what's on your mind.

That's what Facebook asks you. "What's on your mind?" Well, a lot, I suppose, but nothing that can really be condensed into a one-liner.

•    Peeve: people who cut their lawns and blow all the clippings onto the street. "Look at me; I mowed the lawn! I'm great!" No, you're not. You're lazy. Get out there with a damn broom or blower and get your crap off the street. It's unsightly at best, and nasty when it rains and all your friggin' clippings clog up the storm grates. 

•    Joy: Temple Run, the Brave edition. Although I'm not yet capable of doing more than running into trees, jumping off cliffs, or being eaten by bears, I'm enjoying this game immensely.

•    Peeve: people who walk straight at you without any attempt to shift to one side. Look, I know there's a limited amount of space. If you at least try to give the illusion of sharing, I'll cut you some slack and do the same. If there's honestly nowhere to go for either of us, I'll do my best to clear some room. But don't walk as if you own the path and you expect us peons to clear the way, bowing with averted eyes. I assure you that in that case, you will be sporting a bruise from where you bounced off my elbow.

•    Joy: rereading books you've reread before and still finding new details to soak up.

•    Peeve: mortgage companies that sell your note without adequate notice as to where to send the check. Yeah, I'll get around to it when you do.

•    Joy: it's football season. 'Nuff said.

•    Peeve: …

Well, it's bigger than a bullet point.

As of late I've seen a lot of kvetching about election talk. Politics is not everyone's cup of tea. Even for those that don't mind the talk, I understand that there are times and places. I don't, for instance, discuss it at work. (Mind, there are other reasons for that, all of which I cannot go into. But I'm sure you get the picture.)

But in my own space, whether that be home, here, Twitter (which I don't use much if at all), or Facebook, I reserve the right to speak. And to be perfectly honest, I don't care if the reader likes it or not.

We are (más o menos) 60 days from an election that will make or break this country as we know it. We are teetering on the brink of either recovery or economic oblivion, depending on whether we go in for a little R&R or another four years down the crapper. It is not hard to understand why politics is in the forefront of many folks' minds.

I see post after post from otherwise intelligent people bitching and moaning about "all the election talk" and how they're going to defriend people and stop reading things because they're sick to death of it.

On one hand, I too abhor the nastiness that a political discussion can descend to. There's no need for it. Strong feelings can still be handled with logic, even if there's still major disagreement. I can see being sick of mean people and stupid statements.

On the other hand, I'm really disappointed in these folks. One, for not having an interest in something that will affect them so profoundly and directly. I'd think that a threat of this magnitude might stir one's pot, so to speak. Not having an opinion or being relatively indifferent is, in my nevertobehumble opinion, to get what you deserve in the end.

My second point is more simple: if you are "following" someone, or "friends" with them, it must mean that you have shared some interest along the way. Either they've said something that caught your attention, or you know them in some way. So it should be no shock to you when said "friend" starts spouting an opinion about Candidate A or Incumbent B, or has a rant about a policy or vote. Even less so when it gets to the hot spot in the election cycle, or when an issue comes to a head.

If you really don't like what you're reading, there are options.* Hide the person. Unfriend. Unfollow. But do it and get it over with. The passive-aggressive "if I complain about it in a post, they'll see it and be ashamed and stop doing it" strategy just serves to piss people off.

If I'm writing something and you're shocked – shocked, I tell you – that I'm pounding a point into dust, or have become vehement in my statements about or against a certain figure, then I submit that you don't know me well enough to deserve the honor of calling me "friend." I will also state that you pointedly ignored the warning I posted, imploring those easily offended by political talk to put me in a less-viewed list, or hidden completely, until such a time that your delicate sensibilities wouldn't be overstimulated.

Your "offense" offends ME. I have the right to state my opinion, and in these troubled times, I would assert that I have the duty to speak out. If you don't wish to hear it, see it, or read it, you can take evasive action. 

But I'm not planning to be quiet. So get over it.

_____

*Now if you simply disagree, there's always room for discussion. That I can get behind. We may never see eye to eye, but I'll respect you for it.

Comments

[Cindy in un-Happy Valley]

It sounds like you're telling folks to just change the channel if they don't like what they're watching (i.e., reading). Ya think they've not figured that out yet?

[Mom]

Amen to that. I am tired of trying not to say something that may offend. Because I have an opinion that may not be yours, get over it. I have that right, at least for a little while longer until our freedom of speech is terminated. Nine times out of ten they don't even know what is happening.

[Chris]

Ho boy, I have just hit this issue with my cousin's wife. Good thing they live in your neck of the woods and not mine. She excoriated me because I posted a story by Marc Theissen about Obama's idiocy. She not only called me stupid (implied I didn't have enough intelligence to understand the issue), she implied that my hatred for people was appalling to her. Hm, not anywhere in anything I posted did I indicate I hated anyone. And just because she works in the accounting area for the FBI following money crimes, does not give her any more insight into foreign affairs. All my responses asked her to just drop it, but no. I finally told her I would respond no more and wished her a good evening to which she replied, "how can I have a good evening now". I should have replied, "By getting over it!". Just speechless. Sorry for the rant, but I couldn't do it on FB.