If you don't have anything nice to say, pt. 2

So, I'm aware that posting twice in one day is pretty lame, but I'm running out of steam to clean and fired up over that dumb pregnancy forum scuffle. Oi vey. I do sound like a desperate housewife, huh?

In any case, if you've been reading, you know I let some old biddies have it on a pregnancy forum I frequent from time to time. I guess that's not fair- how about inconsiderate biddies? Anyways, the initial responses were kind of a scrambled type of defense, but they soon realized that they weren't making a whole lot of sense so the situation fizzled out with the a member proposing that we all just let it go. Her proposal stood strong for several days, but then the calvary rode in. Three or four other women got on talking about how much they agreed, and how ridiculous these other women were. One of the mean ones got on and said something about it being a matter of opinion and how dare we try to suppress their opinions with ours, etc., etc. One of her friends got back on shortly thereafter, talking about how sick she and others are of hearing about stupid 15 year olds who will never learn unless a hard line is taken.

Well, as you can imagine, this got my blood boiling a little bit. I pointed out that these may all be opinions, but that the validity of an opinion can be weighed via warrants and evidence, of which some of these women had none. I also pointed out that there was no need to respond to the 15 year old girls who likely had no real knowledge of birth control to begin with if they can't keep their comments civil. Moreover, before they feel the need to dole out judgment, they should take into consideration that their comments have just as much validity as allegations that pregnancy past a certain age are irresponsible because of the risk of birth defects, or arguments that say having more than x amount of kids are irresponsible. If they wouldn't like being the target of comments like that, then perhaps they should keep their mouths shut.

It turns out that the original poster in this whole mess has been through much more than any of us originally knew, and the more recent posts responding to her situation have been far more kindly and patient. Some of these women being understanding now are the same ones that were originally so dismissive. Maybe I got through to a few of them.

You know, my sister routinely chides me for trying to save the world. I don't think I do. I just get really pissed when people pick on others who don't really have the ability to fight back. Some of these cruel posters will never change their ways, and I know I'm wasting my energy talking to them, but if this poor 17 year old girl gains a little comfort from knowing someone is in her corner, it's worth it. I'm no saint, I can't save the world, but I can try to make it a little better, right?