The Times They Are A’Changing

The land of Twitter is a very interesting place. The reasons for my involvement have changed and evolved slightly over time, but for the most part, I participate to keep up with what’s happening and to chat with people with at least one common interest, one Mr. David Cook. My core group consists of a wide range of personalities and backgrounds, but another commonality is that everyone, at one time or another, has had me literally laughing hysterically at some smart witty comment. The place is just plain fun. Over time, we have shed our clothes, so to speak, and have exposed more of our personal selves completely unrelated to that original common bond that brought us here.  I have grown to admire and respect a great number of people for many different reasons, which is why loosing one of those people has had a greater effect than one would expect.

Not too long ago, that experience of loosing a much admired and respected follower hit me harder than it probably should have. It felt like she was breaking up with me. Dumb, I know. Or maybe it wasn’t as off the wall as I thought. It made me realize that I need to stand up for myself and my mental well being, just as this person did.  I have, for a long time now, been ignoring and trying to pass over comments that bother me, biting my tongue and holding my fingers when what I really want to do is comment or debate. This particular person left me because of a comment I made, and rather than engage, she eliminated the source (something I haven’t had the courage to do). At first, it didn’t really make sense to me, but looking at it from that point of view I thought, maybe it’s time to free myself.

So here I am, making my stand, and on my way to taking charge of my Twitter. I’m just so tired of hiding in the shadows, and if this costs me more, then so be it.

I know that the vast majority of my core group are not of the same political persuasion as I am, so I generally keep my beliefs (especially political ones) to myself.  I don’t think that it serves any purpose to alienate anyone, especially since political discussion is not the reason I tweet. But here in my own blog I will strip off a layer and state for the record that I am a registered Republican, fiscally conservative, but socially, leaning slightly over the left side of the fence. The comment that I made was at a weak moment when I let down my guard and made a rare comment about our President. I should have known better than to put it out there, but he was on my TV, preempting a show I wanted to watch, saying things I had no interest in and I just wanted him to shut up.  I’ve always been respectful of the presidency, but this guy just yanks my chain. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in the beginning, but when he came out and said “We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for a ride, but they gotta sit in back.”, it really pissed me off and he lost all of my respect. It was racist and insulting and very unpresidential. He continues to be rude and condescending and disrespectful to me and those of us who don’t agree with him, so my opinion is not likely to change. I won’t even start to get into what I think of what his policies are doing to this economy. Everything is worse, not better, I mean seriously, is anyone better off than they were 4 years ago?  I’m feeling it first hand in my family and my business. Everything I’ve worked for over the last 37 years is being destroyed and I’m not happy about it. And no, I will not eat my fucking peas.  I also am tired of the blame game… grow some balls and take some responsibility.  I could go on and on, but I’m not going to force feed anyone since that’s the thing that has brought me to this point. I just feel the need to explain, in part, why I feel the way I do.

There… that feels better.

I generally don’t have a problem with people stating opinions and having an educated debate, but I don’t respect those opinions that are built on half truths, misrepresented sound bites and just blind emotion. I see far too much of that in my timeline lately and I know it’s going to get worse as the political season heats up. I just don’t understand how people can be so hateful towards people they don’t even know or understand. It’s not just politics either, it’s other artists and entertainers and far too often, certain reality show contestants who are ripped to shreds for no good reason. It bothers me even more when the target is someone I actually like. Again, I’m usually in the minority on that front. I just can’t take it sitting down anymore.

So there it is. I simply think it’s time for me to eliminate the potential confrontations. All I want to do is have fun and enjoy myself in this virtual world. My hope here is that by understanding where I’m coming from, people will understand why I have to do what I have to do.  Besides, getting it out and writing it down is great therapy. (Gee, where have I heard that before?)

I don’t see mass deletion in my future, but I will from time to time, be unfollowing some people based on general attitude or specific tweets that make me uncomfortable, upset, or just plain uninterested.  Some may prove to be quite surprising even to me.  Even I don’t know who or when it will be at this exact moment, but I’ll know when I see it.  I hope that this will clarify my reasoning and unspecifically answer the inevitable question, “Why did you unfollow me?”  Trust me, it’s not that I don’t like you. The truth is, I haven’t met anyone in person, so our relationship is a virtual one, and I can’t “not” like you if I don’t really know you. I only know your words, and they reflect what I “think” I know about you.  I just feel that I have been compromising myself in an effort to not confront or insult people I don’t even know. I simply need to stay true to myself in the real world.

I suspect that perhaps, down the road, when the band gets on the road, we’ll have something else to talk about and I’ll refollow people (if I’m allowed). I guess in a sense, I’m not writing anyone off, I’m just taking a much needed vacation from some family members.