Comments on: Bring on the Flying Monkeys

By: bigbearbutt

bigbearbutt — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:56:30 +0000

I never said don’t do it, man, just to make sure you take a second first.

I say, slap the stupid right off him.

By: mannyac

mannyac — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:48:53 +0000

Is it ok to rant at the moron in the line at McDonalds?
You know, the one that gets to the register, then has to stop and stare at the menu (like it’s changed substantially in the last 25 years!) before ordering.
Or is a head slap sufficient?

By: bigbearbutt

bigbearbutt — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:28:46 +0000

I do agree that ignoring someone can be done in an offensive, aggressive way. I’m just separating the need to not use withholding attention as a weapon from being expected to take whatever yelled abuse is sent your way.

By: bigbearbutt

bigbearbutt — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:17:40 +0000

If you want to be heard, that is nice. But this rhetorical you we’re talking about does not have a right to be heard by me. To act different is silly.

If you assault me, I am not under obligation to endure it. Your choices are yours, but you have no right to force me to listen, no power over me to inflict your will, and no chance at making me feel guilty for not giving in.

By: ursiheil

ursiheil — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:15:58 +0000

Thanks again BBB… a good post.

I’ve had the /ignore command long before WoW… needed it growing up. As you can imagine, I’ve dealt with alot of idiots over the years… nearly killed me a couple of times.

So swift and safe resolutions to whatever trigger this man… I envy you sometimes in that you are a tank nature, able to stand up and take the aggro, and unleash hell back at the offending target. I know you’ve spoken out for me a couple times, and I appreciate it.

On a complete tangent (and to lighten the mood), should I be impressed that Chrome has a spell check entry for Aggro?

By: The Ancient

The Ancient — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:59:34 +0000

I am all about avoiding unpleasantness so I don’t follow or read certain blogs. I only know somethings up again when I see the comments of people I do follow, and think, whew, glad I didn’t have to see that.

I try really, really, hard not to say anything when angry, except to my last internet provider who deserved every raging hissy fit I threw at them, but then I threw it in the correct direction.

By: Bristal

Bristal — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:53:06 +0000

Since philosophy always has an “other hand”; be careful not to run away from constructive conflict resolution with the assumption that anybody who criticises you is just an asshat, and clearly is misdirecting their anger.

Ignoring people or “writing them out” can stimulate a further increase in their rhetoric, and is in fact an agressive act on your part. If i want to be heard, and you ignore me, i will yell louder. Reacting strongly to other people’s expressions of anger is just as much an anger management issue as being angry yourself.

I agree that (especially online) there is lots of (apparent) lashing out and misdirected anger. It’s easy and essentially risk free. But instead of ignoring the person you believe to be misdirecting anger, you can also ignore the anger itself, and focus on what they said instead of how they said it.

The sociology of online communication and relationships fascinates me no end. I follow quite a few blogs, and the rules of engagement are all over the board.

By: Xew

Xew — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:35:15 +0000

It’s too bad I never remember the words of wisdom in the middle of the button poking that sets me off. For some reason, I’m really good with muscle memory – developing quick reflexes that can react faster than my brain in specific situations. But the same isn’t true with the mental aspect. It isn’t until much later, while reflecting on the verbal outrage I poured into people that I realize there was probably a much better way to handle it… if only I had remembered to check my attitude and get my bearings, and be the change I want to see – etc.

I’ve gotten better at realizing I’m about to go off the deep end, and can reign it back at that point… but sometimes I’m just ragey and let fly without that internal monologue of self correction.

I really need to work on that.

By: Matty

Matty — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:23:04 +0000

Oh, wow -parallel universes: http://wowsugar.blogspot.com/2012/05/angry-milkman.html

By: Holly Dotson (@IncorrectDigit)

Holly Dotson (@IncorrectDigit) — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:06:00 +0000

Ooh, philosophical bear time. Best bear time. I completely agree, were I more awake, I’d probably make a connection between ragey hulk and more focussed hulk from the avengers movie. Either way, great post with a lot of thought and feeling behind it. Be safe bear, and hopefully whatever event spawned the post is resolved and less bothersome now.