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You've got questions, she's got answers. Be among the first to read Elise Mac Adam's new etiquette guide.
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The Colic Defense
Everyone does stupid and embarrassing things. There's no way around it. Occasionally a cloud just descends on top of one's head and doesn't lift until one has done something ridiculous. You can't really celebrate these moments, but you can take responsibility for them and try not to let embarrassment make you mean or more absurd looking.
I have been idly following, idly because I'm not really a New Republic reader, a fracas that blew up over at the New Republic web site where critic Lee Siegel in an effort to defend himself against some online attacks, created an alter ego which he used to praise his own writing. The details are actually kind of wearying (Siegel doesn't care for Jon Stewart), but what interested me about this was how someone with a fancy job would be unable to resist the temptation to embrace his inner middle-schooler to such an extent as to put his job in danger. Why would he feel obliged to defend himself in such an idiotic way? Why couldn't he just look away from the screen and accept the fact that some people just have to type angry things at him? He has been suspended from his job for this juvenile and useless name-calling stunt.
Well, according to a New York Observer piece about the fracas, he was stupid because his newborn has colic and he wasn't sleeping enough. Now, I am familiar with the sleep deprivation that happens when babies are fresh, but really. Even if your kid has colic. Even if you're very, very tired, you can be responsible for your actions. The baby didn't force Siegel to invent a sycophantic sock puppet. Having a newborn is no defense.
If you're under the Dopey Cloud, recognize it, and try to control yourself, and if you can't, take some responsibility. It does, after all, happen to everyone, well rested or wakeful.
posted by Elise at 8:32 AM
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