if this is as good as it gets then good

1300, 1200, 1400, 2000....entries. However many it is...do you ever feel like you've said enough? What was my 'secret' from my past blog entry? Did I have one? Who cares? (not me).

I suppose it comes to a point where real-world social contacts become paramount to spouting to online communities that can pretend to be whoever they want to be. Case in point - simply compassion and humanity....

I was fishing a month ago...I saw an elderly man coming out of the woods with some fish. I turned around, continued to fish, then looked back and minute later and didn't see him. I thought about it for a second then wondered if he had somehow slipped by me. Something made me concerned, so I stopped and walked where I saw him last, and sure enough, he was face down in the mud, having fallen over a tree. I ran to help him up, somehow terribly panged by that feeling of watching someone in such a helpless state. Thoughts ran through my mind, knowing that this old man was once like me, able to bound over fallen trees, slinking through the woods, fishing on precarious outcroppings of rock...

In short, I think I saw myself in this old man, years from now...

If I fall in 50 years, will there be anyone there to help me up?

He thanked me as he plodded along, back to his car. For a moment I wondered who he was, what he believed, who he had at home...

In real life you don't immediately start your first or second introduction to a person with "This is who I am, and this is what I believe, and all other people who believe choice B are idiots". You have introductions, chance encounters, getting to know time, becoming familiar with who that individual is as a person, coming to enjoy their company, accepting their differences from your own.

Online, we forgo with all of that. I'm sure there are many of you out there who I would like and you would like me if we had a chance encounter on the street some random day. Sometimes internet mouthpieces are too loud...

So I wonder now, what did that old man believe in? Was he a devout evangelical who thought Obama was a Muslim and not fit to lead this county? Perhaps. But he was grateful to me, and I to him, even though I don't know him.

Now I know why sometimes saying less is more.

<end>.

[ Login to reply ]

semiomniscient on

Re: if this is as good as it gets then good

This is one of the best blog entries I have ever read. You are absolutely right.

[ Login to reply ]

redwoodpecker on

Re: if this is as good as it gets then good

In a sense though aren't you just saying that people are more likable the less you actually know them? The guy you're talking to at a bus stop might seem really interesting up to the point where he starts talking about setting niggers on fire.

I wonder if that old guy ever thought the same thing when he was younger and perhaps helping someone in a fix.

In any case, it's been my experience that when I need someone, there's someone there for me, and I try to be there for people when they need me. Regardless of how incredibly dumb they are, most people at least have basic empathy, provided your skin is the same color as theirs at least.

[ Login to reply ]

bbmyls2go on

Re: if this is as good as it gets then good

Do you judge someone on one post?

No, I don't buy the premise I think you are suggesting.

I read someone time and time again getting a feel for their personality before I ever make a personal comment.

But if I respond to an issue that is presented, I am reacting to the argument, not to the person behind it.

I enjoy the instant feedback from others and assume it deals with my post not of their opinion of me.

That first contact is not couched in any sense of "This is who I am, and this is what I believe . . ." it is simply "this is what I think about what you think".

I'm fine with that. Of course the pleasure comes from the successive communication where I DO learn more about that person and can put his or her earlier comment to me in perspective. Obviously, it is more embarassing to realize someone I might think I have a connection with has an opinion the polar opposite of mine, (or that someone I do not respect has a similar viewpoint as mine, LOL!) but hey, that comes later - blogging, like real life encounters, holds the potential of sparking a continuing dialogue and is not just an in-your-face love me or hate me.

I really don't get your point, forgive me. Are you suggesting that if you DID know more about this man, and you did not agree with his thoughts or lifestyle you would not have reacted as caringly as you did? Saying less may be less provocative, but I don't feel less provocative is more productive.

[ Login to reply ]

tootboy on

Re: if this is as good as it gets then good

there is something to say. or share.

a piece of news

a joke

something creative.

the question is not how much your said, but how much you've read

[ Login to reply ]

myclette on

Re: if this is as good as it gets then good

I totally get what you're saying. It's the reason why we can have friends with completely different points of view than ours in real life, but absolutely despise someone online for those same view points. In real life we are more apt (but not always) to see someone as a person first. Online, we are more likely to see someone as view point or political philosophy. The occurrence of depersonalization is more frequent when it comes to online communities