Sometimes, it just amazes me what people will say.
Strike that. Sometimes, it just amazes me what people will say purely for the purpose of provoking a reaction.
My ex was a bit like that.
She would make random declarations that sounded "scientific" but were often plucked out of thin air simply to see if she could piss people off. You know, walking into a conference of vegans and asking whether dinner would be chicken or beef.
I got to thinking about this while drinking my morning coffee, and remembering Rasmus — a kid from my grade school years in Denmark — who used to say certain things in class he knew would cause a particular teacher to almost lose his temper.
Rasmus wasn't out to accomplish anything other than make Mr. Loft blow his top because Rasmus thought that was "funny."
Fast forward 45 years, and my friend Erik used a similar technique quite often as part of his free speech project. Standard fare for him would be to go to a Chinese restaurant and argue with the waitstaff over what kind of pizza they had.
My ex and I went around the block a few times about the purported purpose of her random declarations; I could never quite figure out what exactly she hoped to accomplish, nor could I ever figure out quite what Erik or Rasmus hoped to accomplish.
All three of them, quite independently of each other and decades apart, simply wanted ”to stir things up.” Rasmus isn't around to ask, but my ex was more interested in watching people get angry than in making an actual point.
It used to really bother me when people did things like that... but upon deeper reflection, I actually had less of a problem with the part of their MO that was about stirring the pot than with something else.
What I had a problem with — and that holds true even today, in political and other hot-potato situations — was the way they’d each get all affronted and butthurt when people didn't think their verbal incendiary bombs were particularly funny, and would actually get outright upset by them.
Which, of course, represents that very fine line where provoking a reaction becomes more akin to bullying than to actually making a point about anything.
In other words, if you throw rocks at a hornets’ nest — at least in my opinion — you thereby give up your right to be offended by the fact that the hornets swarm and sting you! You know they are hornets, and you know that hornets swarm and sting when provoked... so don't try to sidestep personal accountability when you throw rocks!
The hornets aren't being "stupid," but maybe you are...
Or, as my dad would sometimes say, "you don't get to have your toast buttered on both sides!"
So what's my point here? I suppose it's mostly one I've made a number of times but which typically falls on deaf ears: having freedom of speech doesn't mean you get to have freedom from consequences.
In the examples I used here, there's probably more to it than that... a sort of "intellectual narcissism" via which the person provoking believes they alone are special enough that they should be "exempt" from the consequences everyone else has to face. Not sure...
Anyway, this all came up because I had that sudden memory of Rasmus from childhood... and even though he knew what he was doing he would still plead and cry and beg for his life everytime he got detention for disrupting class.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your day!
How about YOU? Does the freedom to say whatever you want come with the price of being ACCOUNTABLE for your words? Do you think "verbal incendiary bombs" designed to offend are a form of bullying? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!)
Created at 20220113 15:12 PST
0468/1712