Area 52

[LOBO]-Predator Press

With Twitter now a smouldering wasteland, I figure I'm safer writing on something nobody reads.

"So you pissed off a bunch of nerds," says Barbarossa. "What is the big deal?"

"Because a nerd," I explain, peering through blinds pushed apart with a finger, "will put on a costume and kick your ass."

My day was spent in fairly meta thought. I guess I didn't need to explain why I canceled my subscription? But my job is to troubleshoot problems. I can't do my job without input, and I welcome it. Am I the one "out of step?" A mental analog comparison has me sending all our current accounts out to wreck up one that just left.

"Can I at least turn on the TV?" he asked.

"No lights," I reply. "Some Daredevil cosplayer might me taking a sniper bead on me even as we speak."

"Daredevil is blind," Barbarossa replies.  "He tracks stuff down by, like, sound and stuff."

"Okay fine," I concede.  "I suppose we can watch TV on mute."

I just read the news ticker for maybe thirty seconds.  The President of the United States is arguing with the National Football league.

"This isn't helping," I says.

"Did you know Hugh Hefner died?"

 "This is really not helping."

Suddenly the phone rang.

Oh shit they found me.

***

"Johnny Listen" isn't this kids real name.  His real name is Johnny something, but I found myself saying "Johnny, listen!" so often it stuck.

"Hey man," Johnny Listen says over the speakerphone.  "Can I have next week off?  I want to go on a fishing trip to Canada."

"You just started this job last week, and you want to .... ?"  I am listening to myself talk, sort of in disbelief.  Johnny Listen has the job I started with, and I remember being so infinitely grateful for it.  This kid, in theory, is following in my footsteps.

"You are going to have to call H.R." I says.  "I don't know what to tell you."

"Dude, will I be fired?"

"If you disappear for a week?" I says.  "Probably.  This is a job.  J-O-B.  And job you just started a few days ago."

"My girlfriend will break up with me if I get fired."

"Well," I sigh exasperated, "You should maybe put some thought into this."

"She thinks I am a loser.  I got fired from McDonalds because I kept messing up the orders."

Trollar Opposite (GoFuckYourself.exe)

LOBO -Predator Press

I don't have a lot of time for social media anymore, but WOW my Twitter account isn't factoring that in. It can be an eyeful over morning coffee.

-And I am not "naming names" out of spite. Quite the contrary. Both sites that blew me up as an internet troll are pretty entertaining.

A year ago, an author at Screenrant.com suggested using D.C. superhero characters in a musical. The author wrote an excellent article article spelling out how the acting cast -by virtue of theatrical background- was perfectly capable of pulling this off. The author was exactly correct, and I think the musical crossovers have since already happened.

The problem is I personally dislike musicals. I made a sarcastic remark. When I got back to the internet (perhaps two days later), my Twitter done blowed up because I was a sexist? I didn't even know the author was female. I just don't like musicals, and now I remain permanently banned on the message boards.

But the @StarWarsMinute one really hurt. Pete and Alex run a REALLY good show, and it has recently blown up in popularity. They are super fan-friendly too. There is zero reason for me not to love the show. Except. Commercials. Not the number of commercials, but where they were placing them. I felt commercials in the middle of the show messed up the cadence -it is only 15 minutes long for God's sake. Finally frustrated, I DM-ed them that I was unsubscribing - and they retweeted my DM(!), adding, "Sorry we like to get paid." And again, my Twitter blowed up.

In both cases, I feel like I was "reverse trolled." Unnecessary drama (trauma) was brought in for clickbait.

This line of thinking -or lack thereof- is pretty goddamned alarming.