Originally intended to document my experience of DeLorean ownership, focus is often radical and strange, boring and obtuse.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Insight Twins & Nasty Comments



No, you're not seeing double. The Insight twins are back for double-fuel-saving action.

Suz and I were up at the Home Depot shopping for blinds for our bathroom. The blinds we bought were supposed to be 24 inches, and therefore fit inside our 24" wide window. We had to return them after we discovered they didn't fit. Why? Because they weren't 24" wide. They were 24 and 1/8th inches wide. But that's another story.

When we emerged from the big orange store I had a mini-freakout. I saw our car, but it was not sitting beside the small, grassy boulevard thingy where I parked it.

"I didn't park there!" I said to Suz, pointing at the silver hybrid. "What the hell is going on? I did not park there!" Thoughts went through my head: did somebody play a prank on us and move our car? No. It's automatic. They would have needed a key. Am I losing my mind? Possibly. Wait. Maybe not.

It was at that point that I saw our Insight, parked beside the small, grassy boulevard thingy in the adjacent aisle, facing the same direction. Suz laughed. There are less than 400 Insights in Canada, and most Home Depot patrons drive massive trucks capable of carrying all sorts of building materials, making this a bizarre event.

I moved our Insight next to "VALEN" and took this picture. Suz and I started wondering aloud: Does his wife drive an Insight with the licence plate "TINE"?; Did this Insight driver park where he parked because he saw our car?; Did he think it was cool to see another Insight?; Did he look inside ours?; Or did he just park there and go inside, not even noticing?

Whatever the answer, we thought it was trés cool. We smiled all the way home, until we discovered the blinds didn't fit.

======================

Last night I did some thinking after I received some really nasty, ignorant comments on my blog. The comments were related to some very old posts I did about the Smart Car, which were based on facts and incorporated my personal opinion.

I started to ask myself if I should continue blogging if I'm going to receive closed-minded visitors like this leaving their insults on my blog. I don't delete comments because I encourage free and open discussion. But this was not discussion. Some of the attacks were personal, and intended to insult. This is not acceptable.

If people want me to see their point of view, they should try to convince me of it using logical discussion and proof. It's obvious, by what many of them said, that they did not read my entire post. Instead, they read a few points which angered them, and inspired them to write some thoughtless comments.

Which brings up another point. Amongst the insults there are actually a few valid points made. It's hard to dig them out, however, because they're buried in opinion stated as fact, rudeness, and stupidity.

As I always say, Everybody is entitled to their opinion. But some people seem to feel threatened by my writings. Controversy is nice, as it breeds conversation. But I'm forced to impose "Blogger Only" comments as a result of this.

If you're up for it, please read the comments here, and leave your thoughts if you like.

12 Comments:

Blogger Louisiana said...

that is 2 blinds that don't work. i expect that from Walmart, usually Home Depot is better than that.

to be honest i can't even concentrate on your beautiful post because i'm furious it happened to you too.

i was just there M, wondering if blogging was not for me either. you know what they say, Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. But i quickly found that i wasn't wrong for being soo upset. That their remarks were not a 'difference opinion' but were made with such anger and disrespect that they were intended to offend/hurt. Nothing to do with free speech. No free guarantee gives us a blank ticket to allow hatred, anger, personal shots or racist remarks. A little decensy and respect would make this world spin just a bit better if we could all just remember, we ourselves wouldn't want the 'crap' we sometimes dish out..

sorry it happened to you. don't let them take you away from friends who truly adore you and your post. don't let them win. we need more wonderful hearts like you to offset theirs.

hugs.

1:23:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

QUIT QUIT QUIT!

1:53:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Hmm, you both offer such good arguments. I think I'll stick around and instead of trying to please everyone and avoid the stupid people, I'll just fight back when provoked. I don't like getting angry, but maybe I will have to, and hope that you and the other nice, respectful people out there won't think less of me.

1:57:00 PM

 
Blogger Monogram Queen said...

That is cool about the insight twins and I am not reading the nasty comments.
I can't like assholes....

3:55:00 PM

 
Blogger Jerry Bowley said...

I've always wondered why people bother to slag blog-authors... Do they honestly think that they can hurl insults and the regular readers will suddenly go, "Hey! You know what? That guy's got a point! This blog-author is retarded!"?

(Okay, I think it's happened at my blog a few times, but we promised never to speak of it again, right?)

In the end, these guys need to remember the old saying, "Better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it."

11:48:00 PM

 
Blogger Ellie Creek Ellis said...

whew, i thought it was because i said your cookies were stale and your milk was starting to sour! lol

ya know, i just don't get it. if they don't like it, then MOVE on to another blog! i had the same thing happen. someone was complaining that i was completely unprofessional because one of my students read and commented on my blog. actually, i think it was because he is a staunch republican and i'm, well, you know, NOT.

moral of the story? don't quit writing. you are a bit of sunshine in my cloudy world.

9:23:00 PM

 
Blogger Jod{i} said...

Never fails to amaze me how people can just run at the chops without all the information...I am just one to understand exactly this point, an opinion is just that....
THere is no right or wrong..More so if it does not have a direct effect on ones life...

Anyhoo---too cool about another Insight meet up, lol...maybe all 400 are in your area?

Chana voted, so I think it is okay for Canadians to vote...

Peace

11:01:00 AM

 
Blogger Vengelyne said...

Martini, I've got anonymous comments in my blog if you've not noticed that attacks me personally -- calling me a transsexual, a slut, fat and etc.

I still did not disable the anonymous comments because like you, I encourage free and open discussion. I just ignore the nasty comments left using different names -- all left by the same guy/girl from Virginia.

And I feel like a celebrity somewhat. I've got likers and haters now. ;)

And I love that twinsight pic.

12:08:00 AM

 
Blogger Gary said...

I just came over from Chana's blog. She says that your blog is great. She is right.

8:40:00 AM

 
Blogger Ham said...

Cruddy commenters are par for the course when the interweb is the medium of choice. However, good for you for taking action against the jerks. I once had an anon commenter who drove me bananas. I thought it was a ex who knew how to push my buttons and then discovered that it was a random ignorant jerk.

Don't leave Martini. How else will I pass the work day?!?

3:55:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Geez you guys are nice. Thanks everybody. I'm sorry I won't have much for you this week, but I'll do my best to get things rolling again next week. Suz and I are going away for our anniversary.

10:42:00 AM

 
Blogger Rainypete said...

Yeah, freedom of speech is a bit of a pain in the ass. If you want to be able to say what you want then they need to be able to say what they want. If they choose to berate you then you can laugh at their feeble attempts at rebuttal because personal attacks are the realm of the uninformed. If the Green party attended the federal debate during election time you'd likely hear them say that their competitors were noisy ass faces once they ran out of ideas. Welcome to blogging. They key is to not take a bit of it personally.

12:45:00 PM

 

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