How to be a Bully.....online?

[SteveDallas]

Jim, if you look at "bullying" in the context of, say, the fifth grade, you're dealing with kids who are mandated to be in a certain place at a certain time, all together. They have no choice. I can give you specific a list of assholes that I would have avoided at all cost if I hadn't been forced to go to school with them.

This is not school. Anybody is free to leave. Anybody is free to not read what someone else has written. Anybody is free to use the handy "ignore" function. Our parents (and the state) aren't making us show up here at 8:00 every morning.

So, while I don't want to seem callous, it's beyond me how anybody can feel "bullied" in an environment where it's so easy to avoid a person altogether.

That's my take on it. I'm not going to get into judging specific posts or behavior with specific people. It's obvious that personal vendettas can develop here, with or without justification. I choose not to take sides in the ones that don't involve me.

[lookout123]

Anybody is free to leave.

not all of us are so free. my addiction is a disease. i blame my disease on all of you. if you weren't all so damned clever and interesting I'd be free from my disease. where is JOhn Edwards when you need him, i think i've got a case here.