2019 – No More Arguing. OK? OK.

Welcome to 2019. Basically, I am done with a lot of social media. It has turned into a crap fest of opinions, rumors and innuendo and I’m sick and tired of it. Notice that I did not say it was a crab fest…. for that would be a little slice of wonderfulness. Nope… it’s just a crap fest. And that’s definitely not edible.

During the past year it seemed that arguments with people online became more and more common. These people say dumb things, then other people respond with dumb responses to said things, and then the dumb grammar Nazis throw out comments on the difference between their/they’re just because they can. Because of this endless cycle of insanity, I all but swore off Facebook and Instagram. Note that this is not ONLY due to people’s stupid comments but because of the ads that these social platforms force into your feeds. I felt better immediately. I still peruse Reddit and Twitter only because they still allow third-party apps to come in and aggregate their feeds, allowing for people to sort by subject, and more importantly chronologically. In addition, they do not show ads in these same third-party apps. So I can see what I want and more importantly not see what I don’t want.

So why should you care about my browsing habits? It’s just simply this. I don’t want to argue anymore. People know my opinions, thoughts and needs, and I no longer feel a need to spout them out at folks in 2019. However, and this is the important part, during my argumentative 2018 I found a perfect response to someone throwing their differing opinion (obviously the WRONG opinion of course) out on social media. That retort is simply:

You may think it’s too simplistic. But it’s a ridiculously complex and nuanced comeback. Let’s take a typical Facebook comment that has been posted and demonstrate the perfectness of this reply. Please note – these are REAL comments that I’ve found:

“Someone just tried to convince me that the sun is a star…the sun is a freaking sun u idiot”

The response:  OK.

“There is no I in happyness”

The response:  OK.

“Just watched the preview. Sorry, can’t do this anymore. I’m outa here. Last weeks episode is still in my DVR queue, went to view it   before tonight’s episode and just couldn’t hit the play button. Decided to watch this weeks preview since it was only five minutes and it was exactly like at least a couple dozen others over the years. They’re not even trying to hide the fact they’re full of crap anymore. I was outa here after season 2 but came back because there were knowledgeable and interesting people here (gone now) who approached the theory somewhat seriously AND the live chat thread was funny as crap. Now that’s destroyed because…. “(Editor’s note – this went on and on about how this fine example of civilization was no longer going to watch this particular program)

The response:  OK.

See what I mean? This is such a multifaceted response. Neither positive nor negative – completely neutral. No opinion given so they don’t know whether to be mad at me or think that I’m supporting them. They will THINK about my response and how I felt when I typed it. The crowning jewel (and most necessary element): the period. That ends it. I’ve responded and they can’t come up with one intelligent response to it. Try it – watch it shut down a conversation immediately. It’s worth every one of the three characters.

Apparently I’m not the only one who wants to stop the arguing. We were recently at a restaurant near our house and they have put up the following signs on EACH of their booths. Apparently the egg rolls were getting people pretty teed off:

To be fair, after reading it I WAS more conscious of asking for more water…. not wanting to be ‘that guy’ who breaks the rules. So well done restaurant-to-be-not-named. Well done.

Have an argument-free 2019.

OK?

OK.