***Originally posted on 4/11/19 on @publiclandshateyou***
I have a confession to make.
I am not perfect. I make mistakes. It doesn’t feel good to make mistakes, but mistakes are an important part of the learning process. Over the last few weeks I have reposted a lot of content that, in my opinion, appeared feature people breaking the rules and engaging in behavior that is not in line with leave no trace principles. As we all know, appearances aren’t everything.
Upon speaking with the owner of an account that was featured here, it was brought to my attention that their actions were misinterpreted, and upon further discussion, I agree. So, I publicly apologize to that person (who has asked to remain anonymous) and will work to do better in the future.
That said, let’s talk about harassment and bullying. The same person mentioned above shared a number of messages with me that were downright nasty. It’s not ok call anyone four letter words, use abusive language towards them, insult their intelligence, or threaten them in any way. I don’t care what they may have done or might have said. No one deserves to be treated that way. Ever.
What I post here is my opinion. My commentary on publicly shared content that I repost is exactly that, commentary, not fact. You may agree with what I have to say, but I encourage everyone to do their own research. Form your own ideas. If you happen to agree with what I have to say, fantastic. If you want to do your part to help educate others, even better! But I can not stress enough how important it is to be polite AND educational in your interactions with others. Provide information and references to educational resources and leave the name calling out of it.
Not everyone is going to understand the importance of being a good steward to the environment, that much has become VERY clear to me recently. But remember, it’s possible to disagree with someone and still be a decent human being. Commenting on publicly posted content and providing information is not harassment, but name calling and threatening people is.
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled commentary. Here is a beautiful picture from @ that clearly shows them on the trail. No way to misinterpret this photo!