A collection of self-help ideas, motivation, story rejects, poems, and bits of humor for the sad soul. These are random bits of satirical, sarcastic and upright stupid nonsense compiled into a creation that's meant to help average teenagers get out...
You know this is a perfect topic as of today. In fact, it's so perfect that I think I'm psychic for planning it ahead of time. Today on my twitter timeline I saw many people bullying someone in a fan war because they had an opinion. Everyone was twisting her words and pulling up tweets from unrelated accounts. So, being the idiot I am I went in and tried defending her, blah blah blah. I ended up getting bullied myself and feeling literally sick to my stomach because I was having so much anxiety about all this hate towards one person who did absolutely nothing to deserve all the crap they got. I Dm'ed them telling them not to give in to the bullies and that it's alright to have a different opinion and have a nice week etc. I'm still feeling kind of sick over it and I really want to cry. I've never gotten into a fan war on twitter before but I tried to be as respectful as possible. I don't understand why people think it's okay to harass others simply because they don't agree with what they are saying.
Anyway, enough of my personal drama, although that is what this book is about. Having an opinion is great. It's good. It doesn't matter what it's about. It's your opinion. But please please PLEASE don't go attacking people for disagreeing with you! Not everything someone says is fact! For example, this entire book! These are my opinions! You are allowed to disagree with me! Because you have valid opinions too. However, it is absolutely not okay if you were to DM me and tell me to delete my f***in story because you don't think K-pop is good. It would not be okay for me to publicly attack you for thinking K-pop isn't good. We both have different opinions. And that's okay!
In situations like these, there are two things you can do.
1. Ignore the freaking opinion and keep scrolling if you disagree.
2. Politely respond in a respectful way that validates their opinion, but give your mature reasons for why you disagree.
In all honesty, I think that debates are okay. It's good to hear other people's opinions sometimes. I was on an entire group chat of people where all we did was discuss political and controversial topics because it was fun (It actually lead to some fights which were one of many reasons one of my best friends and I started off on the wrong foot). But I also think that the first option is always best, especially online. For the second option, no matter how respectful you are in your response, there's always room for someone to twist your words around and make you seem like a bad person. I just learned this today because in trying to play the part of a hero, I became a target of negativity along with the person I was trying to help. Stepping in isn't always the best option. I should have left it alone and then my mood wouldn't have been ruined. But I guess then I wouldn't be sitting here writing this chapter since it was my inspiration.
On the other hand, if you're ever approached by someone that starts attacking you for your beliefs you also have two options.
1. Ignore the freaking opinion and keep scrolling if you disagree
2. Politely respond in a respectful way that validates their opinion, but give your mature reasons for why you disagree.
See! It's all one big circle! And in every situation, the first option is the best!!! I know a few people who like to make opinions seem like facts. I probably do that. We all probably do that. But it's when you try and press the opinion on people like you really did research it and found it online, that isn't fact. That's your opinion. Going back to the debate group chat, there was a girl (we'll call her Amy) who did this for every debate. Almost immediately, more than half the group chat would find multiple articles to prove her wrong. Which, in a sense, was probably attacking her. I'm sorry about that Amy. But she never really researched. She would pull "facts" out of the air as if they really were the truth. I'm trying to find a specific example. But it's like those articles you read when at first glance the title seems true. Then you actually pay attention to the body of the article and you go, "wait that isn't even close to true". That's what Amy was like. But enough of her. Onto some memes to break the tension!
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If you were to look back at this chapter and say, "Sam! Wait! You know, you're being kind of a hypocrite saying that not all opinions are fact and that your opinion shouldn't matter to us?"
I would say,
"
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"
What to Take Away From This: Don't spread hate in response to hate. Ignoring the things that make you mad is always the best option. You can still confront people respectfully and maturely, however, be careful with how you say things. Don't expect a respectful response (say that five times fast).
(We're close to the 3/4 mark fam! Thanks!)
Thank you for reading, stay healthy and happy 🤙 -Sam
