The Beer world was like most planets; too many mouths, not enough ears.
Too many opinions, not enough education. Too much seriousness, not enough fun.
Whenever there is darkness though, there are always heroes.
So they offered a solution.
But rather than Nick Fury handpicking the best of the best, the Titans
formed a group by taking a select few from existing societies.
So formed the Avengers, sorry I mean the Black Order, sorry I mean Dave
Cameron’s Etonian's club, sorry I mean the BAFTAs, sorry I don’t exactly give a
fuck who I mean in this analogy anymore.
I know what its like to lose...
It's a blog; a creation of the MySpace generation. A platform for one to
spout personal feelings and interpretations. Yes, judgement of those words
becomes inevitable but it is a blog nonetheless. Enjoyment, not
employment.
That is why I have used this space to safely talk about mental health
issues. A lot. For my own salvation. Without an area to put those feelings down
I wouldn't have made it this far. It saved me and in doing so helped others. At
first, there was nothing but selfish intent as it was there to save my own
skin, but the messages and e-mails started. People reached out. They wanted to
talk. Talking is important.
I used this platform to talk about prejudices within this world. I used
that "position of privilege" and I paid the price. I received the
abuse, the discredit, the hate. One guy pretty much dedicated his entire
Twitter page to me (*mwah.*) Another convict used intimidating and threatening
behaviour to my partner all on the justification that I was too outspoken about
people being prejudice arseholes.
A small price to pay for my privilege. A small price to pay for
salvation.
So for somebody, anybody, no matter their status, to suggest I endorse
prejudice behaviour because I question the Etonian club of paid members
attitude to working class beer writer's (and drinkers alike) is...
disgusting.
That is the Beer Planet though.
Or at least how they have governed it.
Oh yeah - you're much more of a Thanos.
You can twist and morph words however you want so they suit your
agendas. If you make a number of rules to follow it is easy. Somebody
questioning rule 7 doesn't automatically mean they are against rule 8, though
you can twist it to be so. "I don't think I need to keep the Sabbath day
holy." "So you're saying it is okay to steal and kill?" It works
doesn't it?
Manipulation.
These same people give themselves a right to govern others conflicts, as
I have now discovered. Others issues are theirs. They found resolve so you have to
accept it. "The situation was sorted because they spoke to me."
"But what about the people directly inv..." "Me. Merciful
me."
Some argue that there is no beer community. There isn't. There's
hundreds. Hundreds of little communities that find their own paths of survival.
But there are a couple of factions that would snap their fingers to get rid of
half of them so they can rule over all.
They ate themselves on the day they used their larger follower numbers to crush their friends and allies with fewer followers. What do we call that?
This day extracts a heavy toll
Inevitably, I threw my online tantrum. I put the keyboard down, ready to
walk away from this mountainous pile of horseshit. The blog that saved me,
helped so many others, taken from me and with it my own manageable piece of the
planet.
Luckily there is always beer and those surviving communities of heroes.
It was the right time for the corner of justice to happen - the Independent Salford Beer Festival no less (but more on that in a couple of days.)
It was the right time to be around others. It was the right time to hear
what everybody - EV-ERY-BO-DY - thinks of the Titans and the Black Order. It was
the right time to hear which sections people would rather lose. Beer people,
tangible and fleshy, are good people. You just have to remember that this isn't
a superhero movie. It is just beer, shared with better people than myself. I
blame the demons in my mind for immersing myself too much in the online war and forgetting to just go to the pub for a beer.
So it turns out that i don't have to stop writing - not if I want to
keep going. I just need to remember to make time for the people that matter and
ignore those that don't. Enjoyment, not employment.
Long Live Personal Blogs. Others may make rules to control them but they
will find the will of others to be much stronger.
If I could snap my fingers...
But I'm not a Titan, I'm an Avenger. Don't throw bloody moons at
me.
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