WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE VS BRIDGES BURNED

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. ~ David Russell

Conflict is inevitable and it is unrealistic to think we can go through life avoiding it. Conflict can be healthy, teaching us how to listen and compromise. We learn consideration and tolerance of other points of view.

Sometimes, conflict becomes violent and accelerates into all-out war, but even war has rules and ethical guidelines, and crossing certain lines amounts to burning your bridges behind you. And so it goes for the Pukes room, which has been waging war off and on for years.

The current feud goes back about 4 years, way before my time in the room but, like many others, I’ve heard the war stories over and over.

Apparently it got pretty ugly, personal info and photos given out on people from both sides,  and plenty of clones made using real names, addresses and phone numbers.

Both sides say the other one started it, or the other one did it but we didn’t, or they did worse stuff than we did.

Most of us who weren’t there at the time consider it all a big yawn, but there are a few of the old timers who still seem to think it’s a big deal and they just can’t let go of it. So they fight, and they make clones that spew filth and it goes on and on and on, ad nauseum.

That is until recently, when a kind of truce befell the room and all those nasty clones either shut up or died away. Well hallelujah and fkn amen! It’s nice! Peaceful! Boring sometimes but so what?

But fine tuning can be tricky, and now we come to those bridges. Some were crossed over, but some got burned to the ground. So what does that mean? It means that everyone can get along if they put an effort into it, but some people can’t expect everyone to like them, love them or talk to them. It just ain’t gonna happen, you burned that bridge, so get over it and just do what you can to override the past and enjoy the present. Clinging to old grudges and spewing about them in chat just makes you look like a senile old codger and puts innocent bystanders into a funk, so why bother? Nobody wants to hear it anymore. Fight about something else if ya gotta fight.

So here’s to the truce, long may it stand.

Say hi to me when I come into the room…or not. It’s your right and privilege.

hagd