile I realized it was an email totally of opinions not pointing out factual error and this morning I am standing up tall and saying "if you didn't like the first one don't buy the next because it is going to be a lot more of the same!!!!!!!!" I’M BACK!!!! I realized the person writing this email DOES NOT KNOW ME ... just like when we post a response here.
So please when you think to post a response, or a thread that has a nasty bite to it, think first. Hiding behind a ghost icon with a false name should not let you think that you can do what you would not do if your name and photo were out there. And just so you know that I know, most of the people "incognito" here are good, reasonable people ... and yes, we can all have a bad day and post something we regret. An apology goes a long way
