I didn't blow up on him on that one because he posted something upsetting going on in his own life, so I didn't want to pile on. I thought about being an asshole and tagging THAT post with "I get that reference," but I chose not to.
Honestly, there have been times I've considered blocking him on here. Sometimes, his attempts at sarcastic humor falls so flat that it's inappropriate and upsetting. Sometimes to the point that I cringe and have to steel myself when I see a notification that he replied to my post. In a "Oh fucking hell, what is he going to say this time?"
Thank you for that. My life has
also been rather unpleasant lately, and that incident is only one of literally at least a dozen decidedly unpleasant è̷̛͎̞̀̑̓̿̋͗̇͑̏͛̂͘͠v̸̺͖̜͖̱̠̠̙̍͂͐͐̊ę̵̨̘͇͍̥̟̜̟̹̉̋̀̽̃̅̿̂͌͘͜n̷̢̿̉͋̌̋́͛̾͛̀͠ṱ̵̡̛̭̪͕̫̼̖͔͎̰̋̆̋̑͊͋̈́̔͑̂̀̽̒̽͜͝͝s̶̼̟̣͒͜ that have happened just since I returned home on July 5th. If you
had tagged it with the reference tag, with what I know of your life history, I would literally have only read it as you expressing your condolences, having lived through a similar loss.
Sorry for upsetting you so much/often. I know we talked about this once before (but of course can't find it at the moment). I am quite aware that life has frequently been treating you unkindly (especially of late), and every post I have ever directed anywhere at/near you has been one which I had hoped would be inspirational, uplifting, amusing, or help you to cope in some way. I admit there have been a few I had hoped would forcibly knock you back on track, but you have said that is something you do not enjoy, and so I have never done it since. I don't believe there has ever been a time where I was deliberately insulting you, whether it be in the body of a message or via my reaction choices. Please accept my plainly spoken, absolutely and completely unsarcastic apology. I hope it helps.
I do sometimes use the "reference" reaction like he does, though I'll often opt for a brofist instead for the specific reason that not everyone might interpret the reference shield in that way. But while I can brofist "I'm stressed but excited about my wedding plans" (as I'm currently planning my wedding and it's stressful but exciting), I don't feel like I can brofist a post about, e..g depressive feelings, because a brofist is too...upbeat a reaction?
Exactly. To me, the brofist reaction carries an additional connotation of, "I approve this message," and there are many times when I do NOT want there to be any kind of implied approval, so I go for the reference tag, instead.
In general, on this board, there is
never really a time where I am posting anything maliciously directed against other forumites...with a few
very specific exceptions, of course, and even then, I try to be very restrained about it because I view (all!) the other people on this forum as FAMILY, and not merely as random, disconnected people on the Internet. I guess this just proves to me that this feeling is not automatically returned.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
ANYway, my own whine:
-I am currently undergoing PT for my knee after being diagnosed with Getting Old.
-Scheduling the PT is difficult because I essentially work 12x5/wk.
-On Tue morning, had PT for 45min starting at 7a, then had to rush home so I could be to work by 9:30a.
-Wife asked me to get a box full of papers down off the cupboard before I left.
-The step stool she had set up is the one where the screws tend to work themselves loose over time, and it had unknowingly done so, and it collapsed while I was standing on it, sending me falling maybe a foot and a half down to the floor but also while holding a document crate of papers.
-She's been undergoing at least as much stress as me lately, so she screamed as I fell.
-As I was lying there on the floor, I said the first thing that came to my mind, which was, "Hey I think the screws on this stepstool are coming loose."
-I then had to go to work, where I stand on my feet for about 9hrs. Ow.
--Patrick