I can’t decide if we’ve lost the will to take care of ourselves or the ability. I can’t decide which would be worse. And I can’t decide who should be more ashamed: the ostensible adult who posted the following message on LinkedIn — or the ostensible adult on whose behalf it was posted:
Dear Jeff Weiner as CEO of LinkedIn this is something you need to address:
My friend [name withheld] posted a video and was called in the comments, dipsh*t, a douchebag & a piece of sh*t content creator.
Bullying is getting out of control on LinkedIn. As an active user, I see it and face it on a daily basis. Some members have stopped posting all together, while others have reduced their activity. Bullying has no place in the workplace, and it has no place on LinkedIn.
I use LinkedIn more than the other social media sites mainly because it’s a professional networking site. I want it to remain that way. I hope you will implement harsher consequences to deal with bullying.
Thank You
What? Really? That’s bullying? Are we that deeply committed to remaining children forever? How the hell did we get here? This case is particularly egregious because [name withheld] wasn’t even in a position of having to defend himself. All he had to do was ignore the idiot who trolled him.
We’ll Get What We Deserve
This whole mess is as sad as it is frightening. And it’s a sorry commentary on contemporary adulthood. It’s bad enough that we have to be told what to do over and over unbidden. But it’s a sign of clear and present abdication of personal strength, responsibility, maturity, and common sense when we solicit the oversight of others to take care of things of which we should take care ourselves.
There’s a reason God invented the expression, “Karma’s a bitch.” The offending troll in the post above will get his. So will we. And if we don’t grow some thicker skin, stop taking every perceived slight as meaningfully offensive, and start taking care of ourselves ably and resiliently, we won’t be doing ourselves any karmic favors.
Tick, Tick, Tick ….
If we’re going to spend our adult lives appealing to grown-ups, at what point will there be no more grown-ups? If this is the way we’re denying our children exposure to reality — including tastelessness, crudity, cruelty, ignorance, and hurtfulness — rude awakenings are about to become the proverbial new normal. And adults will be in shorter supply than they are already.
Let’s get a grip of our knickers, kids. Seriously. It’s time.
