Rude People

What constitutes rudeness in one situation can be entirely acceptable in another. It all depends on the culture and setting. I recently encounter a very rude person on a TMJD group. I have been googling about the Vitek implants and came across a link to the group. At first, they all seem friendly and welcoming. From the beginning I had issues with the site. The background was a bright green color, which gave me a headache. They had so many advertisements it would lock up my computer. When I could get my computer to move around on the messages it was difficult to follow who wrote what and I would miss comments.

When one of the members or owners, I am not sure who was what, said they had a lot of information on the Vitek implants and offered to help and share what she had accumulated. I innocently posted the following: "Lisa, Thanks for the offer of help. I am glad someone is keeping up on all this information. Would you guys consider starting a Viteck/Implant survivor community over on google plus. I really like the way communities work over there. I am having trouble with my computer locking up here and getting a little lost. Thanks again for all the information. Bren"

Patti, one of the owners of the group, responded by saying " Do you think it is RUDE of a new person coming on the site and trying to get people to go to another group? I DO!!!" Then people started placating this very rude, angry, and insecure person....we know what a heart you have for this group...no one wants to leave...she then went on to say "I don't know what makes ppl with implants think they are so special or elite they need their own group. I will NOT tolerate anyone coming in here trolling for ppl and trying to get our members to go to another group."

I then responded to Patti stating that... I do NOT have a group on implants...I was not coming on to troll for people...Lisa, was offering to share information and I just asked if she was interested in starting a group...People with implants are not special or elite, but there is a lot of information to be shared about what happened with the implants. Her response to my comment was to remove me from the group. Now from my point of view she was very rude.

So, how do you deal with rude people. They have a six step approach over at: http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Rude-People. The Bible says "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful" 1 Corinthians 13:4-5. It is difficult not to deal with rude people rudely. I bit my tongue and wished Patti the best after I tried to explain where I was coming from. My flesh wanted to respond very differently. God calls us to respond in love.

Responding in love doesn't mean you don't feel anger or have hurt feelings, it means choosing not to respond in your flesh... it means, with the power of the Holy Spirit, rising above the circumstances. Lord, help me rise above my circumstances and respond in love. I wrote more on Love and Hatred. I just might start a group for Vitek Implants after all of this. Right now it is all I can do to blog and I need to check my spirit. I need to make sure I am responding in a spirit of love not a spirit of hate, else I might treat people rudely.

~ Update ~

I did decide to start a group/community on Google Plus. I love the way communities work on their site. Google Plus is a free social network similar to Facebook . If you are a Vitek TMJ Implant survivor please join us @ Vitek Survivors.