CAPS Blog #3: Olechoski

 “Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones 

 “There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.”
― Erma Bombeck

 “A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When I think back on the times that I have been hurt, it is not the physical cuts or bruises from a game or playing outside, it is the times when someone said something to me that I can remember most. Language is so powerful in this sense. Things someone says to a person or about a person can stick around for a long time. Whether this is because it defines the type of person someone is or if it is unwanted or hurtful nickname given to a kid in class. It is not easy to take back hurtful words. You cannot always fix a reputation because of what you have said in the past and you cannot always fully heal someone’s feelings like you can heal a broken arm. 

This week was the first time I have heard about this UNL-Haters tumblr going on. When I first saw it, I was kind of shocked. I can’t believe that people say some of the things that were in some of the tweets I read. I think it is terrible and disgusting. Also, as I mentioned above, it makes me question what kind of people they are. Whether it is meant to be joking or not, it is rude and disrespectful. If I were someone on there I would be so embarrassed and ashamed of myself, yet you see people pop up multiple times. It baffles me that people think this kind of talk is ok. We should pride ourselves on being a university that as a foreign exchange program, that someone from across the world wants to come to our school here in Nebraska. My second thought was one of sadness. I can’t imagine reading these tweets if I knew they were directed towards me or my friends. It is apparent that no one that tweeted considered anyone’s feelings but their own.  How would you feel if you were someone being targeted and you just had to constantly read these posts of hate? 

I understand that everyone has a right to an opinion but I don’t think it should be like this. I do not think your rights should entitle people to deliberately hurt another person. People cannot physically harm someone for no reason so why should they be able to verbally abuse a person. I think that this tumblr is a good way of making people realize that the things they say on social medias do not just stay there. I think people feel like on the internet you can get away with saying whatever you want but in reality it is almost worse. Instead of saying something to one person and hurting them, you are hurting multiple people at a time. I hope that this tumblr will change people’s minds before they post something that is so rude again. This tumblr is proof that language is power. By reproducing these tweets, it is making people more aware of what is going on. This will then hopefully turn into making a change.