I have never liked being around people who are cruel, vindictive, dishonest, negative, bitter or manipulative. Still, like most of us, there have been many times in my life, where this was unavoidable:
- As a child, I had no choice regarding family, schools, neighborhoods, etc.
- In school, I was on my own when dealing with bullies, liars and other unsavory classmates.
- At work, I frequently dealt with people who I would not have voluntarily associated with by choice.
Still, in all cases, even as a young child, I exercised whatever power I had to minimize my time around unsavory characters. If possible, I avoided them altogether.
Recently, while wasting time on Reddit, l visited the subreddits of a couple of news podcasts I follow.
That was a mistake. Or, looking at it another way, it was eye opening. I was curious to see if other listeners shared my perspective on a few recent podcasts.
Some did. Some didn’t. I was hoping to read some thoughtful discourse and perhaps learn something.
Well, I learned something.
The majority of the posters spewed venom. They repeated “party lines” as arguments. They judged and attacked other posters. They were insulting, hyperbolic and sarcastic. They maligned, denigrated and tried to shame others.
It was basically a cesspool of negativity.
And so, it didn’t take me long to decide I didn’t belong there. It’s often said that you become like the 5 people you surround yourself with.
I would never choose (in real life) to be around people who spoke the way the reddit users did.
It’s even easier to choose not to be around people like this online.
Life is too short to spend it surrounded by a$$holes.