Lament 2: Cry Harder

[Agent Bert Macklin]

Why are people yelling about US drone strikes and "rendition" on N&P as if they can do something about it?! And while it's feeding the cycle of violence in the Afghanistan/Pakistan regions and getting innocent bystanders killed, the US Government did not wake up one day and order drone strikes out of nowhere.

If they had balls and wanted to step out of their comfort zone, they'd get maced in the face by a bunch of blue wall hoopleheads. That would certainly create change.

[RyanThunder]

Because they don't want to yell in real life?

[Gands]

Why are people yelling about US drone strikes and "rendition" on N&P as if they can do something about it?!

Why do you post film reviews? Why do you post about people posting on stuff?

[RyanThunder]

you know, I get that there's some irrational feeling that I need to spend the first 45 minutes of every day in your cube listening to you explain to me in soul-crushing detail what I'm about to do when it's obvious that I already understand it, to the point where if its a simple task i've been assigned, you basically do it for me

it made more sense when i was new around here, but its been like four years man

chill the fuck out, i got this

that's what i'm here for

[Phantasee]

I fucked up at my job today

So that was cool

As one person learned how much I fucked up, they gave me a solution and then went and told everyone else how I fucked up

And everyone else gave me useful advice

And then someone said "learning experience"

So we are good.

[Zod]

I've found it's not the fuckups that get people in trouble; it's trying to hide the fuckups.

[RyanThunder]

How progressive.

[Aaron]

Where's the massive conspiracy to cover up the fuck up that eventually results in a disgraced staffer and a dead goat?

Or the backstabbing?

[RogueIce]

I've found it's not the fuckups that get people in trouble; it's trying to hide the fuckups.

QFT

Where's the massive conspiracy to cover up the fuck up that eventually results in a disgraced staffer and a dead goat?

Or the backstabbing?

I don't think he's highly enough placed in the political establishment for this.

[Phantasee]

I'd be under the bus, most likely. High enough to fit under the axles.

[Zablorg]

my emotions started getting all fucked again when i closed the curtains

i think i should get around to getting a new lightbulb

[Oxymoron]

Is that some sort of clever metaphor ?

[Crazedwraith]

I think it may be a reference to the lightbulbs you can that are supposed to help combat Seasonal Affective Disorder. By being bright and sun like,

[Zablorg]

man if it was a metaphor it sure as hell wasn't clever

(for real tho sitting in the dark all day for several days has fucked me up and conditions outside are legit dangerous)

good news is my lighting situation is up to scratch now so

[Zod]

Huh, so it turns out that tweaking the OKC profile with a new name and some changes paid off. Looks like I've got an actual date on Wednesday.

[Agent Bert Macklin]

Did you find some shoes, Zod? I had a hell of a time today finding a pink shirt that would fit me, meaning I didn't find one at all. It seems that every time I go looking for clothes, I can never find what I want in my size.

[Zod]

Did you find some shoes, Zod? I had a hell of a time today finding a pink shirt that would fit me, meaning I didn't find one at all. It seems that every time I go looking for clothes, I can never find what I want in my size.

Yeah, I wound up exchanging them for a pair of skechers of all things. They're actually nice enough that you wouldn't realize they were made by that company though.

[Agent Bert Macklin]

There's nothing wrong with Sketchers. People put too much store in the brands they buy. All that matters is if they provide excellent support and work for you.

[Zod]

There's nothing wrong with Sketchers. People put too much store in the brands they buy. All that matters is if they provide excellent support and work for you.

It's not the brand as much as it is the style. Skechers tend to have a particular look to them that doesn't really work well for me.

[razoroutlaw]

I've lost my taste for getting into arguments with people, especially over the internet. Today, somebody blasted me about something I'd written (that was a vague sort-of reply to both positions in a discussion) and I'm honestly not used to that anymore and I got pretty upset.

In the past, especially when I was teen and early 20-something, I would have dove into that fight and probably not cared too much about what was said. I still felt compelled to reply and I attempted to clarify what prompted the blow-up but that shit seriously brought me down. Instead of ignoring the rhetoric for the meat of the message I backed up and thought "Why does this stranger hate me so much?"

I stopped posting on forums for pretty much the same reason. I almost can't deal with people when they get hyper-aggressive; I just want to hide. And because I replied at all now I'm thinking "Great, now I have to wait for a response and he'll call me an idiot and go on a tirade again." Jesus. When did I become such...a spaz?

[Agent Bert Macklin]

I'm getting to that point too, razor. I'm having a lovely discussion with Alyeska, and in his obvious frustration on being unable to respond to what I'm saying, he's attacking. Thankfully, this type of behavior isn't present at all on the other message boards I actively participate on. I really don't know why people argue that waY. It's not difficult to stop doing that. When he called me a coward, I began typing a post that dispensed with my pleasantries to fire back. I realized, however, that stooping to his level of discourse is beneath me. I learned from my mistake here with Aaron a few weeks ago: words really can hurt people.

[Agent Bert Macklin]

There's no shame in what you're feeling, razor. People are just assholes, especially on the internet.

[Flagg]

No, you're both just pussies.

[razoroutlaw]

That crossed my mind too. Or I've gone soft. Or something.

@Negative_Knub
Thanks guy. I'm glad to hear that someone else has stepped back from the personal insanity of that style. I found that, as I studied philosophy, they have this thing called the principle of charity (it grew out of something a philosopher named Quine had written about) where you present your opponents argument as strongly as possible before you deal with them. This is supposed to help prevent the distorting of positions. That idea, and some other things philosophers do, really helped me understand that you don't have to go about talking or discussing ideas like a total shit (i.e. embarrassing the other guy into agreeing with you).

Not that some things don't warrant being talked about frankly. I guess the thing is to find a balance.

Oh that thing on FB basically blew over. Being short, to the point, and not firing back made him say "Aw, you're not playing my game...taking the high road, etc." It doesn't make me not a pussy for getting upset, but I'm glad it worked in that he backed off.

[Aaron]

I'm getting to that point too, razor. I'm having a lovely discussion with Alyeska, and in his obvious frustration on being unable to respond to what I'm saying, he's attacking. Thankfully, this type of behavior isn't present at all on the other message boards I actively participate on. I really don't know why people argue that waY. It's not difficult to stop doing that. When he called me a coward, I began typing a post that dispensed with my pleasantries to fire back. I realized, however, that stooping to his level of discourse is beneath me. I learned from my mistake here with Aaron a few weeks ago: words really can hurt people.

It's not a healthy way to live. I find if I argue like is standard on TEO that I start to get angry, hurtful, that it crosses over into offline life. People don't generally like to talk to or spend time with someone like that.

So yeah, there certainly isn't anything wrong with razor. You just value different things. Being at peace is more important to me now then correcting someone I perceive to be wrong on the Internet. So good show.