instant idiots

Why I mostly ignore instant messages:

Random Idiot: hey, 24 m in SF here, cute pic on yr profile
cygnoir: i’m not single and i’m not looking.
Random Idiot: i’m married
cygnoir: k, good luck with that.
cygnoir clicks the “ignore” button.

Usually I don’t respond at all, since it is pointless. One of these losers once argued the ethics of infidelity with me. Yeah, okay, whatever you need to tell yourself so you can look your partner in the face and lie, lie, lie.

Because it bears repeating: there are many random idiots in the world, online and off. You do not owe any one of them your time, patience, respect or kindness. Give those to your friends; give those to yourself.

About Halsted M. Bernard

Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, does stuff with words. Her favourite things to do with words are keeping this diary, writing stories, and organising information. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband, two cats, a few gadgets, several fountain pens, and many books.

Posted on 31 May 2006 in Linklog
  • David

    I have a simple philosophy on this sort of thing. If they’d screw around on someone else to be with me, they’ll screw around on me to be with someone else just as easy.

  • http://fivecats.livejournal.com fivecats

    Such fine advice should be rewarded.

    Consider yourself rewarded: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/icons_screensavers/ilostiiconsvol1.html

  • http://www.geeseaplenty.com Greg

    But your pic IS cute on your profile. Maybe he wasn’t so much hitting on you but merely turning into his secret identity, Captain Obvious?

    Okay, probably not.

  • Dean Jones

    Maybe he was a Jehova’s Witness,they are getting really really sneaky these days.

  • http://in-essence.org Elea

    What IM client are you using? Ever since I made myself unsearchable through AIM, I’ve been spam-free…

  • http://metavalent.info/ metavalent

    a moth cannot but be a moth. a flame cannot but be a flame. they are eternally destined for the dance of ashes. blame is but abject alliteration.

    “Usage Note: The idiomatic phrase ‘cannot but’ has sometimes been criticized as a double negative, perhaps because it has been confused with can but. The but of cannot but, however, means “except,” as it does in phrases such as no one but, while the but of can but has the sense only, as it does in the sentence We had but a single bullet left. Both cannot but and can but are established as standard expressions” (dictionary.com).

    a fool cannot but butt in.

  • http://journal.amanita.net/ Meredith

    That was an excellent conversation.

  • http://journal.amanita.net/ Meredith

    By the way, have you found a replacement for Chococats?