I know where it’s coming from. It’s the backlash of political hate mongering from both sides of the isle. It’s a community’s way of reminding us of the truly important things in life. The sentiment is in the right place. I’m just not crazy about the delivery.

Like many control freaks, I don’t like being told what to do, especially by a faceless meme that is spouting the obvious and covering my Facebook page with shared hallmark-like pros that are both ubiquitous and unnecessary.

To get to the point, I’m glad, Facebook Community, that you appreciate your child, parent, grandparent, civil servant, clergyman, neighbor, pet, and pen pal. Good for you. In many of those cases, I feel the same way. But commanding that I share said meme to prove my feelings is a bit bossy, and frankly, none of your business.

Maybe I have good reason not to like my cousins. Maybe they were snotty little ingrates who picked on me. Maybe my mother is a guilt-wielding shrew who reminds me regularly how I stole her youth and ruined her plumbing. You don’t know, Facebook Machine.

And that’s my point. The sentiment is just generalized mush that’s super easy to skim over, say “sure, that sounds nice,” and hit “share” without a second thought. And I’m not having it. I won’t share, and you can’t make me.

If you want me to share something, take some actual time out of your internet surfing day and  tell me about your uncle, nephew, day care lady, or hamster, and give examples to illustrate what makes them so gosh darn special. That would be worth my time. You might even get that ever sought after “amen” that you’ve been looking for. You never know. So ends this gripe.

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