My first reaction to reading these tweets and such, makes me think someone is lonely and wants to make others feel as horrible as they do. Mr. Nold seems to be an equal opportunity offender. He doesn’t like poor people (they must be on food stamps), fat people (they must be lazy), rich people (who can afford super bowl), Japanese people (they are abnormal), and points out that being gay MUST be a negative thing. I saw a lot of hating on Asians. It makes me think that people in the central United States are not exposed to other cultures very often and so stereotypes are running rampant.
Being a former military member, we often used racially charged jokes to break the ice. We made fun of everyone including ourselves, but if we offended someone we stopped. I am guilty of saying ridiculous things. I’m a weirdo, 98% people find me hilarious, the other 2% don’t, so I apologize and never speak like that around them. Leaving messages on social media is really tricky. You get no sarcasm, no context, just a statement that looks incredibly ignorant. I try to keep in my mind that humans all have their own histories and situations. For instance, I am fat. I know there are a lot of fat haters out there who assume I am lazy. The truth is, when daughter died I turned to food for comfort. I work full time, go to school full time, and battle my grief for my child everyday. I play softball. I hike. I am not lazy in any sense of the word, but I am often mistreated for my weight. Unfortunately, that seems to be the way of the world. People shift focus to others to intimidate and possibly create an illusion of their superior status.
As individuals we need to consciously think about the thing we say and how we act. I believe that habits form over a lifetime, and when a student comes into an environment with people from other cultures they think their typical behavior is acceptable. We have to adjust our ways of communication everyday according to whom we are speaking. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Respect, general kindness, acceptance or at a minimum tolerance will help us all communicate better.
Works Cited
Nold, Zacary. http://unl-haters.tumblr.com/, retrieved 22 February 2013.
Thank you for your openness and honesty with your blog post. I really appreciated reading your response to this blog prompt. Also, the photo at the end really does a great job of summarizing what I was aiming for with this blog. Thank you!
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