The other day I made the mistake of Googling the name of someone I intensely dislike. I wish I hadn’t. She has always been hostile toward me, and extremely territorial. To cope with her I kind of imagine her as an evil Martian with neither heart nor soul. That way her behavior somehow seems understandable and therefore a lot less hurtful.
But this Google search turned her back into a human being in my mind. Her wide open Facebook page showed me that she has friends. Not many, but some. And she enjoys the outdoors just like I do. Another Google hit lead me to believe that she also enjoys international travel, just like I do. In addition, I discovered that she owns her own home, and thanks to Google earth I see that it’s in a quiet, quaint neighborhood, and she takes pride in a well-kept lawn.
We actually have a great deal in common, and I hate knowing this about her because it makes her hostility even more incomprehensible, and it causes me to have regrets. She could be a friend. I sure could use one. Instead, what I get is an angry troll whose presence in my life is something I’m forced to tolerate.
It just goes to show that people have layers. You may think you know someone, but there is almost always much more to them. It’s never a good idea to rely on simply the surface stuff. Take the time to delve deeper. You may just be intrigued.
This is one of my fractals, “Layers”. You can buy it in the form of a greeting card, mug, print, puzzle or business card, along with nearly 600 of my other fractal products, here.
The View from a Drawbridge 
I know the feeling. The last time I did that, I ended up with wonderful parody material for my blog. Lasted several posts, actually. How are you going to use your nemesis. x
Well, I have to be careful. But it is ripe for parody!
I think many people will relate to your thought provoking blog. As my grandmother used to say, most people wear many different coats. Facebook gives out a very false image of what people are actually like. In fact there is a couple of people I know who are nothing like what I see on their FB page. I liked them better before, not sure which layer that was, lol. I’m still surprised when I learn that someone I thought I knew pretty well for years and really liked, will surprise me with some despicable trait to their character. Makes it hard to trust anyone, sometimes.
That’s a very good point. I have seen a lot of evidence of FB falseness. It’s easy to be fake there, but it is also amazing how revealing it can be at times. And yeah, trust is unfortunately not on solid ground.
There are also those people that you just dislike when you meet them on some instinctual animal level… how weird is that?
Yeah, that’s a creepy feeling. But it’s been my experience that that instinct is usually spot on.
babies and dogs can do it really well
For sure. If my dogs don’t like you, chances are I ought to avoid you.
exactly… unless it is a mailman…