To Post or Not to Post?

    I’ve learned, over the years, that posting on social media can sometimes be precarious.  For instance, I once wrote an article for Navy Times for which I needed to profusely apologize.  No, I didn’t reveal any national secrets nor foment any sort of mutiny.  No, all I did was mock a meeting that I went to (e.g., "We spent five days doing 2 hours worth of work.  On the bright side, there were unlimited doughnuts.").  

"Unlimited, you say?"

    It would have been no big deal, but I named the actual meeting.  Not a good thing.  So, even though some folks ridiculed my apology as knuckling under to those humor-challenged folks who would later go on to lucrative careers in the Trump Administration, I saw where those “offended” had a point.  

They may have gotten a little carried away, though.

   Enter extensive mea culpas.

"WRONG!  I have a yuge sense of humor. 

For instance two nips walk into a bar with a parrot.  

No. Wait.  Forget what I just said."

"That okay. We no rike Japan."

    Similarly, the year before last, I made a comment on Cheryl Massey's Cherdo on the Flipside blog.  She upbraided me (VERY politely) that her blog was viewed by people of all ages.  Therefore, my comment was inappropriate, and she deleted it.  She had a very good point and I even wrote a blog about not going into someone else’s house to make off-color remarks or pull-my-finger comments.

I hear it helps with zits.  

But, there's that whole cholesterol thing, though.

    What I learned from both instances is to be very careful what you post, especially in another’s world (be it Blogger, Facebook, or even Twitter).  Even though I had something of egg on my face, I was told that what I was doing wasn’t a good idea.  I appreciated that.

    
    A couple weeks ago, a Facebook friend mentioned that he had

"I don't get the conneckshun."

taken his son to a birthday brunch.  I commented, using the picture of that guy with the huge neck (you know the one) whether they served chicken necks.

    My friend (a conservative like me, so this was a real surprise) sent me a private message, saying that he had deleted the picture.  No explanation.  Just that he deleted it.

    I thought about what I posted to try to determine what was wrong.  The ONLY explanation I could come up with is that some people may find it racist.  Because it was a picture of a black man asking about chicken necks.  Okay, maybe if I had a picture of a black man asking about watermelon or fried chicken, sure, that would be racist (and wildly so).  But, come ON, the whole joke about this guy is that he has a huge NECK.  And, I'm sorry, restaurants don’t sell pig, cow, or fish necks.  Just chicken necks.

"Pig necks are unclean!"

"And cow necks are gross!"

    

"That's ridiculous.  Fish don't have necks.  

They are dead sexy, though."

    So, those people who would find offense are idiots.

    Since my friend is friends with such a knucklehead who does find race in anything, I can only conclude that was why.

"He's only shooting the cans 

that have black motor oil in them!"

      
    Since he didn't give me the courtesy of explaining his action,  I am left only to assume he doesn't want to deal with thin-skinned nitwits.  Therefore, why bother commenting on his posts in the future?

      So, I shan't.

    Similarly, last week, another friend removed a comment I made on one of her posts. She linked an outstanding article lambasting Gillette where the author used a variety of statistics to debunk the myth of widespread, out-of-control “toxic masculinity.” 

    I commented, “100% of people with a vagina are women.” 

"Holy crap!  They are???"

Then, I posted a picture of a shocked Caitlyn Jenner.
    
    She sent me a message saying she deleted the post because she was afraid certain people would question whether she supported transgender residents.  No way she does NOT, but I don’t blame her.  Who needs the grief that would entail?
    
    I saw her point.

    Bottom line, I respect her position.  Since she gave me the courtesy of an explanation, I’ll continue to post on her posts.

    The big difference between the two?  The first offered NO explanation, while the second explained why my comment went to "Comment Boneyard" (very much like Cheryl).

"Far too many bones here, already, FYI."

    The end result is that I am once more reminded to be careful when going to someone else’s house.  I’ll verbally “wipe my feet,” as it were.
  
    But, if you don’t tell me what’s what, then, well, let’s put it this way:  won’t be seeing me again if you delete my comment (which is definitely your right).

    Here, though, I’ll continue to be a cranky curmudgeon with questionable taste.  

    After all, it’s what I do.
     

"Clearly."