There was a time when I was in an online group and was asked by some of the very fine people to be quiet.
“You request my silence” is how I began my response to them but not how I finished it.
Fact is the attempted bullying and intimidation by some of those very fine people failed to work they hoped it would.
Thought about it when I was digging through an old email address that I don’t use often and saw a note from one of the room moms from one of my childrens elementary school.
She asked me to understand why I couldn’t attend a field trip and why I ought to just accept that she and the other room mom be the sole parents to attend time and time again.
I copied all of the other parents on my response and asked her to explain to them as well why they couldn’t attend any field trips.
In both situations the objective of silencing someone who disagreed with a particular perspective, position and or decision failed to work.
Not because I am so tough or clever but because I have a habit of not accepting an arbitrary no from people who think they have no obligation to explain their objection.
Why?
I am a curious fellow who likes knowing the answer to why in multiple circumstances, scenarios and situations.
“Why can’t we do XYZ?”
“Why did you pick him over me?”
“Why did you pick me over him?”
“Why are fire trucks red?”
“Why can’t we put metal in the microwave?”
Some of the questions aren’t particularly serious or important. I am just curious and I have always liked trivia so I gather it in multiple ways.
But sometimes the questions are important. The reasons vary and there is no single one that fits all situations.
Recently I have been involved in a few situations in which I asked why or a variation of it because I felt it was a way to stick up for people who would otherwise be afraid to say things.
Situations in which groups assumed that majority rule ought to dictate how things went even though it didn’t fit the process for how things were supposed to be decided.
Apparently I have aggravated a few people who thought I went overboard in commentary that included citations.
Some said they just didn’t need the aggravation. I said if they didn’t want the aggravation they could simply not read, respond or engage.
“But you could be quiet and that would solve the problem.”
That last line made me laugh.
The would-be-bully would prefer that because when you haven’t any substance or ability to use other means to enforce your desire for everyone to live in lollipop land you scramble for a foothold.
Consider me the guy pushing your feet off of the rock and or smashing your fingers with my magic pixel hammer.
I could just walk away but then those who don’t like confrontation might let the loud mouths win.
Some battles are worth fighting, not all, but some.
And well, I am here and able to engage.
Ain’t life a peachy dream.
But I am playing around with taking a pause until Sunday…maybe. 😉
Might go clean the kingdom, who knows. In the interim let’s move for more silly in the world.
Sometimes we ought to set aside the serious.
