BLOCKED ON TWITTER: I Finally Made It?

They say when someone blocks you on Twitter, it is some kind of honor. People out here bragging about "I got blocked! I made it!" Having experienced getting blocked for the first time, gotta say, that's not what it feels like at all. Maybe it feels good if it's a certain kind of Twitter personality. In that case I think mine is a dud.

Here's what happened. This young woman posted on the topic of UnFriending over Politics. Her very strong stance is that, if you UnFriend due to difference in political opinion, that means you are, and I quote, "an imbecile." She insists that "Political opinion doesn't define character."

Oh dear. Well. I've recently written on the topic after much thought, and my thing is that we have to stand up for what's right. We're in a time when there need to be consequences. Friendship has to matter. If you place value on the idea of Friendship, presumably you think yours is worth something. Your time, attention, care and kindness...those matter. I wanted to say, "I used to be like you" and then share what I have learned over the years. I thought, a possible teachable moment in action. Once you cruise past the age of 40, they give you the Experience Card and you can pull it out and lay down some sweet Elder Magic. The disconnect is that, while you get to pull your Experience Card, that doesn't mean shit to Arrogance of Youth, on social media or anywhere else in life. I know it didn't mean shit to me when I was young and arrogant. Well sometimes, but not in most cases—I rolled my eyes at certain advice from older women that, boy howdy, do I wish I'd taken. So I get it. 

I replied, "Political opinion does in fact define character. In rather large part, actually. You're young, you will learn. Took me awhile too. It matters, kiddo."  Okay, I could've been less of an Old Auntie with the "kiddo" but I was feeling it just then. Still: THAT gets a block? What I'm feeling now is, after she blocked me, is...Hey kiddo, you just posted with a great urgent insistence, doll-face, that a person who can't simply disagree with another opinion is an imbecile, buttercup. Take a selfie, champ, that's a photo of a person who doesn't know how to disagree politely, love. Trust me. Honey.

Alright, that's out of my system. As you can see, I was a bit hurt.

But can we discuss the irony of being so quickly blocked. If stepping away from a Friendship because of "political opinion" means you're an imbecile, then what are you for blocking a total stranger for suggesting there might be some validity to it...I mean...?

I have been singed and suffocated by the heat of the exhaust from the energy expended trying to remain friendly with terrible, awful racist, self-centered assholes who call their bullshit "political opinion" and just call everybody else rude names. I'm done. The whole "He's my friend, not my fault" stance, well it's hard work for me, not for them. They get to be simply terrible, while I have to keep working to burn fuel keeping the peace, keep making excuses for their awfulness. Years, I did this. Then, I got some self-respect and simply stopped making excuses for keeping these people as friends. What for? We have to stand up for what we believe in. It matters. Stand for something, or sit the hell down. One thing this Trump beast has done is bring them all scurrying out into the light. I learned I don't have to stand by and abide "Friends" behaving in this terrible way, trying to "other" and marginalize other people. So, political opinion very much does, in fact, define character. We ARE our politics. In my opinion, it matters. ∎

Related: Yes, I UnFriended You