I have a pretty diverse group of friends. They run the gamut in education, political beliefs, religion, and economic class. When you throw my family in there, a whole other demographic (trailer people) is represented.
I'm really okay with this because you don't have to see the world the same as I do for me to love you. I also feel like I have enough middle-of-the-road views to keep me grounded in the knowledge that a) I'm not always right, b) I don't always know what's best, and c) most other arguments have validity. (Except when it comes to crimes against children, but that's a whole other rant.)
So anyway, over the past few months, I've posted three completely innocuous posts that have received crazy, over the top responses.
The first: "Happy birthday, Mr. President. Happy birthday to youuuuuuuu." Okay... I was channeling my inner Marilyn Monroe on that one. But my word, did it result in some fighting, name-calling, and just crazy on my wall.
The second: "Although I don't have a horse in this baseball postseason, I'm excited about some of the match ups." Seriously... could this be more vanilla? It's not rooting for anyone in particular, and it's not shooting anyone down. A friend of mine, a good friend, went off on my team, saying that "anyone who goes to a Glenn Beck rally deserves what happens to them. They're representing all that's wrong with America." I was so confused... what did that have to do with my post? Yup, I deleted this one.
The last, just a few days ago: "Hey Chicago mamas --- Where did you do your childbirth classes? Were they crazy-expensive? I'm looking for a weekend-intensive course, not a long one. Also, if you want to watch my child, that would be cool. ;-) " Oh-my-God. So, here's what happened. My best friend from high school said "I thought you were having another c-section." I said "well, I hope not to. My doctor said I have a 50/50 chance of a regular birth, because there was really nothing wrong during my pregnancy with Nathan or his birth." Then she posted "50/50 doesn't sound good, a bit of a risk. but it's your body." A guy friend of mine whose wife had a c-section posted something about how he thought that was kind of harsh, and how the 50/50 wasn't a risk assessment, just a chance of a c-section. My HS friend said "I think after 20 years of friendship I can say whatever I want."
Really? I feel like the point of Facebook is to connect and share good things. Maybe I'm living in too much of a sunshine and puppy dogs kind of world. Have any of you ever had ridiculous like this on Facebook? I guess it wouldn't be so weird if these people weren't actually friends of mine.
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3 comments:
I have that problem too - usually it's family that gets too over the top. It's like they think they can say whatever they want because they are related to me, instead of realizing they are representing a LOT of crazy that I have to fight daily to overcome! Does that make sense? Each person is only a small part of what makes me ME. But they all think they have equal rights to share their opinion.
I am glad I haven't had any of those comments, but then again I don't post much in the way of status updates that could be open for comments like that. And the few times I wanted "weird" comments - everyone ignored my post. I could see people saying they would suggest a c-section, but they shouldn't be telling you that you are making a terrible decision. VBAC TOL in a good hospital aren't dangerous - and I know that because I researched it!
Ouch! I don't see how anyone could rationally get worked up about anything you posted. But I guess when we put it out there, we have to expect we will get some feedback that isn't very nice. But these people are suppose to be your friends. Not to say you can't disagree with friends but show some respect. Is it me or does the world seem to be losing it manners by the second? What ever happened to graciously disagreeing with a person or just biting your tongue? If I have learned anything from facebook, it has been the art of biting my tongue, or as my sister-in-law puts it, "sitting on my hands".
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