Wisdom of scammerS

“All that is good in me, started with you” -Darim

Since the moment I started back on Vocal, I have been warned of the scammers. I have seen endless comments and stories about them and of course, plenty of oracles telling me they will come. They were right. Some have come, to leave their comments; to blast their latest unproofed and unedited stories: but even more so, they have come and stolen our time and attention. Time we cannot get back, spent on warnings and prophecies.

I know this is a point close to many on Vocals heart, and I’m not here to tell you you’re wrong to worry; you shouldn’t do what I say just as much as I shouldn’t do as you say. I just ask that you humbly listen to my plea. Who are we, so blessed, to share our stories like this?

Maybe the scammers, are a mirror. Maybe when you see people posting crap content you worry that you are no better than them, perhaps that is why it enrages you so? Perhaps the mirror is begging to see what it is we don’t want to admit in ourselves. A wise man once said “we are quick to point out the follies in others, that we excuse in ourselves.”

We have spent too much time and comments on these people. If they exist, let them. I personally feel pity for them. Not having an original thought must be a burden. Having to steal someone else’s words and sell them as your own, I can’t imagine what quality of sleep these people get. Me? I sleep like a baby, knowing I’m printing and creating my own words and not giving a shit about those who have no design on my life. Better yet, the Vocal moderators need to be on higher alert; so we don’t have a citizen patrol on our own people here in the community. We are the Shepard’s of Vocal; and Vocal is not fragile. Allow not, more warning and cynical behaviors, but continue the spread of positivity and uplifting.

I have made my name in this community; but I will tell you when I first arrived, it was ominous and foreboding. As a person that is knew to this website I can see how they might be scared to be on the site, scared to reach out and share. The community is tight knit, and some big names don’t branch out as much as others. That can be hard when you’re new, much like holding your lunch tray in the cafeteria and it spills as your pants rip down the middle. You feel exposed and alone. Therefore, some of these scammers might just be people, screaming to be heard, to be seen. Maybe instead of mounting an attack, we reach out our hands; welcome these people, ask them if they need help, give them constructive feedback in an effort to give them a chance to be better. Usher in a chance to be better, before striking them down in the dirt. It is our ablitiy to chose to be better, we can guide them to be better as well but who are we to tell them their path is wrong?

I hve never believed people to be inheritly bad; I believe we crave connection and will do anything for that feeling. We will act in ways that serve us, but who wouldn’t? That is survival; forming intricate webs of support is what separates us from barbarism. I say take pity on your fellow person, who may not know the behaviors that are okay, or who are too scared to be themselves. That is what Vocal is meant to be, a safe haven. We have horror for those who want to give us a fright. We have filthy for those who want to say naughty things and share it with us (who are not as daring but wish we were!) We are architects of words, and when we post we accept the consequences of what may come, from those infant authors to positivity.

I yearn for a day that the word scammers is ignored and we simply allow those who wish to behave that way, a simple head nod and nothing more. They have taken your time, and your energy and they are not worth it. But don’t take my word for it, everything is permitted; I will not live for you, and you should not live for me. I appreciate you taking the time to hear my plea, I can only hope that with time we build an even stronger community that rallies to save those who are lost.