National Rudeness

There was and article in the LA times a few days ago talking about the national rudeness that seems to be pervasive right now. Congressmen yelling out, celebrities grabbing microphones at awards shows and tennis players over the top all seem to be symptoms of a bigger problem.

Recently I had a comment on a YouTube video that I made several years ago. It was some of my artwork set to music. The comment said, "Is there a copy of this song out there without your shitty artwork attached?" It bothered me that someone would take a shot like that. If the question was... "Where can I find that song?" I would have answered in a different way.

As an artist I wrote back and said at least I had the balls to put my artwork on line for people to see. I suggested that the writer put his artwork on line so I could "evaluate it" in the same sensitive manner. He fired back that he could certainly do a lot better than the f---- stuff I draw. I said, "Do it. I will give you my opinion and try to be more civil in my comments". He wrote back saying that his artwork was good not like my shit. But he did not share any examples.

I finally had enough of the insults took a shot at him. I told him that I thought his arrogance was only exceeded by his ignorance, I berated his unsupported ego with some very tough statements. I hit him like he was a heckler at one of my comedy club gigs. I decided this jerk deserved no mercy or civility. We exchanged jabs back and forth but it was obvious I was getting the upper hand. (Years of experience from drunks yelling at me on stage... and after all, Bob's personality is hidden somewhere in that id.)

Evidently I hit a nerve. He wrote back with a very hurtful tone, he was less sure of himself. Knowing this feeling from handling hecklers, I had him on the ropes. Sensing blood I went for the kill and hit him again with some very harsh words. I was now pissed off and got in his face with a pro's slam dunk.

During the next exchange his words were very different, there was a sudden honesty where there had been only harshness. He became timid and his over blown self esteem was gone. Then he mentioned his age, he said he was 12 years old. The color ran out of my face. Twelve years old??... I picked a fight with a kid and used all of my years of fighting drunken adults from stage to flatten him. I wanted to apologize but decided instead to break off this massive YouTube comment exchange just to reflect on what I had done.

Here is my point. In this modern age of digital obscurity we can lash out, be rude, and vulgar safely hidden behind a keyboard. That "freedom of expression" seems to be bleeding over into our collective behavior of social intercourse as it becomes a normal part of our communication. Digital bullies are still bullies but there is less likely hood of getting your teeth kicked in if a video screen is separating you. Sometimes we need to get our teeth rattled to know that our words have hurtful consequences.

Last week one of the school kids asked President Obama what he should do if he wanted to become President. Mr. Obama said, "Be careful what you put on FaceBook".

As you were,
Jay