To be fair, it was entirely my fault.
If social media is a fantasy world, I made the mistake of crossing the bridge into a Threads comments section.
Someone posted a picture of a government envelope—
And if your alarm bells are going off already, well, you’re more attentive than I was.
I asked a clarifying question in the comments.
And the troll emerged from under the bridge, fingers flying:
“Hey, I know education is hard, but…”
A smarter person replied with, “Education is hard! Thanks for the info.”
And a much smarter person wouldn’t have replied at all.
Please cringe in sympathy with me at my actual response:
“Hey friend, can you help me understand why you felt the need to use that kind of tone? I‘m not familiar with government envelopes and was asking an honest question.”
I had really good intentions, as do most people who make enormous mistakes.
The troll struck anew:
“Because you thought you knew better. You didn’t ask a question. Plus, there’s no tone. Tone cannot be applied to writing. Have the day you deserve.”
So I wished him a fantastic and restful Sunday (honestly, I did), swallowed my urge to give a lecture on writing and tone (well, maybe just one sentence), and gracefully retreated from the comments section.
Sometimes, you gotta resist the juicy temptation of engaging with strangers on the Internet. It never ends well.
Sixteen-year-old Safran learns this lesson the hard way. Stealing guava-cardamom pastries from a palace for her little brother’s birthday seems innocent enough.
But the creature that tracks her down afterwards is no troll…
And have the day you deserve—which is a great one!
Addison
NC readers—stay tuned for an announcement about my first local book signing in Cary!
