Imagine being a person, and for the sake of argument – a woman – who lives a life so devoid of satisfaction that you must try and create problems for other people. You so devalue yourself, and people who are comfortable in their own skin, you must create havoc and discord so you can feel like you’ve accomplished something.

Could this woman be using your words against you?

Such crazy women exist, or so I’ve heard.

There are women who go to particular blogs and for the sake of argument – Dad blogs – read subjectively a post by a specific contributor and then provide a valuable community service. The community service? Hate, gossip, character assassination, and other evil doings. I’ll get to that story in a few, but first let’s explore how writers throughout the years have been attacked for simply sharing a view or two.

This is nothing new to writing. For centuries, small-minded troll-like people have taken prose and manipulated its meaning to fit their own skewed agenda. These people are so filled with hate or misguided ideology, they must take benign generalizations and create fire when there wasn’t even smoke. It is usually born out of some sort of blood-lust, perceived superiority, or even a feeling that others are better than they are. Other times, it’s because they are a jilted lover or quite simply, they’re just hateful and envious. Careers and lives have been destroyed by such people.

With the rise of online media and blogs, like EOT, people who write or share viewpoints online today are more open to this sort of malfeasance. It sort of comes with the territory so you tend to understand that going in and deal with it.

I was recently privy to a story about such a woman, one filled with the aforementioned hate and envy, and someone who writes for a Dad blog. Apparently, this scribe recently posted a story about child rearing and in it gave an opinion on today’s state of parenting. As someone who has written on the subject many times myself, I was interested to hear about this experience.

He lives in a small community where just about everything is talked about on the “blacktop jungle” at his child’s school. That’s not unusual and is even true of my child’s school. He said it’s something he’s dealt with for years and, because of the nature of his work, usually means he’s sometimes the subject matter these bored and unfulfilled women talk about.

“It’s actually funny that these married women probably spend more time talking about what I write on a daily basis then they do talking to their own husbands,” he told me.

He recently published a story and a woman, who for some inexplicable reason can’t go a day without talking ill about him, started forwarding it to people with the intent of creating an uproar over a “supposed” slight at some of the other families. This despite the fact nowhere in his story does he criticize or single out one individual or group in the community.

“I sent the post to several uninterested parties and asked for their feedback,” he told me. “I then told them what was happening and they all were blown away.”

It didn’t matter that his story or his point of view had nothing to do with people at his child’s school. This crazed, self-loathing woman with body-identity issues used her warped hatred of this Dad as an opening to stir the pot for no reason other than one of malice. She found plenty of sheep to follow her mere suggestion that it was some sort of ill-will on his behalf. The weak-minded people who believe what this woman says were quick to join the chorus of hypocrites who found offense in a story that had nothing to do with them or their kids.

Listening to the story, I was blown away by the sheer ignorance and self-centered nature of these people who were smearing a father for talking about his own experiences. Heck, they don’t have to agree with him but did they have to make an unrelated story about them? Were they so self-absorbed?

In the end, this father said the only thing that bothered him about it all was the cowardice. The fact that grown adults (which has nothing to do with maturity level or intestinal fortitude) had interpreted something he wrote yet didn’t have the nerve or courtesy to ask him first-hand the meaning of his piece, angered him.

“Most of the people who are engaging in this childish gossip don’t know me well and certainly aren’t people I consider friends or even acquaintances,” he said. “Some people like you, and some people don’t. But it takes a special kind of crazy to go out of your way to try and harm someone for no reason.”

Indeed.

My friend is laughing more about the incident than anything else. He’s a confident guy with a great family and friends who love him for his failings and his strengths. He knows his strong opinion sometimes turns people off but he’s OK with that.

“Who wants to be friends with self-important psycho women who read Dad blogs for gossip ammo anyway,” he said in closing.

It’s a good point. One I’ll certainly keep in mind.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at scott@everyotherthursday.com. His personal blog, where he writes about public relations and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also contributes the the Shamable Blog and is known as the Gluten Free Father and reviews GF food…this is contingent on the fact that you aren’t a psycho Mom who reads this blog.

Be Sociable, Share!

•