Arguing Online

 I'll be honest, I love reading the occasional online argument on Facebook. It gives me a good laugh and bit of entertainment. I deactivated all my social media accounts, so finding an argument has been hard. For this reason, I'm choosing to recap an argument I saw in a Facebook group I was in.

Well, this girl posted a screenshot of a text she received from someone that's supposed to be a good friend of hers. She had recently been a bridesmaid to this friend, so she attended a bridal shower followed by the wedding. The day after the wedding, the bride texted her asking if Mexicans don't give gifts at weddings because she was expected to bring a gift to the bridal shower and the wedding. She then asked us all in her post, "Just some background, I'm Mexican so maybe I'm missing something. Is it normal to bring two gifts? Did I mess up?"

Just about everyone told her that she needs a new friend and that her friend was extremely disrespectful in asking if Mexicans don't bring gifts to weddings. They also reassured her that gifts are thoughtful and one gift is appreciated enough, so to expect two gifts and then passive aggressively ask for it is disrespectful and selfish. BUT, there was one girl that said giving a gift at the bridal shower AND the wedding is customary and common knowledge. Several girls then replied to her and said things along the lines of "obviously based on this thread it's not common knowledge or common practice." This girl then replied to them saying, "...then I chose my bridesmaids and wedding guests accordingly." To me, that was her being condescending and I had to reply with a gif in hopes of showing her that her comment was unnecessary.

The gif I used to respond to her comment.

She never replied to anyone after that and didn't reply to my comment either. Here is my takeaway from this and other arguments I've seen:

1. Don't be condescending/disrespectful and expect good results from that.
2. Don't read into people's comments too much. It might not even be written in the tone that you think it is.
3. Don't immediately result to blatant name-calling. It doesn't help you or the argument.
4. Understand that people come from all types of backgrounds and that the world isn't only as you have seen it.
5. Let it go. Sometimes, you just have to put the phone down and walk away from a pointless argument.

Thanks for reading!

Fabiola