Recently, someone in our industry died and social media was filled with tributes to him. From my first introduction to him in the early 80’s, to our last encounter at Rogers radio in Toronto, I didn’t have a good experience with this person. Ever. So I simply stayed out of it and didn’t comment. It was as if they were all talking about someone I’d never met.Â
A well-known sports figure is being given a big honour this fall and people are starting to buzz about his wonderfulness. He deliberately screwed me (and several others) in a business deal. I took him to court and I won. I know for a fact that he’s not the sweet, fine, upstanding citizen that he seems to be. But once again, I kept my fingers off the keyboard and moved on.
I’ve done a swan dive into the negativity pool a time or two, but it’s never been worth it when everyone else has one opinion and mine differs. Detailing the rude, offensive and plain shitty way the late radio executive was to me would be a bit, how do the French say it, unkind on the day he dies from cancer. And everyone wants a hero, so they probably wouldn’t change their minds about the sports figure anyway.Â
A couple of weeks ago I got involved in a thread on Twitter. Justin Trudeau was being attacked and I merely asked what I thought was an obvious question about the situation, and many people said, hey, yeah, you’re right – valid question. But it took maybe five minutes for the vitriol to turn my way. One guy tweeted, “if that’s the best you’ve got, you should quit your BLEEPING job!” This stranger had such a strong reaction toward me because I asked a sensible question. And that’s how it goes on social media these days. When I read it, I laughed out loud. A man hiding behind a computer would never dare say such a thing to my face.
That was the premise behind getting a bunch of nice guys to read mean tweets written by other men, directly to female sports reporters. This video happens to focus on men versus women, but women can be just as mean to men and to each other. What the video shows is how difficult it is to face someone and say the hurtful things that so easily tumble out of a keyboard. They say knowledge is knowing what to say, and wisdom is knowing whether to say it. It strikes me as unfortunate that we learn these lessons so late in life, and some don’t learn them at all, especially when it comes to social media.
I simply can’t believe the vitriol that is being spewn every time a picture of, or story about our PM surfaces. He could be saving a child from a burning building and the familiar “photo op!” will be lamely trotted out by everyone who can’t stand him, his wife, his father or his party. It’s tiresome and frankly we’re better than this. His politics and performance (or lack thereof) are one thing. But to continually read slams against him is wearying. It’s the unfortunate Americanization of the political scene. Insults and swipes. The negativity is exhausting. We ARE better than this. We have to be.
Oh, and his mother. Can’t forget the swipes against her at every opportunity, too. (The most ridiculous was on our station FB site, where a woman said that the first thing Justin would do was put his mother on our currency.)