The electronic age can be both a blessing and a curse. Most communication between individuals use to be done face to face, or at the very least by phone. Today people still keep in touch but now it is by text and chat. These can be great or absolutely horrendous.

Take those sacred three little words - I LOVE YOU. They can be said with passion, with sarcasm, and have multiple meanings depending on how said and the body language. However, reading just the words alone and you are left to wonder if they were joking or take it exactly as it appears.

Sometimes I can be a sarcastic bastard. I know it. I can be snarky if you catch me in the morning before my coffee. I admit it freely. But rarely do I do that in chat or text. It is so easy for it to be misinterpreted. I hate being misunderstood.

I was once a teacher and I explained to my class that words have power, and when you speak you have to be careful. They told me words don't carry weight. I grabbed two of my A students and told them exactly what I was planning so they would go along with it. Then the following day presented the class with a little example of how words can either lift you up or destroy you. I was giving back tests that they had taken. Both of my students actually got 98's on the test but the class didn't know that.

To the first student I gave the test face down and he looked at it and up at me. I turned to him and let him have it in front of the class. "I see you were slacking off this week. Only a 98. You know if you actually put some effort into your work you might actually get a hundred. I thought you were a smart student."

The class sat in stunned silence as I continued to pass out the tests. When I got to my second willing student I handed them the test back and she looked at it and asked if she could retake it.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry. I know that isn't your normal testing grade. Next time try come to me for some extra tutoring or extra credit. I'm sure we can get your grade up."

The class sat looking at her. They all thought she failed but they watched as I "encouraged" her while I had torn down the "98" student.

When I finished I walked to my desk. You could have heard a pin drop. I walked to the board and wrote WORDS across the board. Then I asked how many felt sorry for my 98 student and how many for my failing one.

They all raised when I said the 98 student. "Why are you sorry for him? He passed the test didn't he?" The class was afraid to say a word. Then I let them all in on it. There isn't a student in that room who bullied or said a bad word to another for the rest of that year.

Which brings me to tonight. I have someone i chat with fairly regularly on messenger. We were talking and for a change I went sarcastic on him. I didn't mean it but without being able to "hear" it and know I was joking he took it serious and left abruptly. I felt like crap but that is one of the things about an electronic chat, you don't have anything but the typed word before you.

Here at GA I am more the Fool than I am anywhere else. I come here to unwind, have some fun, and talk to interesting people. I try never to insult anyone or be cruel. That is just who I am but I am hyper aware when here. I just want people to stop a moment when they read something. If it seems out of character for the person speaking remember to see if it can be said in a joking way, a sarcastic way, or even a loving way. It is just too easy to misinterpret the written word in a chat. A chat or text doesn't say Robert said in a joking way,"Bite me and die." All the reader gets is "Bite me and die." Is it meant as a common saying between friends, an insult, or what? Sorry to rant like this, but I just hate it when the power put behind the words isn't what was meant.