The Worst Thing You've Ever Done

[dalekboy]

This piece is not about any one person specifically, it's about the way people are demonised in general.

I want you to think about the worst thing you've ever done. Something, no matter how long ago you did it, that you're still ashamed of. Don't shy away from it, think hard about the nastiest, shittiest, lowest thing you've ever done to someone.

Now, I want you to imagine people in general, and the internet as a vague group, deciding that's the person you really are.

Think about how they would react, how they would treat you, attack you, the things they would write about you - for a single act. It doesn't matter if it was a mistake, deliberate, or if there were extenuating circumstances - they don't care. There's little to no forgiveness out there, almost every time folks talk about you, it will be in relation to whatever it was you did.

How would that make you feel, as the weeks became months and years, and people still brought it up? How would you feel about the fact that no matter what else you did, there would always be someone there ready to bring up that single bad decision and start the whole thing up again? That every other positive act in your entire life would be deemed unimportant or irrelevant compared to this single event.

I'm not saying there should be universal forgiveness. Some people repeatedly do horrid things to others. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a price to pay for a single error, sometimes we have to make amends. But if the only issue you can find with a person is one really bad thing they've done, then doesn't that suggest there may be more to them than that one act?

Remember this the next time the crowd starts baying for someone's blood over a single mistake, especially if you're part of that crowd. Other people are as complex and have as many layers as you do.

You, and I, are not just the worst thing we ever did.

And neither is anyone else.

Comments

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Where's my freedom from being defined by this shit?

Does anyone understand how I fight, every fucking day, NOT to be defined in my head by what happened to me?

By seeking justice, having the world define me because I was a victim, and then being forced to shut up about it because if I don't, I'm leading a lynch mob or being defamatory.

There is NO RECOURSE for me.

So fuck people, fuck this "What about the RAPIST?" crap.

He made his bed and he can bloody well lie in it.

[dashakay.livejournal.com]

I don't know you. I've just wandered in via linkspam but I wanted to let you know that this discussion is making me nauseated. Even though we don't know each other, I'm sending you loads of good thoughts. I wish this wouldn't have happened to you in the first place and I'm sorry that you're being re-victimized by this sort of discussion.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I don't think Dalekboy intended to have this sort of discussion, as he was talking about something completely different, but it's a discussion people seem bound and determined about having.

Thanks for the support.