Cars. Cars started it all. Before I go anty farther, let me say that this is not an original thought, I saw this on the Discovery Channel, or some other similar channel a few years ago, but it bears repeating.
If a person is walking down the street, and accidentaly bumps into another person, what happens? An apology is offered, and for the most part, is accepted. However, if a person is driving on the highway, and another driver cuts him off, no apology is offered, and a rude gesture is usually given by the affronted party. How many people do you know that would walk up to the front of a line at a movie theater, cutting in front of a line of people who have been waiting for their ticket? How many people have you seen on the highway wait 'til the last possible moment to cut into traffic on a congested off-ramp? The insular quality of an automobile brings with it a sense of entitlement. Everybody thinks that their time is important, and it is, but until we were cocooned into our own privatebiosphere, we gave respect to those we shared the world with. The car started it all.
I'm sure you can all see where I am going with this, and most assuredly, we have all been a party to the offenses. I will not pretend to have never been an offender. Yes, I am speaking of the medium on which I am now communicating, the internet. The outlandish vitriol that people spew from their keyboards is outlandish, and the things they(we) type from the safety of their(our) homes are things they(we) would, in most cases, never say to another person. I know that this is not a unique thought, but it's worth talking about.
The flip-side of this coin id the short-comings of this medium. I might be sitting around with my friends, talking about sports, and a friend might say, "Tom Brady sucks!" to which I might reply, "You're a f*cking idiot!" What is lost, when I type this, is the sarcasm and friendly banter.
Often times, on message boards such as these, the true intention of a post may be lost, in some cases, rightfully so, by another poster who has been subjected to the same words, but not offered in a bantering tone. It has often been said that if one has to explain a joke. then it has lost its humor, and I believe that to be true, but there must be some way to explain an intention without giving away the joke.
When I first started posting on this board, there were posters that I thought were just a$$holes, but after a while, I learned their sense of humor, and came to appreciate them. There were others that would say practically the same thing, but their tongue in cheek attitude was clearly evident. Some of us are born with the gift of communication, regardless of medium, some are not. Let's give everyone the benefit you give to the person who bumps into you on the sidewalk.
I realize that this is a late night diatribe, but can't we focus on what we came here to do, pass some time and have some fun? Probably not, but the next time you see someone make a ridiculous post, step back for a moment, respond in good humor, and if they are still adament in their ignorance, ignore them.
Or rip them apart as you know you are capable of doing
!
