This week has been a total anomaly. It started like any other week, and now here I am stuck at home (I can think of worse places) and largely unable to move. I have a severe infection, which was apparently caused by previous doctors failing to treat my last illness properly. It stayed in my bloodstream, attacked other shit, and now I’m in a great deal of pain. Now that I have a good Doctor, it will hopefully be resolved quite quickly, but with lack of ability to do pretty much anything, I’ve turned to the internet for entertainment. And all I can say about that is…WTAF.
I’m not normally one to get too involved in petty debates, with entitled comments and misinformation. I don’t engage, for the simple reason that it leads to a dead end. Arguing with strangers on the internet is not going to solve the worlds problems, and the most likely outcome is that it will drag on, and nobody will change their opinion or learn anything. But finding myself with an abundance of time, and knowing a thing or two about the topics at hand…I may have dabbled in stirring the pot this week. On a topic or two that I feel quite strongly about. (most of it was about dogs, so there’s that…)
Most of them started with simple comments, statement of fact, in fact. And probably infuriatingly to the other party, I decided when to bow out politely in good time. But I’ve laid here (because I can’t actually sit right now) shaking my head so many times, at just how awful and pushy people really have become. (I wonder if they’re the same in real life?) How adamantly they try to shove their opinions down your throat. How violent and nasty they get, when they come across someone who doesn’t agree with them. How loud they preach their opinion, as if it were gospel, when in fact…it’s just bullshit.
I’ve seen people blatantly disregard age old, time honoured fact, because it doesn’t suit their agenda, moral stand-point or narrative. I’ve had people TELL me to do things. TELL me I’m wrong. TELL me my information is incorrect. And my favourite, was TELL me to prove myself…which I am under absolutely no obligation to do to them or anyone for that matter, regardless of the fact that I could.
And I’ve ignored as many snide, bitchy, preaching, aggressive comments to myself and others, as I’ve remarked on.
The most irritating thing about most of these ‘debates’, is that people feel the need to hijack platforms they have no place or right to, to build their soapbox, and start screaming at the world. And their sense of entitlement allows them to feel that there is nothing wrong with that.
‘Someone is beside themselves with worry that their dog is missing?…I know, I’ll TELL them that they’re a bad owner, and I don’t think they should use metal collars. That will be useful!’
‘Someone has a dog with defects that are factually known to be a result of genetic inbreeding?…I’ll TELL them that that’s bullshit, breeders are ethical, and they should shut up.’
‘Someone has their lost dog microchipped as a bull terrier mix…I can see with my expert eyes that it’s not, so I’ll TELL them and their vet, that they’re wrong, it’s obviously a different breed.’ (This is the exact reason why BSL has wrongly taken so many innocent lives across the world btw).
Now, to be fair, whilst many both factual and passive aggressive comments were made, I haven’t chimed in on all of these. I drew a line and just went back to scrolling, as I often do. Because nothing I say (or anyone says for that matter) will likely make a resounding change. How does the saying go?…’You can’t fix stupid’. But sometimes just leaving some food for thought there, that you know others will read, is worth it. For the few people that it will give pause to, and perhaps even inspire to do some research of their own, it could make a difference. At least that was my justification. Because I wasn’t rude, or overbearing. I didn’t ‘argue’ or say anything derogatory. In fact, in most cases, I was very restrained. VERY restrained.
So, just a heads up Kids. If you’re planning to engage with internet strangers. Keyboard warriors. Entitled, know-it-all douches. Give some thought to what you are trying to achieve. Because the reality, is that it probably won’t achieve much at all. But if you have a good point, for a good reason, and you think you will reach even just one person…slide into that bitch like a motorcycle on a salt flat!
Cheers,
V
vampressa 