Dear O:
First off I’d like to say that I’m a big fan of your column. Now that I’ve gotten the pleasantries out of the way let me explain my situation to you. I’m a Junior here at Alcorn and we recently had our Spring Break which was much needed I might add. I work hard all year and I really do deserve to let my hair down and have a good time every now and again. My friends and I visited Miami and it was ‘LIT’. Everything was initially going fine until I began to post pictures of my ‘vacay’ on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. The responses I got were less than flattering. I began seeing comments like, “She thinks she’s something” and “She is so bougie”. Granted these are people that I didn’t know or have a casual relationship with at school. A lot of people automatically assume the worst of me and they don’t even know me. I must admit the comments did hurt my feelings to a certain extent. O what should I do in this situation? I know I can’t respond to each comment individually but how can I make these people understand that I’m not who they think I am or should I just ignore the negativity and continue living my best life.
Concerned
Dear Concerned,
Thank you for your continued support of my column. I first want you to understand that the comments such as “She thinks she’s something” or “She is so bougie” are good compliments. It means people think that you hold yourself to a higher standard in which I hope you do. It shows that you are always on top of each and every single thing that you do and it shows that people are watching. You have to know and understand that sometimes people use their words to get to you because they physically can’t. Also understand that social media is meant for people to have opinions and that is something that you can not control.
I challenge you to see the good things that everyone else sees when they comment on things you do, instead of trying to find the problem because in reality there isn’t a problem. Always remember, it’s lonely at the top but that’s the consequence of being one of the best. Embrace that part, embrace people’s comments and use it as fuel to keep “your foot on their neck.” You go girl!
Always supporting,
O
