I sold a camera on Ebay last week. The buyer paid for it promptly, and I mailed it out quickly. You couldn't ask for a smoother transaction. Then today I get an email from the buyer:
"Dear [my Ebay name retracted],
Thanks for not leaving me any feed back, I enjoy leaving it for others and not getting anything in return....
- [Stupid Person Who Named Him/Herself a Stupid Abbreviation of the Phrase "Too Hot To See"]"
I was automatically filled with rage. First, that was incredibly disrespectful. Second, I should have expected this from some idiot who calls him/herself "Too Hot To See." That kind of creative naming comes only from an ego so massively inflated that you could hang signs from it and have it float over stadiums like the Goodyear Blimp. I started to write this idiot back a nastygram of my own about how I'm not a professional Ebayer/compulsive feedback checker and a simple "You forgot to leave me feedback" would have been just fine, thank you, but I stopped myself just in time because God knows I don't want to start some back-and-forth hate mail war with this troll. I also knew better than to leave negative feedback, which would open up the door for "Too Hot" to go back, change his/her original feedback to negative, and leave nasty comments on my profile. But I COULDN'T leave positive feedback; you can't seriously think that you can b*tch at me and then earn something from it. So I left a neutral, with this comment: "OMG BEST BUYER EVER WHEE WHEE SO MUCH FUN LIKE A DAY IN HEAVEN WHEE!!!" Taste the sarcasm. Feel it wash over you like a wave of lava from my volcano of impotent rage. I hope it burns all the way down.
Guilt got the better of me.
A few days after I did this, I realized that I had been a turd. Maybe the guy was having a bad week. Maybe not. It doesn't matter; the world is already an unpleasant enough place without me leaving intentionally irritating remarks for all the world to see on someone else's Ebay profile. In retrospect, I don't think I would go back and leave positive feedback even if I could, but I at least wouldn't have left the sarcastic comment, so I emailed a brief and contrite apology to the guy. I still hope I don't hear back from him, but I feel better for having said I'm sorry for having a bit of a slap at him.