Biting my tongue
It’s a rare thing when I don’t respond to a @reply Tweet on Twitter, but this time I had to make an exception.
Within the past week I made one of my normal attempts at humor on Twitter, joking about something that I had done during that day. I exchanged a yuk or two with another Twitter user; all was fine. Then another Twitter user chimed in with a response.
I was nonplussed. The response managed to push one my emotional buttons. Actually, it stomped on it pretty damned hard.
I really don’t want to get into specifics because I don’t think that the other Twitter user intended to be rude or hurtful. I think they were just trying to be funny, much like I was earlier, but in a different way with a different point of view.
But that doesn’t mean squat to you when an emotional button is pushed, does it? Your entire being screams out for a response: fight or flight.
In the end, I chose to ignore the Tweet – I let it go. No other exchanges occurred. I don’t bear them any ill will. I’m glad I held my tongue.
But man, it was hard.
Image by thefuturistics
Walter:
Doing the right thing is hard. I’m glad you did it right. We all have different perspective and belief systems, just like the Twitter user you have encountered.
24 January 2010, 9:52 ammarkdykeman:
Walter: Yeah, I think it was for the best that I didn’t say anything.
24 January 2010, 1:14 pmIan M Rountree:
There’s some truth to the saying that you can’t get along with everyone. But it’s usually not that clear cut. I assume from your writing that this joke was a blip, not a trend? I’m sure we all run into that one janky opinion in our friends/cohorts every so often.
24 January 2010, 2:39 pmIan M Rountree´s last blog ..Do you let others take your advice?
markdykeman:
Ian: yes, it was a blip. It’s just that it touched a particularly sensitive nerve. I’m sure the other Twitter user has no idea. I refrained from commenting and it was the right decision. At the same time, I felt compared to note it here.
24 January 2010, 3:30 pmNews Flash: People Still Failing the Social Resume | Ian M Rountree:
[...] that make people snark at me, I stop following them. Mark Dykeman recently wrote a great post about how he chose to hold his tongue – good on him for doing so. Esteban Contreras (@socialnerdia) recently direct-messaged me [...]
26 January 2010, 10:45 am