I GOT ROYALLY pissed off at someone yesterday and harsh words and f-bombs were exchanged.
I spent the rest of the day feeling bad about it, but dammit, what do you do when you come across someone who still supports Donald Trump and tells you that everything you say about the man’s many committed evils are “those are just your opinions.”
Well, you say something like “they are no effing opinions, they are researched and documented facts and you need to get your head out of your ass and get off Fox News.”
He responded in kind.
Before I left I apologized for my language, but he seemed to have none of it, instead going back to a defense of the indefensible. So, I left in anger and he remained in anger.
I guess that’s where we are. This blog is not a political one so my reason for posting on this subject is more about behavior than anything else.
I spent a life in school and journalism being told to “show my work,” to double and triple-check what I was about to write. Sadly we live in a time of misinformation and the manipulation of information that is unprecedented.
ALONGSIDE THAT is the undeniable reality that (as I write this on the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) we live in a time of incivility that is as contagious as any plague.
Yesterday it caught up with me. I exploded at a guy who, bottom-line, is a good guy but who for whatever reason has been drawn deeply into the world of conspiracies. It’s not that these people are not capable of seeing through the fog, it’s that they won’t. So, how do you reach those people.
You can’t. Sorry, you can’t. And when you can’t, sometimes something snaps and you act in ways you later feel ashamed of. But you also become depressed. At least I do. This depth of delusion and denial is beyond my understanding and so when confronted with it yesterday, something in me snapped and I yelled and cussed. Today I feel bad and sad.
But so it goes in these times. Maybe better times await. I hope I live long enough to see them.
Rich Heiland is a retired journalist and semi-retired consultant, trainer and public speaker. During his journalism career he was a reporter, editor, publisher, college instructor, part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year honoree. He lives in West Chester, PA and can be reached at [email protected].
Facts don’t seem to matter to some….frustrating ..so very frustrating…you tried and lost it, but….you never know….in his rage perhaps, just perhaps, a smidgeon of truth might wiggle it’s way into his heart, mind & soul. One can hope. I will.