Opinion- a personal view, attitude, or appraisal
Why, oh why my fellow Delphinians; why do we post our thoughts if we are unreceptive to the opinions that our thoughts might bring?
Seriously, when you post a free thought on a message board you don’t think that the world at large is going to carte blanche agree do you? And if you do think that, I think it’s time to take off the rose colored glasses a little while.
When you say something, something that might to you seem innocuous, you should be aware that it may be taken as something entirely different by someone else reading with a different set of eyes. If I’m the offended party I might point out that the statement was offensive to me and why, and here’s a little secret between you me and the four walls. Once you’ve insulted me, it’s kind of hard to turn the page back and re-write the story. This however doesn’t mean that I surmise that the one viewpoint is the only viewpoint, and I am certainly mature enough to know that not everyone is going to agree with me and that , in fact, there are those out there that will agree with the viewpoint that I actually find insulting.
However when you are on the side of agreeing with a viewpoint that I find insulting it does cause this little subconscious thing to happen. It’s the realization that even though I might have known you for years, there is an opportunity for a tiger to become a leopard right before my very eyes.
They do say that you never really know someone until you have to live with them.
When and if I disagree, and I seldom do it publicly because most of the time it’s not worth the effort or isn’t all that bad of a hot button issue for me, but when and if I do disagree with something publicly, prudence or back peddling is going to do little to change my mind.
When you say something that you know has the potential to be offensive, don’t then claim ignorance or claim that it is not what you meant when the words are there in black and white.
There’s a little trick called proof reading… that means you go over what you’ve typed before hitting the post button and if any part of what you wrote makes your gut flip then you might want to rephrase or rethink the post before posting it. Arguing after the fact that you didn’t mean it the way it sounded offers little solace or assurances to those that have been insulted.
Doing the whole, “But I was too!” when someone takes the time to point out why they were insulted offers little credence to your claims and does nothing to make your words any less insulting, in fact, and in some cases it makes them all the more an abomination.
Typing in BOLD to indicate your point means that you have resorted to a tantrum to get what you want instead of talking like an adult and I just don’t have the time to deal with insolent child like behavior. Instead of yelling at you, I’m simply going to ignore you the same way I would a child that tantrums in the toy department.
Prowess through mob mentality is never becoming. Just because people agree with your opinion does not mean they are going to back you up when you become indignant and/ or rude. They simply state that they understand your opinions, it doesn’t mean that they have your back in a bar fight, so you better get in check before you bring that toothpick to the knife fight lest you look behind you and find the room is empty.
I’ve seen many of those who have declared themselves above reproach forced to complete meltdown by their lesser peers. It can and does happen. Superiority complexes aren’t tolerated very long in the land of Delphi.