Tu(n)esday: WTF...
A few months ago, I found this really cool Instagram account (actually, he found me) that sells physical audio and video media via his home. He doesn't have a bricks-and-mortar storefront, just an online store supported by images on IG.
He followed me because of my cassette photos and I followed him back because he is a seller. A little while later, we started talking in DM on IG. Nice guy. Legitimately nice. I actually bought a tape from him and it was just as good as he promised it to be.
I haven't ordered anything since, but there have been back and forth likes of each others' photos.
His images usually feature a stack of six tapes that were recently added to his store. Tonight, I left a comment on one of those posts because it was the third image in about four days that featured a copy of Metallica's ...and Justice For All on cassette. So I asked in a comment something akin to "What's with all the Metallica tapes? Do you really have that many copies?"
He DM'd me back and this occurred (I’m on the right)...
WTF?? After re-reading my comment, I guess I can see that maybe it seemed like I was talking negatively, but you'd have to be in a bad mood to interpret like that.
I debated blocking him because I was pissed. But, instead, I thought I'd go back and delete the comment and give another mea culpa in DM. Well, he had already deleted the comment and then I refreshed and saw this...
He blocked me. Wow. That's a great way to run a small business, don'cha think?
I'm upset about it all. Mostly because he was a nice guy who had a really good selection of tapes each of which he tests before putting up for sale (unlike 75% of eBay sellers). And now I cannot say anything to him at all.
So I deleted the DM thread and blocked him back. What else can you do, right?
UPDATE: The guy emailed me and explained everything that was going on. He profusely apologized for his overreaction and we started talking again. I am leaving this post up, though, as it does not identify him. Rather keep it than have a hole in my blogging streak.
It's too bad you weren't able to grab a screenshot of the comment you posted that set him off. I'm curious whether it would have triggered me too. Not that I ever would have responded that way unless the person made repeated comments that I found insulting or annoying. But even in that case there's a way to make it so their comments only appear to you and none of your followers. How nice is that option? I had to do that to one person being negative on my feed. I'm not about that.
What I find strange is how he didn't calm down after you explained the misunderstanding. Either he was having a real bad day, or he's a bit unstable. Or maybe he was posting the same copy repeatedly and took offense thinking you were accusing him of being shady in some manner, and he is kinda shady and didn't like that. Hmmmm....
Oh well. Like you said - there's not much you can do about it now.
Posted by: Nicole | Wednesday, 20 January 2021 at 06:21 AM
Yeah, I wish I did too. Would’ve been interesting. But, like I said, I could potentially see it being accusatory but only in an extreme interpretation and certainly not after explanation and apologies. --
Kevin Apgar | @kapgar | kapgar.com
Posted by: kapgar | Wednesday, 20 January 2021 at 08:01 AM