I remember at one point a few years ago I had decided I had had it. Too much toxicity and much of it directed at me. Someone, who shall remain nameless but might think they can fly with magic, issued the worst insult you can to me (well, almost the worst) and called me a terrible writer. Now I'm many things, and I try not to be arrogant, always laughing at myself (no seriously: every morning I look in the mirror and go "look at that idiot!") but this hurt. One thing I do know is I'm a decent writer. I may not be a great one, but I'm not a bad one and I'm definitely not a terrible one.
Anyway, packed my bags and left quietly. As if! Being me, I had to go on a long diatribe, vilifying those who had insulted me and rambling on about how nasty the place had got. Well, upshot was a lot of people said they'd miss me, which was nice, but even better was that the two main culprits pulled in their horns and came as close as you would ever expect of them to an apology. I won't lie: I was touched and impressed. It's a fat man who admits his - sorry, a big man who admits his mistakes. So I stayed.
Boo, I hear you say. Well tough. I'm not going nowhere now, at least not till someone learns me English proper.
The point is, talking about it (okay, okay, ranting about it) actually made a difference, and I'd like to think that perhaps a turning point was reached, and certain people realised they had to be a bit more understanding of the feelings of others. Was this Ground Zero or Day One for a new Music Banter? Don't know, but since then the place has been a lot easier to visit and it's more fun playing in the sandbox when the bullies aren't kicking sand in your face and robbing your toys.
Nevertheless, I too would be of the opinion and view that a place where everyone has to be nice to everyone all the time, and is afraid to say the wrong thing, would not be somewhere I would want to be. At this point I think we have the balance just right.
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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