Skip to main content

Troll for a Day


You know what really pisses me off? Trolls. Trolls are abusers who hide behind computer screens and tear people down. They lurk in the comments sections, ready to pounce, waiting for someone to point out their fallacies so they can attack. Ugh, I hate bullies. I really hate them. And I really hate watching them get away with it.

In the past, when I saw a troll I would disengage and slip out of whatever dust cloud they were trying to stir up. As someone who has a low tolerance threshold for assholes, this was probably a good idea. But now that I've unlocked some of my anger, it's time to fight back. Of course, engaging in any kind of reasonable argument is futile and crazy-making. However, I decided that for one day, I'm going to indulge myself.

For one day, I'm going to troll the trolls. Whenever some troll attacks or acts in an abusive way, I'll post memes about abuse. I'll attach the definitions for gaslighting and word salad. I'll poke holes in their line of thinking. For one day, I will call out their behavior to their face. Maybe I will hashtag it. #TrolltheTrolls

I don't actually believe that this will do any good for them, but it might do some good for me. I have been hiding behind a facade of "niceness" all my life. I rarely call out strangers, because I see the futility in it. But, what if, for a day, I do? Even in situations of bullying and physical violence, I was taught to never fight back. "Don't argue, just walk away." I grew up in an area that was aggressive and confrontational, for no good reason other than to intimidate the other. In elementary school, I was slapped just because I was standing there. In middle school, I was targeted, just because. It didn't matter. And yet, I didn't do anything about it. If I fought back, I was the one who was being bad and wrong. If you've been reading along, you already know that I was taught all sorts of things by my abusers that made me absorb all their cruel deeds and kept me squarely under their power. Sometimes, fighting back is the answer. Not for them, but for you.

I do believe, in most cases, that there is little to be gained from arguing with a fool. But when you've been silenced into arguing with no one, it's time to test some waters. I used to freeze up in situations where bullies were allowed to exert their cruel and senseless behavior, so now it's time to unfreeze. As a woman of a certain age, I am no longer in situations where people around me are threatening physical harm, but there is a ton of cyber-bullying I see every day. Most of what I see now is intellectual bullying. People who think they are *so* smart and therefore superior to everyone else piss all over themselves and others with their warped thoughts. I'll pick a day when I have some time to set aside to troll the trolls, and I'll let you know how the experiment goes.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No, There Are Not Two Sides

  I was in a meeting where a mediator was trying her best to stay impartial to a situation where a large volume of well-documented verbal and emotional abuse had occurred. She was a trained professional, but professionally speaking, she didn't want to be in a position to take sides on the issue. She offered the worn-out platitude, "Well, there are two sides to every story..." I let it slide the first time she said it, but when she said it again, I stopped her. "Actually, when it comes to abuse, there are not two sides. There is abuse, and there is the recipient of abuse. The recipient of abuse is not at fault for the actions of the abuser." Her jaw dropped a moment, then she nodded slowly. She knew I was right, and in this moment, a light went on. The situation she was mediating was not about two people having a disagreement. It was about a serial abuser attacking someone else who had done nothing to provoke the attack. She couldn't stay impartial. It
1 comment
Read more

Why Psychological Trauma is More Damaging Than Physical Trauma

You were lied to on the playground.  "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Neuroscientists and psychologists have proven in spades that words hurt most of all. But first, let's establish that abuse of any kind is horrible, heinous, and deserving of attention and care. The impact of physical trauma ought never be minimized in order to shine a light on psychological trauma. Not only is all trauma valid, all perceptions of trauma are valid. Two people can experience the same event and have drastically different outcomes. One's experience isn't more or less valid than another. If it hurts, seek help. Physical trauma is visceral. There is hard, objective evidence of abuse. Most people don't question its validity. It's cut and dry. "If he hits you, you should leave." If you are beaten or shot in a senseless crime, no one will try to convince you it didn't really happen. Children who are physically abused are
1 comment
Read more

The Difference Between Trauma and Anxiety

I've been living with the effects of complex trauma for a long time, but for many years I didn't know what it was. Off and on throughout my life, I've struggled with what I thought was anxiety and depression. Or rather, In addition to being traumatized, I was anxious and depressed.  All mental health is a serious matter, and should never be minimized. If you are feeling anxious or depressed, it's important and urgent to find the right support for you. No one gets a prize for "worst" depression, anxiety, trauma or any other combination of terrible things to deal with, and no one should suffer alone. With that in mind, there is a difference between what someone who has CPTSD feels and what someone with generalized anxiety or mild to moderate depression feels. For someone dealing with complex trauma, the anxiety they feel does not come from some mysterious unknown source or obsessing about what could happen. For many, the anxiety they feel is not rational
1 comment
Read more