One of my favorite old TV cop shows was “Hill Street Blues”. Each episode began with a tough and seasoned veteran sergeant briefing the street cops under his command about what was going on and what to look out for on the crime-ridden neighborhood beat they were about to patrol on the day’s shift. The sergeant always ended his daily briefing with the admonishment “let’s be careful out there”.
Unfortunately, these same words of warning apply for those of us who are bold enough to put ourselves out there in the online community of melanoma patients. As a recovering lawyer who was trained to always keep in mind that everyone I dealt with in a professional setting (including my own client) just might be a liar or a thief or otherwise up to no good, you’d think I’d know better, but I stuck my toes in the waters of the online melanoma community with the trusting mindset that every mole mate I might encounter would be a sincere and kind-hearted giver and seeker of support and advice to and from other melanoma warriors. And 99.99% of the folks I’ve encountered are fine and caring people. But, regrettably, I’m slowly learning from the bad experiences of others that there seem to be a few cyber bullies and manipulators out there. And even a few people who might try to take advantage of your charitable nature and ask you for money they may not truly need. Or be ‘plants’ from the indoor tanning industry who want to do surveillance on your blog or awareness page.
So let’s be careful out there. Because not everyone will turn out to be the person they at first appeared to be.
On a lighter note, I’ll sign off with the Hotel Melanoma rendition of “Wooly Bully” from Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6P7g_qz2OU
Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro
Matty told Hatty about a ‘friend’ with flaws.
Had two big horns and a bully jaw.
Cyber bully, cyber bully.
Cyber bully, cyber bully, cyber bully.
Hatty told Matty, "Let's don't take no chance.
Let's not be too friendin’, come and learn the scams."
Cyber bully, cyber bully
Cyber bully, cyber bully, cyber bully.
Matty told Hatty, "That's no thing to do.
Let you someone stealthy to pull the wool on you."
Cyber bully, cyber bully.
Cyber bully, cyber bully, cyber bully.
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I can even begin to imagine what may have happened, but thank you (I guess), I'll certainly be watchful from now on, as I for one and most others no doubt, have entered the Melanoma world completely trusting.
ReplyDeleteAll good wishes to you.
Yikes...did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteThis is a wake-up call for me though. I really need to be more careful.