That Etiquette Thing You Hear About
I am obviously (well, at least I think I am obviously) not a proponent of social rules, seeing as how such rules tend to disfavor me while serving no real purpose. Though this has nothing really to do with the point I was leading towards when I wrote that sentence, I just thought of the way friendships/relationships seem to work in our society, where a single, perhaps even accidental, slight qualifies as good reason for breaking off relationships and ending friendships. Wouldn't it be so much easier for the people just to forgive and forget? It'd make both parties much happier, but it seems that if I'm short with a friend one day due to a bad mood, they think of me in terms of that instance instead of the friendship as a whole.
What I really came into this entry thinking about was a particular friend's brother's AIM profile, which states that he will warn those who say "cya" or a similar phrase after he says "g2g".
To me, it seems like he just doesn't get it.. When somebody says "g2g", it means he or she is leaving, and that thus the other person should be obligated by internet etiquette to say goodbye in some fashion or to finish up whatever they were saying. I admire his transcendental attempts to break the bonds of society constricting us Internet folk, but regardless warning is stupid anyhow so people shouldn't even bother.
Is my rejection of his "nonconformity" to such standards hypocritical? I have no idea. There are quite a few conflicting schools of belief regarding the matter. On one hand, saying goodbye is common courtesy and not all that harmful, so there's no reason to discourage it. But if it is so meaningless, why encourage it's continuance? Or maybe, it's like that episode of the Justice League I watched while I was bored. If you don't prosecute the small things, the larger rules are broken. Of course, that Justice League kicked that alternate Universe's ass (as they damn well should have), but in a sense I understand the truth of it. Rebelling against the small issues has forever been used as a means of subverting society, and while in many cases (for example, in slavery when the slaves would perform small acts of mischief) such acts undermine an immoral system, when it comes to certain rules of etiquette it's hard to judge them as being worthy targets.
See, that's the kind of thing I thought I'd be writing in this journal on a regular basis. I bet reading me bitch about normal things is more entertaining, though. I've never had a knack for dressing up my language while managing to retain the humor.
In other news, I was looking at old webcomics me and my friend made, political ones, and I've decided I should make more (albeit on my own). First, I still need to acquire Photoshop or a similar tool. My dad has elements, so hopefully it won't be hard. I'll post links or something to them at some point, I think I'm gonna make one of them my LJ icon once I figure how to shrink it and make it look nice.
What I really came into this entry thinking about was a particular friend's brother's AIM profile, which states that he will warn those who say "cya" or a similar phrase after he says "g2g".
To me, it seems like he just doesn't get it.. When somebody says "g2g", it means he or she is leaving, and that thus the other person should be obligated by internet etiquette to say goodbye in some fashion or to finish up whatever they were saying. I admire his transcendental attempts to break the bonds of society constricting us Internet folk, but regardless warning is stupid anyhow so people shouldn't even bother.
Is my rejection of his "nonconformity" to such standards hypocritical? I have no idea. There are quite a few conflicting schools of belief regarding the matter. On one hand, saying goodbye is common courtesy and not all that harmful, so there's no reason to discourage it. But if it is so meaningless, why encourage it's continuance? Or maybe, it's like that episode of the Justice League I watched while I was bored. If you don't prosecute the small things, the larger rules are broken. Of course, that Justice League kicked that alternate Universe's ass (as they damn well should have), but in a sense I understand the truth of it. Rebelling against the small issues has forever been used as a means of subverting society, and while in many cases (for example, in slavery when the slaves would perform small acts of mischief) such acts undermine an immoral system, when it comes to certain rules of etiquette it's hard to judge them as being worthy targets.
See, that's the kind of thing I thought I'd be writing in this journal on a regular basis. I bet reading me bitch about normal things is more entertaining, though. I've never had a knack for dressing up my language while managing to retain the humor.
In other news, I was looking at old webcomics me and my friend made, political ones, and I've decided I should make more (albeit on my own). First, I still need to acquire Photoshop or a similar tool. My dad has elements, so hopefully it won't be hard. I'll post links or something to them at some point, I think I'm gonna make one of them my LJ icon once I figure how to shrink it and make it look nice.