Lately it seems like there are a shitload of people who are offendsensitive - which, to me, means so sensitive to some particular thing that they get offended to the point of mania. (I didn't coin the term, but I heard it so long ago I can no longer attribute it to the person who said it or wrote it.)
So, let's take a moment and think about all the things that you could say to potentially piss someone off...
Ya know, I started to make a list, but I'd need to reproduce the damn dictionary.
Tell ya what. Instead, let's everyone figure out what offends us personally and then examine why it offends us. Personally, I'm damn hard to offend. Stupidity offends me. Intentional mean spiritedness offends me. Graphic sex with overtones of unkindness offends me.
There are other things, but they all have the same key item in common. ME. They offend ME. Sometimes the things I find offensive make ME uncomfortable. Sometimes they piss ME off. Sometimes they make ME sad that the human race has fallen to such a low point.
Know what all that means? It means I'm the one whole controls what offends me and I how I respond to it. These days I respond to it by shutting it off, hiding it on Facebook, blocking the offensive person, etc. I respond to it by NOT responding to it. I make it go away from my life - and if necessary, I do so by making the person who put it in front of me go away from my life, too.
I don't rail and shout. I don't report people to Facebook (not unless I saw something really really awful like child pornography which isn't just offensive, it's wrong across the board). I don't try to get people kicked off Blogger, or Twitter, or G+. I don't write nasty letters to editors, or boards, or committees, or companies. I utilize my power for good by no longer patronizing the person or the business or the organization that offended me.
I sure as hell don't let something some numbnuts I never met effect my outlook on life, my self-esteem, or my well-being. Jesus, people, if I did that, I'd be a fucking basketcase.
So, don't be a basketcase. Switch off the offendsensitivity. It's not doing anyone any good.
Well said, B.E.! Like you, I turn things off - or refuse to go there (FB - very rarely on there these days) - and I'm sure it's because I need to control the stuff that comes into my life, but it's also because I don't like confrontation! Some of the offending things, I feel, are posted to get people riled up - to get them 'debating'. I'm not going there, either!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's quite the word - I've never heard it before. Next thing you know, there will be a matching disorder!
Thanks, Janet! Heh, I've known people who said or posted things just to get a rise. I try not to be baited, but every once in a while...
DeleteLOL, I wouldn't be surprised.
I second everything you say. And I also "vote" with my money. I skip over the things that I don't like on social media. Conversely, I don't post controversy to social media--and by that, I mean some of the things I believe/support. Not everyone does. Politics and social causes are sort of like religion. I won't get in your face, don't get in mine. Good post today, B.E.!
ReplyDeleteIf more people voted with their money, Silver, things would probably change for the better. Like I told Janet, I try not to get involved, but every once in a while I can't help myself. Thanks!
DeleteExcellent post, B.E.!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh this was so on target. People need to get off their high horses. We're all in this world together and we need to learn to tolerate each other.
ReplyDeleteLoved the word offendsensitive. Never heard it before. Will use it again. Thanks.
Thanks, B.! And it just occurred to me that the word 'offendsensitive' might have been in a Bloom County comic back in the '80s.
DeleteHa, go girl! I'm with ya. People that get offended easily SO should not go on the internet. For crying out loud, it's the internet! It's supposed to have everything and the kitchen sink. Freedom and no limitations. That's the beauty of the thing in my opinion.
ReplyDelete