Bandwagon Jumpers & Other Non-Thinkers

Grab your seat, you’re going to read about a curmudgeon complaining about… other curmudgeons. Or, maybe they’re just whiners. Yes, that’s it. What I am about to share is just whiners whining, in my humble and modest opinion, wannabe curmudgeons. Amateur curmudgeons.

This is about people in my town and the city government. Now, don’t get me wrong, the city is going too far into debt, in my still humble and modest opinion, and there are some things that need addressing, and the city manager does seem to have a grandiose Napoleon complex, but really they do do good things, too, and overall it is a nice place to live.

That being said, here’s the scenario: I belong to a Facebook group called “The <town name> Activist”. Ok, sounds good, right. Well, it was created by a couple people who basically complain about every single thing the city does. Rarely will most of them give the city any credit for anything, and a few are so bad that they never do. One is endorsing a particular city council candidate right now and I am seriously considering voting for the opponent just because of that guy’s endorsement, but I digress. Anyway, that’s bad enough, but tolerable. Then you have the bandwagon jumpers, the people who have come along and must feel some insecure deep-seated need to be part of the ‘cool kids’ group and bash everything, as well. These are really the annoying ones. I’ll give a couple examples…

Example #1:

Our city is looking at building a new library, with questionable and controversial funding, but that’s not what this post is about. The city released an architect’s rendering of the proposed library a few months ago. One person posted asking about the lack of handicapped accessible parking spaces and where those would be. They called it a poorly thought-out design that was lacking in sufficient detail and information. The project was doomed to failure if this is the best they can come up with, yada yada yada.

I responded and explained how architect renderings are solely for marketing purposes, to sell a product. The product here being the library and selling it to the public. Not only do they not show things like handicapped access, they also don’t show existing power poles that will remain, street signs, poorly patched streets that will still be poorly patched when this project is done, traffic signals, utilities and unsightly garbage locations, and so on and so on. It’s going to be as pretty as can be.

They responded back with, “Oh, I know all that.”

😐

Really? Then why did you raise these “concerns” if you know they aren’t legit? Or, were you just wanting to stir the pot?

Example #2:

Just yesterday a person starts a thread showing the water department’s disconnect notice that was posted on their door for non-payment. They were mocking this as they are on a private well and septic, and they have auto-deduction for payment every month  (garbage, other taxes, etc.), ergo they weren’t late or behind. Essentially they were ridiculing the city for being stupid… and scores of people joined in. Bandwagoners, all.

Ken pipes up… shocking, I know… and I ask if they bothered to call the water department and ask what’s going on. Get some clarification. There had already been about two dozen posts and no one bothered to ask this seemingly obvious question. Everyone derided the city for being dumb and some suggested ways the person could embarrass the city. Maybe it’s just a simple mistake. <shrug>

The thread starter responds and says, “I called this morning and it was an error on their part.”

So, yes, it was a simple mistake and all was good. Yet, they felt the need to start stirring the pot with no confirmation to back up their claims of city incompetence. That’s bad enough, but what makes it worse is that many other people joined in, all without reasonable information, just taking some person’s word. And we wonder why misinformation is so rampant. People like… need?… to feel superior. People like their drama.

Bottom Line:

This is turning into something of a moral lecture, methinks, but I can’t help it. People need to slow down. Collect credible information. Strive to be fair. Don’t knee-jerk always for one side only. Use brain cells and rational thought before speaking. Is that too much to ask?

Probably.