As I grow my presence online and push my own boundaries, and I open up a little bit more of myself to the world, I always knew that I would encounter that thing we call trolls. The modern-day phenomenon or our new everyday scourge, people with the power of words but the empathy of a James Bond villain. Fecking trolls.

When I first read the comment, it punched me in the face. I reread it twice, so I could get the whole ‘jab, cross, hook’ effect of its brutality. I was not disappointed. It stung.

I started typing my response… how dare they. Wuhan did not cripple the world, the poor leadership crippled the world…blah blah blah.

I will show them, bang, bang, bang. I went to town on my keyboard, then my senses kicked in. I deleted my response before posting and walked away from the MacBook. Why bother.

Breathe. Calm. It is not that important.

I took a rest and tried to figure out if there was feedback in the comment. There was none. It was just nastiness.

That is the fact of life. People will be nasty as hell online. Most likely nice as ninepence if you were to meet them in person. But with the anonymity of the internet, people can be as cruel as they want to be.

My response to this comment was simple. It was well thought out, and it didn’t take me long to work out what it was to be. I felt empathy for the person that wrote the comment. I checked their details, and they are clearly not happy with themselves, their world, and possibly dealing with some life regrets. I get it, people have opinions, and they have had a more challenging life. No problem at all. Write away on my page with all the nasty comments you can muster because I have worked out my response to your pathetic self-projection.
My response is genius.
It is elegant in its design and simple in its execution.
It is so pleasant to perform this liberating action.
It takes no effort.
I raise my finger and press gently on one key.

Delete.
Boom.
Gone.

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