Establishing a Respect Zone on HubPages

When we were young kids, my friends and I played endless hours of wiffle ball. For those uninitiated, it was basically baseball with a plastic ball full of holes. It was the perfect game to play in an urban neighborhood. Our games could be played in a front yard and there was no danger of breaking windows. A win-win situation for sure.

We set these games up so that if we played in my yard, I could name the rules of the game. If it was played in Bob’s yard, he named the rules. I remember Bob used to declare that you had to run the bases backwards. Tommy said that ground balls were base hits, and fly balls were automatic outs.

Me? I never changed the rules. To me, baseball was sacred. So great was my respect for the game that I just couldn’t bring myself to alter the rules that had stood for over 100 years.

Which brings me to the point of this essay.

Sing it with Aretha Franklin….R….E….S….P….E….C….T.

I recently wrote an article about the horrors of war, and I received some great comments from people who were obviously passionate about that topic. Let’s take a look at one of those comments.

“I would like to thank you ,billy...for demonstrating what free speech is all about. Some of us cringe every time we comment, because we are waiting to be belittled and insulted, or just plain deleted from space (speaking for myself anyway).....and it's not a good feeling.....especially on a site for people who like to write...!! hello--ideas.....

But we carry on anyway...because this is America, and we are supposed to be equals here. Plus, free speech is supposed to mean hearing things you don't like....but respecting the right to say it.

So--three cheers to you! For treating all people and opinions with the same respect and dignity: salute”

Thank you, to my friend, for leaving that comment, and for giving me the idea for this article.

First, let me say that I failed three times as far as I remember, but what I have always tried to do on HubPages is be respectful. When someone leaves a comment on my article, and it is negative or downright rude, I will generally just thank them for the comment and leave it at that. If you need any proof of that, take a look at the article I wrote about child abuse at Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

But the point is this: I’m not on this site to attack people. To me, HubPages is a community of writers. My job is to support those writers. Period! Writing is a tough gig on the best of days, and the last thing a writer needs is to be attacked and called names, so I refuse to do those things.

Of course I have received comments that make my blood boil. Hell, I read articles almost daily that I strongly disagree with….and I may, in return, state respectfully my opinion, but I never stoop to name-calling. I won’t do it. It’s beneath me.

So, harking back to my wiffle ball days….my game, my rules.

I am declaring my site to be a safe zone. Name-calling and vicious attacks simply will not be tolerated. If you disagree with my viewpoints, or the viewpoints expressed in comments, most certainly feel free to disagree in the comment section, but do it in a respectful manner. I don’t mind people disagreeing with me. Hell, I expect it….but I will not tolerate rudeness. I treat others with respect and I damned well better get respect in return….or you will be gone.

My game, my rules!

If you feel the need to be rude, then by all means, as quickly as possible, go to the forums and be rude until the cows come home. That’s the place for rudeness. There are those there who will gladly debate with you, call you names, and generally treat you like you are the dumbest thing to ever walk the earth.

But don’t bring that crap to my site.

My game, my rules!

Allow me to summarize for those who are a little slow this morning.

If you disagree with me or the comments of my followers…..great!

If you express that disagreement in a rude or demeaning way….you are out of here (picture an umpire kicking a player out of the game with the old heave-ho)

My game, my rules!

I’m all for free speech. I believe in that freedom as one of the fundamental freedoms in this country….but I believe in respect even more, and I solemnly promise to you that from this day forward, if you come to my site you will be treated with respect. I may not agree with you, but you will receive respect. Heck, I may not even like you, but you will be treated with respect.

I am so turned off by politics right now. The Democrats hurl vitriol at the Republicans, the Republicans do the same to the Democrats, the name-calling continues unimpeded, the art of compromise is tossed out the window, and all we are left with is a nation that is so divided as to be stagnant and non-functioning.

That is not going to happen on my writer’s site on HubPages. I’ve paid my dues here. I’ve put in three long years of writing and commenting, and if I want my site to be rudeness-free then it will be rudeness-free.

Period!

My game, my rules.

And if you are ever in my neighborhood, stop by for a game of wiffle ball. Just remember…..

My game, my rules.

2014 William D. Holland (aka billybuc_

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”