Thou Shalt Not Get Offended-Not When You Can Get Snarky

Thou Shalt Not Get Offended-

Not When You Can Get Snarky

I spend my share of time with my nose buried in a book, face/book that is, and as a result I occasionally get my cage rattled. I have an eclectic assortment of friends, most of whom are actually my friends, so I know I will see a vast chasm between opposing points of view, on a wealth of contemporary subjects.

The rule on face/book is that you are not supposed to get offended. Whereas that is an auspicious goal, it is blatantly impossible. What the rule actually says is, if you can read between the lines (which are at least ten yards apart), go ahead and get offended but skip the drama.

Some of the stuff that gets posted is so outrageous that I want to call the poster on it immediately, but I know there is a protocol. I can simply scroll by (SOP), I can do the polite, distant, “I’m afraid we must agree to disagree on this matter. Sniff,” or I can lambaste the post.

However, I am here to inform you there is a fourth approach, one which I seem to be favoring these days: I can be snarky. One who is snarky employs a light approach, one which could come under the category of sarcasm, but one which allows the commenter to go for the jugular under the guise of humor.

Take all of the spate of pro-gun posts after the most recent installment of Sandy Hook Revisited, Part Ad Nausea. Please. Whereas I want to scream obscenities at those who sanctimoniously keep clamoring for THEIR Second Amendment rights, I recognize that is probably not the smartest strategy when dealing with gun advocates. 

However, when it comes to arming teachers and posts that advocate open carry weapons, I am finding it impossible to resist taking the snarky route to express a counter-perspective. For the one which advocates students be armed, I respond with something along the lines of, “Excellent idea! That should reduce bullying on campus. ‘Go ahead, Kid, make my day.’”

Satire is a perfectly acceptable literary device, especially when it is misconstrued. All I require is one yahoo to take one of my “snarkettes” seriously, to make all of the other readers realize how extreme the perspective in question actually is.

I mean, no one hates bullies more than I do, but blowing them away, regardless of how downright satisfying it might make one feel, is definitively frowned upon.

Another favorite is the anti-Obama posts. Kind, normally rational and coherent individuals, go off the deep end and hammer our President unmercifully. I don’t get it but I must admit that those who maintain this is nothing short of racism, have a point. Why else are the posts so derogatory? 

One can criticize the President without denigrating him, but in doing so, they show their contempt. That puts a different slant on things, and one which has a fetid stench attached.

I like face/book because there is such a wide array of opinions, and I realize that I will not change anyone’s mind, but I might change someone’s attitude with my weak attempts at humor. It’s hard to stay mad if you are smiling.

Everyone has the right to post personal opinions; each of us has the right to oppose the views presented. It’s how one goes about the business of doing so, that makes the experience either pleasant or otherwise.

Bottom line: Feed Markie malarky and see him get snarky.