The Dark Side of the Social Internet

I guess it was inevitable.

Social networking is THE thing these days what with blogging, FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace (well, maybe not so much) and other sites. Along with the social part comes something that everyone's mom would cringe at and would then send us to our rooms with no supper over... Rudeness.

Only its more than just being rude. Its some people feeling like they can get away with just about anything because of the anonymity afforded by the very nature of the internet. Everyone is basically faceless and unknown to everyone else and likely to stay that way.

This lends itself to blog comments calling the blog host a "moron" or an "imbecile". And it goes downhill from there. In extreme cases, the rudeness devolves into bullying and whether you are a direct target or not, bullying hurts everyone. 

The unfortunate thing is, most of these bullies hide behind the Constitution (if they're American) if they're caught. The vast majority are not caught or stopped. So, where does that leave us? In the dark, mostly. I don't have any answers. 

I wonder, though, would most of these internet bullies behave the same way in a real-life, face-to-face meeting? Would someone who disagreed with a movie or book review call the reviewer a "moron" right to their face? I'm guessing the majority of them would not. So, why do it in a blog comment? Because they can. Because there's a shield there: Anonymity. Yeah, maybe you fill out a form with a name and an email address in order to comment, but there's still no actual contact, no apparent reason to act respectfully toward the other person.

Right now the only weapons a person has is 'moderation' and ignoring the bully. What happens when you ignore a bully? They try harder. It becomes a 'Catch-22' situation that can easily spiral out of control. I don't like the possible answers, but I really don't like bullies.

Anyone have any ideas?

A Republican Who Supports Gay Marriage And Doesn

I'm not from New York. And I'm not a Republican. But right now, I'm very proud of a Republican from New York State. The Honorable Roy McDonald has restored my faith in humanity. I admire him. He is worthy of admiration.

A Republican Who Supports Gay Marriage And Doesn

He stood up against the party line and said "Enough!" He is doing what he's supposed to be doing. Its easy to uphold the rights of the strong, but difficult to help the weak secure those same rights. Democracy is NOT about making sure the strong continue to win. Its about making sure everyone has a chance to at least enter the playing field. Senator McDonald is doing his part to make for a more equal playing field.

Its very easy for us liberal types to lump all the conservatives together in one group and say that they're all the same. Hell, they do the same to us. But we know they're wrong about us, which pretty much makes it even money that we're wrong about them. And Sen. McDonald proves that. He said to hell with the party line and decided to stand up and fight for a group of people to get rights that they should already have. We need more people like him. I don't care what political party anyone belongs to, not really. What I care about is that those elected officials do what is right, not what is expedient. I want my elected officials to fight for my rights, which means they have to fight for the rights of everyone, whether I like them or not because my rights really won't mean a thing if someone else can't exercise the same.

Senator McDonald, thank you. Thank you for being an honorable, admirable person who believes that ALL Americans are entitled to equal rights.

Dancing With the Dead

Walking with the dead

In a fog shrouded night

Midst the gravestones of memories

In a cemetery of the past

The dead don't stay dead

In dreams

They walk the streets and alleys

Of the mind

Dredging up a past

Best forgotten

Dancing with the dead

In the night of the dark moon

Phantom musicians play

On and on forever more

The dancers continue

Until they rot and fall

To be trod on by the others

Dawn

Twisted Easter

Although I am not Christian, I did get into the secular part of Easter when my kids were small. I'd hide eggs and baskets. Occasionally, the cat would find said eggs while I was sleeping and we'd find an egg in the middle of the living room floor kinda cracked and smooshed.... apparently, Easter eggs are fine cat toys.

My kids discovered early on that there was no Easter bunny and chocolate bunnies also did not exist. We had the Easter Chipmunk. And really adorable Chocolate Chipmunks for them to eat. This happened by accident one year, and I had to foster that story on purpose for a lot of years after that (still do, btw).

As I was putting the baskets together one year (helping out said bunny), one of the chocolate bunnies was dropped and the ears broke off... Damn. Not only did they break off, they shattered. So, I warmed a knife up, and smoothed off the bunny's head (and ate the ears). Of course, I had to do the same for any other bunnies that were around. From that time on (1982 or so), the legend of the Easter Chipmunk lived.

In the late 1990's I was shopping for candy and discovered that one of the candy companies finally figured out what I had known all along: The best part of the choc. bunny was the ears. For a year or two, one could buy just the bunny ears! Of course, this did nothing to abate the ear-ectomies going on late at night on the night before Easter.

