Many years ago, a friend (who’s a virtuoso lead guitarist) and our other fellows were watching an out-of-town band performing on stage. After their gig, we approached his counterpart in the band and he complimented him on his playing style, proceeding to casually ask the visiting guitarist about a particular attack on one song my friend too loved to play. At this, the other guitarist dismissed him quite coldly and merely said, come back later and I’ll teach you.
Now, just to be clear (and I say this with the utmost objectivity), my friend, in the so many years I have known him, has bloomed and developed to become one, if not the best, of all active lead guitarists in the city. He’s a humble guy too; so very much unlike this young punk who obviously misinterpreted one honest compliment into something coming from a swooning fan. In another scenario, a well-dressed couple alit from their huge white 4X4 (with plate number… gotcha) after sneaking into a city mall parking space already intentioned by a much smaller car. So sorry, you’re so slow, signaled the woman, and we’re in a hurry. Witnessing this before our eyes, we thought, just another common case of road bullying once again; where big cars and trucks muscle their way over their miniscule peers.
One need not look far for such types nowadays. Perhaps because of the liberal breathing space afforded by social media, there are minions, rather millions, of such peeps. They could be lurking in the realm of political discourse, sports opinion threads or in anything else under the internet sun. There, sure to emerge is an alpha know-it-all fox who will go tooth and nail against any who dare stand their ground and cross their opinions. Their tag ‘change my mind’ bold and to warn you, they play dirty if needed. They’re really not difficult at all to spot because they come in many skin-walker forms: fashion police, grammar police, cultural and anti-government and pinoy critics or what have you. They instantly come out of the woodwork once you venture into the digital landscape.
I have heard in a podcast long ago that, with the advent of the web and social media, the gates have been thrown wide open so that anyone could not merely say his piece, but if they intend to, aggressively put down others’ while they hide in a cloak of invisibility. In black propaganda tactics common in politics, so-called trolls employ the use of fake accounts where they could launch their attacks from. Thing is, as also mentioned in the podcast, this is not a novel thing at all: people having things to say about others have been around since Noah or pre-flood. Only difference is their word at present caters to a broader audience (the world to be exact) and in real time even. Hence the term broadcast.
To end, nothing much to do about the whole phenom really (unless that predicted blast from the sun kills the internet and worldwide communications). At the very least, it’s only proper that these provincialists become aware that we know they exist. On the other hand, it could likewise be true what famous line from the Pogo comic strip had to say: “We have seen the enemy, and the enemy is us.
