I realize I have some explaining to do. I’ll be at your door with the wine and roses later… Right now I’m calling for a DO OVER! FROM THE TOP, PEOPLE!
I was super depressed in 2017. I couldn’t really figure out why until the end of the year. Behind the scenes, in real life, I am doing okay. I’ve more or less been doing fine the past two years.
But the lack of my online presence is due to me not connecting with many people outside of real life interactions. I have a much different attitude towards life than most people. My philosophy is always “Laugh and grow fat.” Nobody wants to laugh anymore.
Led Zeppelin – DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER LAUGHTER?!?!
It seems like strangers laugh at something I say more often than my friends, if anybody laughs at all that is.
So.. I started the great DELETION!… (I hoped somebody read that like Matt Hardy)
One by one… I started clearing out social media Friends Lists. It took months for it to actually play out. So SPOILER ALERT if you’re still on any list I have, you’re safe. Otherwise, good fuckin’ riddance.
Apologizing individually would take too much time so I’ve decided to just do a mass apology and one can just pick and choose the apology they feel they are owed and we can move on.
Drifters: To the people who were once kinda close but just drifted away, I really wish I knew what I did exactly that turned you off. I don’t know why I have to pester you to collab on podcast or co-op in a game only to be ignored. I’m really just sorry that I spent all that time trying to get to know you, pouring my heart out to you, even meeting you only to be ignored seemingly out of nowhere. I’m even more sorry for whatever random stupid thing I did that pushed you away.
Liberals: You’re telling me to keep an open mind while telling me what to think. You’re celebrating phrases like “Peace shall overcome” while setting fire to campuses and celebrating punching people in the face. I don’t want to be a part of that or be made a villain because I don’t want to accept violence as part of my life. I know that beliefs can change and minds can be persuaded without this sort of flair for casual violence that supports “our cause”
Conservatives: It’s weird because most of my Conservative friends are pretty cool. That being said, I’ve pissed a few off by my Pro-choice, LGBTQ rights and various other left leaning topics like weed and censorship. WHO KNEW it was enough for them to just block me. After years! This was the boiling point. I don’t even know what to apologize for really. You and your guns are fine, keep your Religion because I’m not trying to take it away from you any more than I want it imposed on me. I feel as if on every angle on any issue, I’ve been more than fair. However, during the Obama years I saw a different side of you that the current Trump administration is confirming. So… to that small chunk of people… I’m sorry that you are on the wrong side of tolerance on this.
LGBTQ: You’re not immune from jokes. I just want to make sure you know you can totally make jokes at my expense. Gay comedians do it all the time. I’m sorry if your homosexually reduces your sense of humor but I have to go with my gut that you are a minority of a minority and that most people in that community can take a joke as well as make them… and here’s another thing… ignore them. I’m not running a country over here.
The Black Community: This one is fun. I inherited the apparent burden of being one yet for some fluke I managed to claw myself to a better way of life. I’ve always considered myself to be lucky. But really… I’m not all that lucky. All I did was put in enough work needed to hit that extra step. I’m not a doctor or anything too significant but I took myself out of a very bad neighborhood and into a much safer one to give myself and the next generation of me a chance. I did it. I got out. Then what happened? “You forgot where you came from.” That is the point. Where I came from still hasn’t gotten any better and I can’t make a sizable impact from where I am at yet. Going back would only endanger me. That’s reasonable. Next. “You’re light skin so you don’t get it.” That’s how good we have it now. We can start oppressing each other. By the way, since my skin tone is an issue within the community, my family is half white so… what’s the deal with this intolerance towards white people. You can’t just look for my support when you need the numbers. I’m sorry we cannot see eye to eye on these things. I promise you though, I’m going to try to unite every community, I’m just sorry that I’m not black enough for you… whatever that means.
The White Community: See Conservative Apology Above
Gamers: You might just give me anxiety. You might have just been idle. I dunno. There are those that are on borrowed time… Muhaaaahahhahahahah. No, but seriously.
Feminists: This revolves around jokes. So… like… the only way you survived the Friends List Reaping is because even if you hate the fact that I’ll make jokes.. you know I’m not trying to hurt anybody’s feelings and I’ll back up if I go too far.. yadda yadda yadda. I never WANT to offend you yet I’m being treated like I do. So… This is where I bid you a fond farewell and I hope one day you’ll take a joke. In this day and age where there is a lot of frustration and angst because of the exposure on all these assaults, I don’t want to be interacting with such volatile people. I’m always willing to support a woman if our ideas on things align. I’m sorry I have said things you have felt were out of line but neither you or I need any more stress in the fight against whatever machines we’re raging against.
I think this covers it.
*Cracks neck*
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAY.. Who remembers gaming online in the late 90s and early 2000s? You didn’t just have friends, you had a tiny community. There was very little social/political friction. Nobody really cared, everybody just wanted to play video games together. Though the idea of that already exists and is nothing new, most communities eventually come down to “attitude” or “identity”.
I want to rally and be a part of a community that isn’t too concerned with identity and more concerned with the attitude of “I just wanna play some games.” A place where games take the primary focus and people can gather together and have fun without all the static. Even if you encounter online assholes, it would help if you had a few friends to back you up or just leave together and find another place to play as a group with your dignity intact. If more of us band together and refuse to engage in any of this hatred then maybe the perception of Gamers can change.
So feel free to join the Your Momma’s Basement community on Playstation 4 (Xbox One focus to follow possibly) and sooner or later with enough people intermingling, I as well as others will make a few new friends and we will find games to play together. I am purely Co-op. I’ll start posting up in Community Chat whenever I’m playing online. The Division and Wildlands could be my focus for a bit.
All in all… it has been a fun ride but I really just gotta be free to be me from here on out. I hope I don’t offend people, though it is inevitable that I will, I also don’t believe every offense merit’s an apology. I will always apologize if I feel necessary but I refuse to apologize for something like a joke without malice.
Good Night and Good Luck
J
PSN/XBL: IamFN2K
IamFN2K@gmail.com
Twitter: @IamFN2K
The Jaded Gamer 