To this day, there are Easter Chipmunks wandering around, looking for a way to get into your celebrations.

Weird stuff that's in my head

I don't really "get" Easter. Its a Christian holy day that is determined in a very Pagan manner (the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox). From there, you count backwards for Good Friday, Maundy Thursday and Ash Wednesday.

Okay, now for the week leading up to Easter.... First, you have virtual cannibalism; then either a sacrifice, murder or execution; and finally, a couple days later, reincarnation (or a zombie, depends on who you talk to).

What I want to know is: Where do the chocolate bunnies come in? And the jelly beans?

The Fashion Police rant

There are things we see as adults that we just know if we had seen them as a child, we would have been scarred for life and would possibly never leave the house again.
Case in point: Larger woman in a very tight mini-skirt bending over to get something off the floor.... Ummmm, lady, the last thing I really need to see is your whoo-ha hanging out all over the place. Look in the mirror. Then look again as if you were looking at a stranger. Then, go back to your closet and find something else to wear so you don't flash (or moon) your co-workers.

There is more need these days for the fashion police than ever before. "Skinny" hip-hugger jeans really don't look good on anyone who wears a size 18 (or larger). Especially when said person seems to think they still wear a size 14. Add a 'belly shirt' and all eveyone else sees is muffin-tops. Made of jello. This is really not attractive. Please people! There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wearing the size that fits! Honest, there are clothes for those of us who are 'healthier' than the average that look good and are "in". I wear a size 20 and I don't have a problem actually purchasing clothes that not only fit, but look good.

Larger people aren't the only ones making the fashion faux pas these days. I have seen otherwise intelligent people leaving the house in color combinations that are not only unflattering, but you can get the same painful effect by scraping your eyes with a cheese grater. "Hey, Mister! Whoever told you that it was okay to wear a lime green and blaze orange tie was wrong." And, yes, there are times when its okay to mix different patterns. But it is never, ever okay to wear a red and blue striped shirt with yellow, green and black plaid pants (my ex did this regularly).

Finally, "Casual Fridays" does not mean wear your jammies to work. Nor does it mean that you can wear your rattiest, holiest, worn-out jeans with a Megadeth t-shirt. At least, not in an office setting. I'm sure that somewhere there exists a description of what "office casual" means. There has to be. I don't want to have to be the one to write it....

Dawn

The Bitch Post

January 5 and I'm ready for winter to be over.  Hello, welcome to my bitch post where I let off some steam and just complain about everything that bugs me.

Typos. Yeah, everybody has them, nobody wants them, and so many otherwise intelligent people don't fix them!  If you want me to take you seriously, fix your freakin' typos! Nothing says "I don't care" better than 'teh', 'adn', 'thier' and myriad other un-fixed mistakes.

Then there are those who refuse to use the right word.  Too, to and two are NOT interchangeable. A person bragging about being a teacher for 27 years should know the difference, but apparently not. Or, s/he is "to lazy too go back" and fix what is obviously a stupid mistake (made more stupid by not fixing it).

If you are under 30, don't bitch about being old.  Especially to me.

If your dress size is 6, don't bitch to me about being 'fat.'  I wear a size 20 sweetheart, and I will not be nice to you.

If you go out and get really, really drunk and then decide to call someone at 3:00 AM, don't be surprised if that person decides to play with you.  If I am the person you end up drunk dialing to, I WILL ask to speak to your mother and I WILL expect you to wake her up. Why? So I can ask her why you are unsupervised since you are obviously not in control of your own actions.  If your mother is not available, I will think of something else.  Your best bet is to leave the phone off.

I am not amused by people who drive cars through puddles and slush and the like just to splash pedestrians. I am so not amused by it that I will take down your license plate and file a complaint with the local police department.  Especially if I am on my way to work wearing a suit that needs to be dry-cleaned. You WILL pay.

Not everyone wants to listen to the music you are playing in your car.  Nor do we need to have our windows rattling. Yes, you are impressed by your wonderful sound-system in that really ratty beater you drive. Take it somewhere else. You made me miss half of the dialog on the television program I was watching.

If you are smart enough to have graduated from college, then you are smart enough to know that when I am reading a book and have headphones on, I really don't want to talk to you.

That's enough for now, I think.  I'll get around to the rest of the bitches later.

Dawn