Anon et al,
I have long wondered at the phenomenon of the anonymous commenter. I have twice received a comment that tugged at my heart and caused me to reflect on my words, both times from anonymous commenters. One was a bit racist so I won't repost it here and the other was recently on my post about the food policy at school. I am left pondering because there was no accountability for the individual. In this recent case, I didn't actually say anything other than to post a picture of the policy so I am unsure where the anger came from...
I want you to know that several times on this blog people have made comments I disagree with. For example:
i'm not sure you can claim extreme righteousness when your kids don't even pay tithing.
OR
Reading for game time is lame. Just ask anyone under the age of 14. But cute of you for trying. I'll teach Casey how to sneak in his room after you've fallen asleep at 10pm (cuz I know you do) for all the free playing time he wants. He deserves to know these things. After all, he's already 4 years late getting a DS as it is.
Conversation starter: Hey Casey, Landee is on the phone for you....
Conversation starter: Hey Casey, Landee is on the phone for you....
OR most seriously from SRBC regarding my FAVORITE book of all time:
I'm trying, really I am. But so far I can't stand it. Maybe I'm d) dead inside. ::sigh:: but I'm only on ch 11.
Even though the first comment was probably meant as a joke even if it was true, the latter two certainly were not. But I believe in healthy, open conflict so I applaud, yea, encourage the disagreement.
Do I seem like the kind of person who will disrespect you if I know who you are? I hope not! I hope no one feels like you can't disagree here. And you can even say what you want without being funny. Well, Tiff cannot, but most people can and are invited to do so.
There are two times when I understand remaining anonymous:
--Donating to a good cause to be sure that your intention is really coming from a good place
--You feel that your comment could be misconstrued by a co-worker, boss, or otherwise impact your political future
If you are someone who feels that my involvement in the school would somehow negatively impact you, I feel sad about that as well.
I would like to publicly state that I am very proud to be a member of my children's school community. I love everything about the school and have personally sacrificed hundreds of hours to fight for its existence. I won't even be in this town longer than one more year so there is absolutely no reason why I should bother to put all this time into it other than the fact that I truly believe in reform and I think the quality of teaching there is worth fighting for. I openly relish the fact that our school is different even if I would like to bring some homemade cookies once in a while.
I love that I live in a crazy liberal town in which raw foodies, vegans, vegetarians, meatatarians, and omnivores all live together in peace, love, and harmony.
And by the way, my children actually are at risk for diabetes as it runs in my family AND we have to work actively to stay in a healthy weight zone on a daily basis.
All this to say, anonymous, I am sorry that you are so powerful as you cloak your identity and I wish that you had less of a hurtful impact on my blogging state of mind but you are still welcome to come, and make your comment without any accountability because in the end, I am an estadounidense and I believe in freedom of speech.
Gracias por venir.
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ReplyDeleteMy mother used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." On the opposite end of the spectrum, my father preached, "If you can't think of anything mean to say, you aren't thinking hard enough." With that upbringing, I applaud sweetness and light, saucy and zingy, humorous and acerbic. However, I think there is no place for hurtful, especially cloaked in anonymity.
ReplyDeletePretty sure anonymous was addressing me and not you.
ReplyDeleteThe irony is that I am such a healthful food fanatic in my home. Just ask my daughter how much she pines for white bread in our land of whole grains! For crying out loud I have a list of foods that I won't eat because I don't believe that they are appropriate for my dietary needs. I have a literal no eat list. My meatatarian husband probably secretly hates me for electing to cut out red meat for my diet. Coming up on my one year anniversary without it.
Sigh.
I'm sorry if my impassioned response may have made you look bad because my words were next to your post.
I still stand by my beliefs. It boils down to this simple fact: I will make better decisions for my family than a government entity ever will.
Your kids don't pay tithing?
ReplyDeleteI had a great comment on the tip of my fingers, but all I can think about now is that deleted comment.
ReplyDeleteYeah! At least I put my NAME to my rude comment!
ReplyDeleteBut srsly, I ended up UN hating the book. Sorta.
Since you embrace free speech and welcome diverse opinions I feel the need to shake things up a little – politely, and un-anonymously of course.
ReplyDeleteIt has to do with a certain segment of the population who believe in their heart that they are smarter than the rest of us, and need to protect us from ourselves by making decisions for us that we are just too stupid to make for ourselves. I like to refer to this little segment of the population as “Democrats”.
And if you think I'm way off base here, let me illustrate with a little exchange I heard the other night between Jay Leno and his guest Bill Maher
------------------
Jay: Well let me ask you, everybody is talking about the new Obama. What do you make of this?
Bill: Yes, well, you know what? I get nervous when politicians do this, when they want to be more populist. You know, I mean, he's not a populist. He's an elitist, that's what I like about him. He's smarter than the rest of us.
[Cheers and applause]
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So many people in this segment of the population seem so eager to have the government manage our education, our retirement, our health care; even our religious institutions e.g. marriage. Next thing you know they are telling you what snacks you can give to your children. In the latest health care proposal there is a heavy tax for tanning salons which would likely put many of these small business owners out of business; but hey, they are protecting us pale white people from ourselves since we are too stupid to weight the benefits and risks for ourselves. I know a San Francisco liberal who is all for this kind of government control; but was very upset one day when he got a ticket for not wearing a helmet while riding his bike in the park.
Welcome to the Nanny State.
This post has way too much reason in it for my tastes. I prefer crazy rants.
ReplyDeleteNow I feel terribly guilty for my comment which for the record was a joke. I don't even remember the context (I don't remember anything) but I disagree with it as well.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten in trouble for commenting sarcastically before, and had to apologize profusely, and then I vowed to be more sensitive when I comment. Hopefully that happened after the instance you bring up, but of course, I can't remember.
Your last paragraph is awesome. Your blog is always so open and thoughtful and intelligent, and I love that it makes me feel like I still know you even though I haven't seen you in like 13 years. I hope anonymous doesn't impact your blogging state of mind too much.
I'm sorry I missed all the hooplah. I would have loved to join in.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the reminder that I need to call Casey about...er...something. I am passionate about kids and video games. I think I'll post a sign about it in my house with a smiley at the end.