A few weeks ago I deactivated my Facebook account. Like when Chef Ramsey gets tired of his Donkey crew, I shut it down. With no announcement or warning or attention whoring I shut it down. Why? The answer is complicated as it should be since I am a complicated person. But as complicated as I am I always do things with reason and after it has been carefully thought out. While I appreciated keeping in contact with old friends and sharing pictures with my family , Facebook also did a wonderful job of exploiting my biggest weakness , my inability to stay quiet when I see something incredibly stupid. It was a daily test of intestinal fortitude to hold back my comments , to bite my tongue and to mind my business.In a recent experience, I had a very public argument with a family member. It's no secret who it was, I'm not revealing anything private, it was out there for everyone to see (including my wife's side and her family). I had to defend my name in a character assassination attempt by this ignorant bored person. It was completely embarrassing and the lack of respect was colossal. I was left dumbfounded wondering why I was the target of an unprovoked slanderous attack. As I dug deeper the truth came out in more ways than one. Private messages can show that the family member in question relished the idea of being slanderous, she wallowed in the idea of tearing down and saw no flaw in this behavior even while calling herself a Witness. These feelings of hers were sentiments that had been festering for years. She allowed resentment, hate and jealousy to build up till it oozed out of her like a prepubescent popped pimple.
Honestly I was surprised and I wondered if I did anything wrong, perhaps something I should apologize for. They say there's always two sides to a story but you know what? Sometimes there's only one and in this case I was the victim and I'll be damned if I'm going to apologize for being offended. Now I tried doing the right thing first and attempted to talk it out but there was no talking to be had or done. So I tried to talk to the people that could help resolve the situation with a level head. I was ignored and if anybody knows me ..they know how much I haaaaaate being ignored. I would rather deal with listening to nails on a chalkboard while being repeatedly pinched while getting a root canal than be ignored. The Husband ignored me, the Mother ignored me and the Sister ignored me. Now I could have gone to the Elders, but when I started getting more information about the people I was dealing with and more and more truth started being revealed, I was getting my answer (and my closure).
This event sucked the joy out of social media for me. My posts became less optimistic, more cautious. I became more sensitive to people leaving what I felt were disrespectful comments when in reality they were just joking around. In the process I became defensive. It became a distraction. So instead of sitting there grinding my teeth in frustration I decided to remove myself from the equation. It wasn't that hard, the people I wanted to keep in contact with had my number and the people I found interesting I knew how to reach them.
This isn't anything new, there has been a ton of council given regarding social media. I felt like I was holding it down for a while but I frankly just outgrew it all and got sick of how invasive this particular social media app really is. It's practically impossible to keep a private circle and the list of people I choose to avoid is just too big these days. But now I'm back...and why? There's a very good reason why...an honest reason...a reason I'm sure many of you will understand . To put it simply.
I really really want to win Midieval Times Tickets. Seriously! they're giving away free tickets ALL the time and all I have to do is LIKE and leave a comment. I have been dying to go back to Midieval times and take Jason to his first glorious dinner. Oh how we shall rally our knights for victory and honor! ahem..yes...well.. That's why I'm back.
HUZZAH!!!!
