You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy™
Thick Skin.
If you are going to be in the public eye, you have to have skin like an elephant, like a warrior poet, as Sir William Wallace once said.
You wanna be in the public eye? You better be tough like an armadillo on a Texas blacktop.
If you are on TV you will eventually get stung with darts of cynism. You will be attacked, blind-sided, smacked upside your head.
Anyone with internet access can now lob a symbolic hand grenade of hate.
If you are a public figure, you need to be able to – sorry Taylor Swift – shake it off.
Over the years, I have learned to let some of it go.
“You suck.”
OK, thanks for writing.
“You are a moron.”
“I appreciate your email.”
You have to dance a fine line of tolerance and move on.
It’s easy to respond, to over-react, to percolate on adrenaline.
But you have to maintain.
The advent of the internet, complete with anonymous emails and ubiquitous Facebook posts have only heightened the anger and the unsolicited venom.
Sometimes it covers you like a blanket full of Bear spit and you wanna scream.
Friday night I did a story on a city official who reportedly lied about his sick leave. He was suspended by his department for dishonesty and conduct unbecoming.
Will this story win me a Pulitzer?
No.
Is it a story?
A high ranking city official disciplined for work place transgressions?
It depends who you ask.
At the end of the day, my boss says it was a story, so you know what, it’s a story.
Mongo just pawn in game of life, which means, when your boss tells you to do something you do it.
My Facebook page fills with views. 500 in an hour. Almost 2,000 in 12 hours. There are a dozen comments.
Some people praise the report for holding city officials accountable and making sure tax payer dollars are spent wisely.
Others blast the report for being too nosy, a who cares kind of story.
Some praise me for being a great reporter. Others tell me I’m pond skum, the worst reporter who ever stuck a pen behind his ear.
And so it goes.
Opinions, as they say, are like A**Holes. Everyone has one, right?
At the end of the day, I am not the armadillo. I don’t enjoy being compared to the backside of a donkey.
But you can’t fight a thousand arrows, so you just have to move on.
You can’t answer the Facebook venom with rationale because they simply want to engage and publicly condemn. Your only hope against the haters are for the fans to come to your defense.
Sometimes they do, sometimes they sit on the periphery and watch the debacle.
What I like to do is push the negativity out of sight out of mind.
How do you do that?
Post something on top of the negative post. Push it down the page, out of sight out of mind.
If you want to tell me I am phlemn, you’ll have to go find the story and post on it out of sight out of mind.
I understand why athletes and entertainers don’t read the paper or watch the reviews.
At the end of the day, who cares.
Do I feel like I am pond skum? Nope.
Was I true to my profession?, to my craft?, to those I covered?, to the company that pays my bills?
That’s what I concentrate on.
So to all you social media enthusiasts who fart your thoughts into the ether, God bless you.
I question how you choose to spend your time. If I’ve learned anything in this life, there is a finite amount of time.
So if you want to call me pond skum instead of helping your kid with math, have at it.
If you want to point out my deficiencies instead of solidifying the decaying relationship with your significant other, be my guest.
But know this internet hater.
I could engage you. And if I did, I would beat you to a pulp. My words would undress you and make you feel fat. My syntax and verb choice would blind you, poke you in the eye, and make you feel like a child standing in the bright light of truth.
I won’t unleash the verbose hounds of hell on you. Not this time. But I might next time. You see my skin is only so thick. My temperament only so stable. My anger a fist ready to jab you in the nose.
I hope to one day knock on your door and ask you why you are the rancid squid meat that you are. If I do, you will not find me pleasant. If I come a knocking, I will make you remember the hateful words you posted to the ether.
I am letting it go today. But when I meet you and one day I will, I will take your facebook post and perform your colonoscopy with it.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So I turn a cheek today, but be warned, the furnace is hot and pay back is a bitch.
See ya later hater. Better hope I don’t knock on your door.
Life’s Crazy™