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Monday, November 29, 2010

My rotten heart and lack of soul

It appears my 'editorial' decision to scan and post two pages of a love letter I found at Union Station struck a nerve with some people. Many people who only wanted to help the author as she works through her affair with a married man wrote comments with loads of advice, almost all calling for her to end the affair.

Great pains were taken by me to black out names and other identifying comments but apparently this wasn't enough for some people who blasted me in text messages and in email for invading this woman (and man's) privacy.

Whoah ... hold on there Nellies ... this letter was found on the floor of a public place where it could be picked up by anyone and read by anyone. It just so happened it was picked up by me.

One person texted that it was my duty to destroy the letter, not destroy the life of the person who wrote it by posting it online. (Keeping in mind none of us know who the author is ... ) I don't know how it's possible to destroy the life of someone whose name appears nowhere on the letter.

One lady wrote in an email that the handwriting could easily give away the person to a co-worker. Now that's a bit of a stretch since I don't know of many people working in offices who hand write notes to each other on a daily basis. In fact, if I saw a note written by my boss on a desk in some other office, I'd have a hard time knowing that was her handwriting. Even if a co-worker did recognize the handwriting, how in the hell do you bring that up in conversation? Do you print out the letter and hand it to the person you think it belongs to in the lunch room? Then what? What would that achieve?

Another person sent me an email writing it was cruel and unfair of me to poke fun of someone who is obviously tortured. The problem is most of you who disagree with the posting of the letter are taking this way too personally. No one knows who this woman is. How do we even know it's a woman? She may have already delivered it to her lover, who in turn was the one who lost it.

In my opinion, seeing as the author remains anonymous, posting the letter is no different than reading an advice column in a newspaper where people anonymously submit personal problems and air their dirty laundry for the whole world to read.

It'd be a whole different ballgame if I had this person's name and published it. But rest assured, I have a heart ... and a soul, and I would never do that. I know there are people who disagree but to be fair, I've left it up for you, the riders/readers to decide. You'll notice a poll in the top right corner of the site. Have your say.

13 comments:

charlie said...

I can't believe people took offence to this. I found it incredibly sad but at the same time, it gave fascinating insight into the mind of the other woman. So fascinating in fact that I have no desire to have a woman on the side if this is the drama it causes!

Anonymous said...

I think you should start posting some of the hate-mail too...

C.J. Smith said...

I've been savin' them up. It's coming. They'll be part of my Letters From A Nut series that I'll be introducing shortly.

Jamie said...

I think that the Globe and Mail publishes stories in similar detail in thier life section each week.

Having spent some time recently redacting reports for public consumption I couldn't find any information to identify either the writer or the intended recipient.

With respect to identification by viewing the hand writing ......Chillax peeps!

Keep rockn' CJ

purple rain said...

This made today's shout out.

http://www.tonightnewspaper.com/pdf/2-058.pdf

Scroll to page 14

kary said...

I can imagine that when the person realized they lost a few pages, panic set in. I doubt they felt better when (if) they found out it was published online. Even though we don't know who they are, they do. I don't think it was a kind thing to do.

I think you caused someone additional pain. Of course, that's just my opinion. I'm not passing judgement on you CJ, I just do not believe there are no victims here, because there are. I can't imagine how I would feel if something very personal of mine ended up on someone's blog as a source of entertainment.

Julie King said...

As someone who has been cheated on, while married I might add, I have little sympathy for the author of the letter.

How do we know she lost it? It could have been the asshole cheating husband. The woman who ruined my marriage was a very conniving and determined homewrecker who worked very hard at destroying any trust I had in relationships. I believed my husband when he told me numerous times he tried to end it. I just don't think he did all he could and for that I'm bitter.

This woman sabotaged my car. She lodged numerous complaints about me at my work, one involving serious allegations about fraud.

The letter paints a dark picture at the lengths people will go to break up a marriage. I think it actually serves an educational purpose.

I don't think it's mean what was done. I applaud CJ for posting it. Any woman who has been cheated on would feel like I do. If anything, it's an eye opener for those who think it could never happen to them. It sure can.

Kaylaa Claudusz #Ajax said...

I took no issue with the letter being published. It was fair game really. But people are sensitive to others' pain and can easily empathize. I'm sort of with Julie. This is a woman who is trying to break up a marriage. Mind you, the husband seems to be an eager participant but I doubt we'll ever figure out who is and if this person happens to see the letter here, who's hurt? No one knows about the person unless they decide to reveal themselves.

Anonymous said...

Dude,
I'm on your side. How hypocritical of some people!!! If any of these crybabies had found that letter they'd been the first to show it around the office or share it with several friends. What's the difference? There isn't any. I highly doubt any of the people bitchin about this would have actually destroyed it. I would have passed it around the office myself.

Anonymous said...

posting the letter showed insensitivity on your part. writing a shoutout clearly demonstrates you have no class and will do anything for a cheap laugh -- at anyone's expense. that letter wasn't yours to begin with and deserves to be returned to its rightful owner which is what you should have done. not posting it all over the internet for everyone to read. shame on you. you've lost me as a reader because you have no shame and you are soul-less. have a nice time in hell.

gary said...

See ya later anon @11:46 pm.
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you gary... Anonymous 11:46... How could CJ return it to the "rightful" owner when there isn't a name no where on the letter. Can I ask the question Anonymous 11:46... do you have a Facebook account, an email, a twitter account... your shit is everyone on the internet! God forbid you have a racy photo some where which EVERYONE can see.

And should we forget that this "Other" women is secretly having an affair with MARRIED men... how soul-less is that? All is for grabs honey because she can't keep her bloody hands off of him.

ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE (IF THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL IT) AND WAR.
Good luck with your holier than though attitude... I guess you're perfect!

C.J. Smith said...

Well anon, at 11:46 pm, who claimed would never visit the site again but according to the logs today came back at 11:59 am and 4:11 pm, my unscientific yet reliable poll says 25 out of 29 people so far disagree with you.

I can respect that people will disagree with me and what I may publish but I can't handle lying.

Just don't lie. Please do stick around because I am 100% positive you also want to know how this saga plays out.