Where’s the meaning in meanness?

Published 8:23 pm Thursday, December 30, 2010

Five golden rings would have been nice. Instead, on the fifth day of Christmas some readers gave to me one slight headache and a notion to make this plea:

Before posting an online comment, how about this? Check it for meanness.

My usual morning habit is to sit down with coffee and the printed Herald. On Wednesday, a day off, I read the paper on HeraldNet. The website had terrific photos and up-to-date coverage of the spotty snowstorm.

My reading experience went quickly downhill when I clicked on my column. The topic was Lynnwood High School.

I had asked alumni to share their views about a Costco store coming to the old school site. Herald writer Bill Sheets had reported the Costco news earlier this month.

To me, talking to former Lynnwood High students was a logical follow-up. It made sense to ask them about the choice of a tenant for the Edmonds School District property.

People quoted in my column shared not just opinions, but brief oral histories of a place that has seen much change over 40 years.

The memories of those Lynnwood High alumni have value. Change becomes history. The city of Mukilteo recognized that when, just before the old Rosehill Community Center was demolished, it recently collected stories from people who had attended Rosehill School.

I asked alumni for their views after searching online for Lynnwood High groups. They did not come to me, “babyboomers complaining about how things aren’t like the ‘old days,’ ” as one reader posted in a comment.

What’s discouraging isn’t that some readers disagree with what I write, or take issue with any other Herald articles.

I welcome debate. I’m an avid reader of letters to the editor, signed with names and hometowns.

What’s discouraging is the meanness conveyed by some who comment online. When name-calling and disparaging language is aimed at people who thoughtfully shared with Herald readers their opinions and memories — something I asked of them — it makes me furious.

“Oh dear, another ride on the boomer Whaaaa-mbulance,” one person posted at the bottom of Wednesday’s Lynnwood High column. The writer of that witticism lacked the courage to share his or her name, signing only “woodway grad 1977.”

Just so you know, I have zero respect for writers who mix their viewpoints with spite, and who hide behind anonymous signatures.

Another comment, which was signed by name, was particularly stinging: “Please get your facts straight before printing these articles.” Really? The facts weren’t straight?

That inference raised my hackles and my impulse to act on that old Mark Twain wisdom — don’t pick fights with folks who buy ink by the barrel.

The “get your facts straight” reader took issue with what Lynnwood High teacher Rhonda Hampson said in my column. “Rhonda Hampson stated she was unhappy the fields are gone. They are not gone,” the comment said. The post went on to say the school district built athletic fields at the new Lynnwood High.

It’s true, the new Lynnwood High has beautiful fields. My son has played lacrosse there. The fact is, Hampson never said the fields are “gone.”

My column said she isn’t happy about the loss of athletic fields at the old site. “The city is going to miss that,” Hampson said earlier this week.

The city, Lynnwood, is indeed losing those fields. Lynnwood High, the new one, has a Bothell address.

This column isn’t really about Lynnwood or Costco or athletic fields. It’s about being civil — please.

We welcome your thoughts. In the new year, comment all you like. But keep a lid on meanness.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; muhlstein@heraldnet.com.