I rarely follow “Celebs”, I even more rarely tweet them but recently I broke my own rule and followed the Lizard Lick Towing gang. I have no idea why I enjoy watching their show so much, maybe its that I like shouting “NOOOOOO!” at the TV in a desperate attempt to stop them getting beaten up yet again? Or maybe its because Bobby Brantley is just so darn cute? Whatever you think of the show itself (often described as “Marmite” ) – you can’t help but love the people. Big Ole “Juicy” , Hard-As-Nails Amy (except when she melts like a sappy girl), Ronnie with his bleached, spiked up hair & bible chapter t-shirts, dirty-flirty Jonny (how God loves a trier!), “Craaaaazy Charlie” who is as mad as a box of frogs and of course, Built-Like-A-Shed Bobby.
Bobby was in Ireland this weekend, appearing at “Truckfest Live” so I sent him a wee tweet, not really expecting an acknowledgement – having a large following must be so difficult. A couple of hours later I checked into the Twittesphere and was delighted to see he had favourited my tweet. Aw 🙂 Then I noticed he had followed me, WHOOOO!!! I *know* its silly but I was so ridiculously pleased that the smile hasn’t left my face since. I’ve had a really stressful few months setting my new shop up and this simple gesture from a lovely man not only lifted me completely out of the doldrums but had me skipping around like a 6 year old. Whether he ever tweets me, quietly unfollows me (for getting on his nerves) or whether we will ever get to meet in “real life” (he’ll be at the Kent Truckfest in September), I can’t predict right now. What I do know is that we live in a remarkable age where we can simply reach out our hands and touch a complete stranger on the other side of the world (or the moon for that matter) and make a difference to their lives.
In the words of Voltaire, with great power comes great responsibility. In the same week that Twitter reached out and made me happy, it flattened a girl completely. I’m talking of course about the daughter of the late Robin Williams. Zelda, should have felt supported, with overwhelming pride for her father and taken love and comfort from Twitter following the sad loss of her father. Instead, the few (and it is only a few) vicious, despicable tweets sent to mock her in her grief were the ones that hit home & she deleted her account. I really hope she finds her way back and learns to overcome these trolls. I have had a little experience with them myself again of late and they can affect you, as is their intention. Sometimes only by stepping away can you see them for what they are, pathetic little cowards who desperately want your attention.
Even as I typed this, a comment was left on an article about Olly Martins (Police Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire) in response to my support for him : “Hans Hartfiel” says: “I have not read his tweets as I think Twitter is for chavs, single mothers, people without real friends, the unemployed, criminals and so-called celebrities”.
Not to let the trolls have the last word, I’ll leave you with this brilliance by Janis Joplin, recorded just a few days before she died at the age of 27 from a drug overdose. Me & Bobby Brantley McGee 🙂
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