Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The conundrum








Sometimes I wander the Internet. I don't know what I'm looking for there. Do you? Well, you. Look who I'm asking this of. You have found it. But I am out there looking for my own clerkmanifesto. Maybe that's what you'll be exiled to do as well, as soon as this one is over for the day.

Amid the festive desolation of this vast Internet I kick the tires and poke around in the weeds. How can something so large be so small? At its best I listen to the music of famous and talented people. At its worst I sink down to the comment sections of machine stamped articles where only the names have been changed. And there my heart is taken from me. My blood is stirred. And wild, angry responses to the careless and misguided comment of strangers flood into my mind.

I roll up my sleeves. I sharpen my pen. And only at the last minute, I remember:

These aren't people. This is the Internet.


















12 comments:

  1. Ugh. I know what you mean. Every time I leave the comments section I feel grimy and then I realize I have only myself to blame. It's like getting in the sandbox and throwing sand in each other's eyes when I made the choice to enter anyway. To what end? Ugh.

    But not this comment section! Hey, you: Internet: this is where we're hiding. Over here, in this corner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah well, if they came I suppose they'd bring the Internet with them. Pfui.

      Delete
  2. Ugh. I know what you mean. Every time I leave the comments section I feel grimy and then I realize I have only myself to blame. It's like getting in the sandbox and throwing sand in each other's eyes when I made the choice to enter anyway. To what end? Ugh.

    But not this comment section! Hey, you: Internet: this is where we're hiding. Over here, in this corner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, this comment reminds me of another comment I read recently.

      Delete
  3. Why is it posting my comments twice?
    Why is it posting my comments twice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know, though it seems to happen to people here occasionally. You should feel free to not sweat it and I'll delete a duplicate if it happens. Unless you like adding:

      "Why is it posting my comments twice?
      Why is it posting my comments twice?"

      Which is fine by me.

      Delete
  4. I rather like it. I guess technically it's a "bug" in computer talk. But it's a cute bug, like a ladybug. I'm going to just go ahead and write this twice to see if that cures it.

    I rather like it. I guess technically it's a "bug" in computer talk. But it's a cute bug, like a ladybug. I'm going to just go ahead and write this twice to see if that cures it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I think I debugged it by writing my comment twice!

      Delete
    2. Yes! I think I debugged it by writing my comment twice!

      Delete
    3. Well yes, either you fixed it or the bug is worse and it's omitting one of your comments and doubling the other.

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Why thanks, Garima. How kind and civil of you to say.

      Delete

If you were wondering, yes, you should comment. Not only does it remind me that I must write in intelligible English because someone is actually reading what I write, but it is also a pleasure for me since I am interested in anything you have to say.

I respond to pretty much every comment. It's like a free personalized blog post!

One last detail: If you are commenting on a post more than two weeks old I have to go in and approve it. It's sort of a spam protection device. Also, rarely, a comment will go to spam on its own. Give either of those a day or two and your comment will show up on the blog.