Hey friends! Happy Monday!
(I really don’t know why I bother saying that. My Mondays are never happy. I am not a Monday person.)
There is something specific I want to address here on the blog. I’ve had some great feedback from last week’s post Dear (Fill in the Blank): the Twitter/Facebook Edition, Part 2. Most of you took exactly the way I intended it to be read – snarky and funny. However, one or two of you have questioned my intentions in writing that post. One person (that I know of) was upset and hurt by it.
I think most of you who read my blog know my true personality and my intentions. If you’ve been my friend for any length of time, you know that while I’m certainly not perfect, I do not ever intentionally set out to hurt people or cause harm. I am not a mean girl. I don’t go around starting drama for drama’s sake. I try my very best to present my true authentic self to the world.
However, I’m not perfect. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes I say or write things I should not. Sometimes I say (or write) things I don’t intend to be hurtful, but the way someone processes it or perceives it causes it to be hurtful.
My intentions were to write a funny post. I wrote the first edition here, and not one person had anything negative to say about it. In fact, I got lots of feedback on how funny it was. I ran out of material having completed that first post, so I turned to Twitter and asked for feedback as to what others’ pet peeves were. I got lots of material, and I used it to compose the second post. As I do with most posts (otherwise, my blog posts would consist of “I ate a sandwich today”) I embellished the feedback I received to make it good blog reading.
The letters were never meant to target any one person. I did not set out to write a letter to a specific person. It wasn’t about anyone in particular. I mean that with all my heart. Y’all, I really and truly intended the post to be funny. If I’m honest, several of those letters apply to me. They probably apply to you, too. They are things we unwittingly do in social media that can be annoying – but we all do them at some time or another.
I’ve thought about that post at length in the week since I wrote it. I stand behind what I wrote. Dear (Fill in the Blank) is meant to be a funny way to vent your feelings or get things off your chest. Would I ever go up to the Target lady and tell her I think she’s a terrible cashier? No. But it makes for funny reading to blog about it. I am, however, sorry if anyone misconstrued what I wrote. I’m sorry if it caused you to see me in a different light. I’m very sorry if I hurt any of your feelings, because that wasn’t at all what I intended to do.
This is the last time I’ll address this here on the blog or on Twitter. If anyone has a problem with anything I wrote, please contact me directly and I will discuss it with you. In the past week I’ve seen the very best and the very worst of people. Thank you so much to my friends who have supported me and defended me.Thank you to those of you who emailed/DMed/texted me to talk TO ME, not about me. Thanks to those of you who waited to hear both sides of the story before automatically labeling me as the villain.
And to us all….
Let’s all agree to disagree. Let’s agree to talk our problems out with each other and not an audience of hundreds who don’t know the true story. Let’s agree to disagree, and not spread our discontent or hate, causing others to get involved in drama that isn’t their own.
We don’t have to all like one another. It’s ok to not get along.
Let’s just do it in a classy way.
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13 comments:
<3 you already know this, but I fully support and love you.
I personally like reading these particular posts and they are funny. Someone always has to make a big deal out of nothing, but thats the blog world for ya!
i thought this was very well said. good for you for not backing down, but at the same making sure your intentions were clear. i thought the post was funny and found myself either nodding my head in agreement or bowing my head in shame since i was just as guilty of some of those things - haha! :)
keep writing from the heart and don't let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch for you!
Very well said! I don't "know" you but I have been reading your blog for a while now and I have never thought of you as a mean girl. You have never presented yourself as perfect nor do you come across as judgmental, and best of all you can poke fun and laugh at yourself. I so appreciate people who can call themselves out and not take everything so seriously! I think people hide behind the anonymity of the internet to take out their real life frustrations. I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself and sticking true to who you are. I will look forward to many more hilarious "Dear _____" posts!
I admit I thought the latest dear whoever was a bit snarkier then necessary. But necessary for who? Me. So I didn't comment, end of story. I don't see a reason to tell you that, it's my opinion. But I also don't go around talking to people online of what I thought of your blog post. LOL
I thought the post was amusing. I've had a bad experience with the phrase "fake it til you make it," but I didn't think your use of it required my comment or approval, either, you know?
It's YOUR blog. Something I'd like to remind a lot of people.
Andrea,
Thank you for writing this post. I have a lot of respect for you after reading it. I respect that people have a different opinion than me, and I even respect that by blogging and tweeting I open myself up to unfair judgements. It's not a secret that I was upset about your post, but I think that part of the reason was because I'm not a regular reader of your blog & I read the post only after being told by a few people that I should take a look at it. Anyway, I feel like we both handled the situation the best way we knew how. If you think I was inappropriate, you have my apologies.
Some people have nothing better to do than read more into an innocent post, draw themselves into the mix- possibly out of guilt-and then stir the pot with ugliness.
Save the drama for the teenagers please!
Love you girl!
I love when you have sassy posts! You have the right to say what you want to say on your blog and most of us got the sass/snark for the fun that it is. :-)
You know I adore you and your blog!
You know I love you and your blog!
I agree with what most of everyone has said on here today. Those of us that truly know you, know your wit and what you meant. Those that took it the wrong way just need to hit that little unfollow button. Keep on doing what you do momma!
I went back and read your Dear _____ post and was trying to figure out what was offensive and came up empty handed. But that's just it...everyone has different opinions, feelings, etc. One of the reasons I love reading blogs is because I get to see things from a different POV, whether it's "important" things like politics, health care, gay rights, etc. or just the fun stuff. I don't always agree, but you just have to let it go!
But I also see what you were feeling as a result of 'hurting someone's feelings'. I'm one of those people who feels horrible when I've hurt someone or someone doesn't like me. I'm a people pleaser. I've tried to focus that part of me on the people that really matter. I respect your addressing of this issue and making your intentions crystal clear. You're a great lady!
My one worry about offending people. Someone will always be offended...is every single blog going to need a disclaimer? Hope not...keep doing your thing!
Personally, I thought your posts were funny! I knew that they weren't directed at any one particular person.
I'm sorry that you had to deal with nastiness of those posts. I hope you'll continue with them, but it sounds kind of doubtful.
You know, Monday's aren't typically good for me either but today actually was!
I love those posts! You are right they do speak to all of us in some way or another but its good to laugh at ourselves from time to time you know?
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