Unadulterated Anger Rant

Let me put in a disclaimer here so people don't rush to the mirror and say, 'Is he talking about me?' The people this article is about have all received private letters from me with the subjects I addressed in this rant clearly stated to them. I did not mention the guilt trip reference in my letter, but if this lady posts on this article, I will instantly delete her comments. I remain very offended by her guilt trip try to manipulate me. 

 Does my title give any indication I'm in a sour mood? Well I am and steam is coming out of my ears. No I don't want to play "I'm A Little Tea Pot', although I am short and stout. Yes, I do like stout beer, but don't change the subject. I always like these little talks with myself. It's like a cartharsis ritual that I guess is as good for you as standing on your head. There are a lot of things that have me steamed, but I guess two letters I recently received set me off. I will deal with both of these, then move on to other stuff that boils my blood.

I'll start with a very pleasant letter that commended me for one of my comments. I always like people who agree with me and If I'm ever rich enough to own a silver tea set, I'd certainly employ them as a polisher. Well, this person went on to rant about how one certain person (no, it wasn't Rosie O'Donnell) had sent him a letter complaining about a complaint he had sent in a letter to her. He had left numerous comments on her articles, but she had not even once commented on one of his articles. Some of you might need a hanky for this next part. She told him she was a college student and did not have time to make comments. She said she needed a lot of comments to get points to get a gift book card. I guess we should all see her logic and applaud her for her totally selfish behavior. It certainly makes me want to run to her site and leave a zillion comments. I certainly care more about her getting a book card than causing her the detrimental hardship thinking about anyone other than herself. I think we should all bow to her logic and realize she only has time to read the books she buys with the gift cards she earns on Gather. I'm sure she has time for nothing else.

The other letter really offended me. Before I get to its contents, I'll give you a bit of my background. I love the science of psychology. I am extremely well read on the subject, especially in the fields of child and learning psychology. My friend Dr. Y teaches psychology to Master Degree students. In 1991, when he was writing his Ph.D dissertation, he asked for my assistance. Since then, I have been the main person he goes to edit his academic articles and speeches. I do not like using psychology on people. I'm not a proffesional and I realize that even good intentions can be harmful. I prefer to talk straight and say what I feel from the hip rather than try to use manipulative language. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a lady a very polite note telling her I don't read invites to read articles sent to my inbox. Her letter back to me told me I had made her cry and more such blah. I wrote back telling her I had been very polite and that I would not apologize for what I believe. She stopped commenting on my articles, which did not bother me. However, I found out that she did bash me to another person, so I went back and reread her letter and my responses. What I found was her trying to use guilt trip psychology, so I would do what she wanted. This greatly offended and infuriated me. I removed her from my group, deleted all of my comments to her articles, deleted all of her comments to my articles and removed all mention of her in my stories. I do not want to be in any way associated with a person who uses guilt trip psychology to manipulate me. It disgusts me to my core.

A lot of people on Gather are here to get points. I think that is fine as long as they don't use or manipulate others. When somebody tells me the points are for some charitable cause, I usually leave at least 5 comments. I am not on Gather to get points. I have never used my points and if I do it will be for gifts for my children. I'm on Gather to grow as a writer. I do my best to write enjoyable stories and poems. I don't just write off the cuff. The average time it takes me to write one page of a story is about 3 hours. Before I wrote the Farmhouse story, I researched corn growing regions in Iowa and ethnicity of the early settlers. It seems like a small detail, but I wanted place names and names of the people to have the proper flavor in the story's scenes. The names are fictional, but are common to that area. I am happy when Gather friends enjoy these stories, but not so happy when so called serious writers gloss over and leave a generic comment, or when they don't read the preceding chapters and show, by their comments that they are just gladhanding me. To me that is a slap in the face. It shows a lack of interest and a lack of respect for what I write. I'd rather these so called serious writers say, I wasn't very intersted in this story, or I think it's garbage rather than give me false praise. I had one person gush with praise over a poem I wrote and tell me it should be published. I wrote her a private thank you note and told her I wasn't ready to get published. She wrote back saying she was just being nice and agreed I wasn't ready. That stung! Why say such insincere words, if you don't mean them? I guess she has a love for baloney sandwiches. I talk straight and the last thing I need or want is fake flattery. I'm a big boy and I can take criticism. Good criticism causes me to feel respect for the person. Fake praise makes me lose respect. I'm staying away for politics in this rant. This is much more personal than usual, but I need to get this off of my chest. I'm in a sour mood.