Online Jerk

Today I encountered a jerk online.

Well what's the fuss?
I used to find jerks (or they find me) every single day when I was still doing this blogging thing.

After few years of comfort and away from all these negativity, I guess I got so used to my comfort zone of close friends and friendly people, I forgot how it was like to find rude, arrogant, full-of-themselves people on the internet.

It made me angry. Upset. Frustrated.
Because you couldn't confront such person in person, because they're hidden comfortably and safely behind a veil. A veil that's protected by law and terms.

It made me defensive, and eager to fight back, verbal attack as a defense.
But then I remembered how this game was played in the past.
How more often than not offence is never the best course of action.
How one bad move could lead to a string of chain reaction which in the end would just end up in your arse.

Then neither is remaining silence.
Because people take you for a ride. Take you for granted. Take you for a fool. Continue to be a jerk to you.
So I fought back.
F*** being nice.

I forgot I'm no longer someone who needs to care about how she presents herself in public or the internet, all the time. Though for my sake of my mom and her well being, I still do in other aspects. The last thing I want is a heart attack patient in the family.

But this time, I've refrained from harsh direct crude words.
I've changed. Of course.
I was taught, while growing up, to speak my mind. To be honest. Strong character. Fight hard in life and fight back to those who ill-treated me.
I seldom filter my words, I speak my mind.

No one close in my family taught me to be otherwise.
But then four years of hardship did wonders to my personality and characters.

I figured not everything your parents taught you was wise and right. People make mistakes. It was mine to take their words literally, throughout my childhood, teenage years and well into my adulthood.

So I fought back, filtered. Because sometimes that's still the best policy.
And if the person remains a jerk, it's as simple as banishing him from your life, whether in reality or virtually.
Life's too short to keep awful people in your life.

If the person realized and make amends, perhaps there's still hope for a friendship afterall.
We're all human. People need a reminder, even if it's a harsh one, or a few, every now and then.



xoxo