I'm peeved and need help

[NomadicMama]

I shared the following article on Facebook:  www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/11/sophie-roth-douquet-on-military-kids/2792299/

A friend on FB, a woman* who was like a second mother to me growing up, has a very different political take on just about everything.  She shared the article on her page, so my name is attached.  She wrote that 9-11 was a tragedy for everyone but that the war that followed 9-11 has continued the suffering for many.

Ummmm, this military family is enduring, not suffering.  It might be semantics, and if my name weren't attached to her "share", I would be peeved, but would let it go.  But I feel compelled to respond in someway setting things straight.  But what might I say that gets my point across in a polite, or at least minimally snarky, way?



* While this friend was like a second mother to me, our families have grown apart.  We are not close like we used to be and none of my family lives in the same area as this family.

[audette]

Did she imply that you (& your family) were the one suffering? That's probably the first place to start...

How to respond might be best done if related to how that was implied...


Sometimes, though, there just isn't a good response. In those cases, I take a step back, and just do my best to ignore the post and followup comments, because nothing I add to the conversation is going to make it any better... This might be one of those situations.

[NomadicMama]

Audette, I think that you might be right about leaving it alone. My interpretation may be skewed given my perspective.

This is exactly what she wrote (in connection to the shared article): "Something to think about - 9/11 was a tragedy for so many, but the war that ensued has continued the suffering for many more."

There are military families who are suffering. I do not want to discount those families, at all. But, I feel that because the FB share says "Jane Doe via NomadicMama" that it may be implied that I am in complete agreement with her statement and/or my family is suffering. Until this morning, my FB profile picture was a picture of my family at homecoming. It made it obvious that we are a military family. I have since swapped out my profile picture.

I have also "demoted" her to "acquaintance". I will not include her in future FB posts that are military related.

[audette]

Probably the best way of dealing with it. Sounds like reasonable steps to take.

I recently had a weird FB situation where an acquaintance was trying to say that there wasn't a male/female income gap or a glass ceiling. It hit a pretty big trigger for me, and it was hard to just leave it be, but I realized there was nothing I could possibly say that would change the guy's opinion, and it just wasn't worth trying...

Said individual is now almost completely hidden on my FB feed, because I'm still pissed off at him.

[sushi]

I don't disagree with her, but I see how you might bristle at your name being attached.

Yeah, it's probably best to leave it alone. At most, you might send a PM letting her know you're not suffering, proud to endure, whatever. Sometimes people just don't think about their word choice, but they don't intend to offend.