j u s t a n o t h e r
d u d e o n t h e
i n t e r n e t
I'm "just another dude on the internet", as it turns out, assuming for a moment that were reason enough to be rude and dismissive, yes. Boorish behavior seems to be par for the course, these days. The internet has brought a new dimension of rudeness and distance in the way people treat, and mistreat, each other. Identity theft is the visible problem of the moment on the 'net, faceless strangers stealing information that will allow them to loot your bank accounts, run up charges on your bank cards and generally ruin your life. Equally inhuman are the sexual predators, from the Don Juans and aging Lotharios, to the "Black Widows" who prey on the gullible and weak-minded, as well as the vilely sick sexual predators who prey on unsuspecting children. These are. of course, the highly visible problem "life"-forms on the internet, performing the latest versions of the same-old run-of-the-mill crimes, varying only in the details, that stem from the same aberrant criminal mentality that has plagued mankind since Cain slew Abel.
However, there is another variety of human failing that has blossomed by access to the internet: casual cruelty, rudeness and/or hit-and-run-insults, the internet equivalent of drive-by shooting. Who cares who gets hit, or if the right target was hit, or if the target actually deserved it? This seems most common in chat rooms, where an odd assortment of people gathers, under the best of circumstances, but also happens on "boards", where some one or another poster feels the need to let loose a snipe, for some real or imagined reason. Snipe is the appropriate term, as in "sniper" and "sniping", shooting from a hidden point, because the sniper does just that, striking from the safety of their computer, over the electronic web of the internet, zinging a shot thru the anonymity of the ether, then retreating to safety.
Some have achieved celebrity (dare I say infamy) through such tactics, refining the use of innuendo and miscommunication to an art form to smear the unwary, the innocent, the necessarily exposed, who by virtue of their position must daily submit to the indignities of the paparazzi as well as the proliferation of video cameras and, now, camera phones. Such déclassé niceties as good manners and consideration for the sensibilities for others are subjects for ridicule in the opening days of the 21st Century, when we are all too hip to be polite and concerned with the feelings of others.
Indeed, the defining moment for these days of unparalleled rudeness may well be the recent squirt-gun attack on Tom Cruise. The perpetrator, who appeared to be the proud possessor an IQ in the low single digits, dressed as if his mother had abandoned him at the Salvation Army, thought his action was "funny" and merely a "prank" to be taken in good fun. Yes, squirting a celebrity who actually took the time to greet some fans without bodyguards is my idea of "great fun", and a sign of respect and appreciation, too. I feel sure fate will reward this cretin appropriately with low-paying jobs involving the traditional request if fries will be required with that, but the rest of us have to live in the world left poorer by his under-developed sense of humor.
In the antebellum world, education, erudition and manners were not merely admired, but sought-after attributes. In the electronic age, manners are topics of ridicule, signs of weakness and reasons for attack. In the e-age, spelling is too time-consuming, grammar a tiresome intrusion in "chatting" and daring to rebuke the transgressor who mistakes profanity for wit grounds for a group attack as each malefactor seeks to outdo the others with ever more graphic examples of why birth control should not be a choice but a requirement. As the world grows more violent, in lands faraway and in our own neighborhoods, the violence is creeping into our homes through the internet, bringing not only the easily recognized dangers of criminal activities, but the less easily identified threat of "casual cruelty", when strangers feel free to "snipe" at us in the safety of our homes with impunity and disregard for our feelings, our security, our existence as another life form as deserving of courtesy and respect as any other.
Is it no wonder some deny the existence of a God to whom theymight have to answer, or insist on one who condones the maltreatment of those who believe differently? Is it any wonder the issues that have plagued mankind, since the mists of time first parted to reveal the earliest humans, are still, and will seemingly always be, with us? These questions do not trouble those of whom I speak, of course; they are far too busy indulging their predilection for inflicting misery on others, for, as I have long insisted, "Misery loves company" and the miserable will do whatever is necessary to ensure they have lots of company. Sadly for the rest of us, it seems to be working quite well for them.
