Tag Archive for tweet

Pedophilia & a Joke

I haven’t been this upset about a rumor in a long time. As a survivor of pedophilia (from two men), I have an idea of what it looks and feels like. (I’ll explain later.) When a person close to me said that Biden is a pedophile, I was shocked and, like most rumors going around, I researched it. It started when Don Trump Jr. did an Instagram meme in answer to Biden’s “See you later, alligator.” Trump’s response, was “In a while, pedophile.”  When called on it, Trump Tweeted that he was just “joking around” and included a laughing face.

Yes, I saw the so-called damning photos from swearing-in ceremonies, with Biden greeting families and giving extra attention to children. Inappropriate? Possibly. But in front of parents and on camera? Pedophiles enjoy what they’re doing and want to continue, meaning they don’t usually do it in public or on the public record. Instead, they groom the kids, get them ready to accept the sexual actions, carry them out in private, and secure their position by telling the child that it’s their little special secret because Grandma/Auntie/Whoever would be mad and both he and the child would get in trouble.

Now, why does this upset me so? Because pedophilia is serious and life-changing to a child.  It’s with the child throughout their life. We “get over it” so we can have a life.  But when it’s used as a joke or political ploy, it leads us back to our childhood, and the trivializing or advantage-taking of it hurts…hurts badly.

My Tweetervation

My Tweetervation is an observation about a side effect of Twitter–glassy-eye-itis. I remember carrying on conversations, with give and take, each side listening to the fullness of what the other person was saying. Recently I realized something about people enmeshed in Twitter, Facebook, and other social media in which messages are short: I should deliver my message in 280 characters (don’t dare add an “um”). Past that, the lost-interest signs creep in–turning away, eyes glazed over, unrelated thought-balloons forming over their heads, maybe a non sequitur comment or question in a voice that hints that the person has left the room.

It’s not just the younger generation. I’m seeing it across the board. The only thing these people have in common is that I can find them on social media. Thus, my conclusion and my Twittervation.

As with many things over my years on this Earth, I’ll adapt.  I won’t like it, but I’ll adapt.

By the way, I apologize for using 991 characters in this post.

Some Silliness: Tweet it and Let it Be

This sign  really appealed to my warped sense of humor.  I couldn’t just “Let it Be.”  To carry it to the absurd, I hope there are beetles crawling all around it.  [Thanks to Tim Haggerty for this picture.]

Protect Your Kids from Cyber Space

This is good for everyone, but I worry more about our kids.  They see the power draining out of their phone or tablet, spot a public charging station, and say “why not?”

The reason “why not” is that hackers are getting into those stations and waiting for someone to use them.  At that point, they hack into the phone or tablet and install malware or suck up all the data contained on it.  Despite what we’d like, kids store pictures nobody else should see, personal data that can be used to open a credit account, family information that could make it easy for buglers to visit our home while we’re on vacation, passwords and security codes, even show a pattern of behavior that gives potential evil-doers more opportunities to abduct our child.

Using any charging station should be safe IF the phone is turned off while charging.  That’s a big IF with kids, though, who don’t want to miss a single tweet.  Consider protecting your kids (and your family) with an inexpensive USB cord that allows charging but not data-transfer, and make sure they carry it with them and leave their other cord home.

Yes, parenting is getting harder and harder.  Our kids are sure worth the effort, though, aren’t they?