The Power of Words

I have always loved words, be they written or spoken.  I read at least two or three books every week.  I do three crossword puzzles a day.   When I worked, I wrote speeches, articles, presentations; you name it, I wrote it.  I love words because they hold the power to entertain, to sadden, to anger, to elate.  They can move people to tears or to energize them.  Words can build you up or bring you crashing down.  But I am also a closet "parser".  I always look for the meaning underneath the words themselves.  I have a beloved brother-in-law, who is quite open about parsing.  Nary a sentence goes by that doesn't elicit questions such as "what did you really mean by that word?" or "but does that mean this or that?"  As a closet parser, I only think about those questions, but never ask them.  But I do wonder.  Did they really mean that?

When I started commenting on the Patch, fresh from my "glorious" speech at the GA, I was sure I had this thing figured out.  I mean, how difficult could it possibly be to state my opinions on subjects that interested me?  Hey, I'm a writer.  I weigh my words carefully, don't I?  First hurdle, overcoming my anxiety attacks over misspellings, incorrect grammar and, oh my gosh, where was the punctuation?  I was so overwhelmed.  But I got over it, realizing that at least people felt free enough to express their opinions, right?

Then, I ran into another, to me, far more confusing problem than the way the comments were presented.  On many threads, the issue that started the discussion got lost in the midst of political affiliations (past, present, and future); how people live, where people live, with whom they associate, how much they make or don't make; past mistakes, present mistakes, future mistakes. Especially on the Tiverton-Little Compton Patch, the past never seems to go away for many commentators.  There is someone always lurking in the shadows of the Patch ready to revisit and comment on ancient history.  I mean, what happened to discussing the main issue?  Why would the average (okay, in my case, not-so-average) person care about the old days?

And nasty comments?  I could go on for days!  Why do people believe that because this is a forum in cyberspace, they can get away with saying things that they most likely would not say in public?   Some of the comments are down-right bizarre.  I try to understand them; I really do.  I parse the heck of the comments.  But sometimes, they read like Cavemen are at the keyboard.  I'm not saying that all of the male commentators are Neanderthals, not true at all.  But I can say that the women commentators appear to weigh their words much more carefully before they type them.  In general, the women are using the Patch to "discuss."

And where do I fit in this evolving (or is it devolving) world?  Well, during the months that I have been commenting, I have been called, among other things, a bigot, a racist, a sheep, vile, repulsive and, of course, my personal favorite: a member of the Tea Party.  I'm sure my late parents are rolling over in their graves at that one.

My point?  As Taylor Swift asked, "why'd you have to be so mean?" Why can't adults, yes, all of you out there in Patch land (you know who you are) try just a little harder to "discuss" an issue instead of calling people out?  We all have differing opinions.  But that doesn't make one person bad and the other one good.  It just makes us different.