I’ve spoken on the blog before about how very easy it is to spread negativity and cruelty while sitting behind a computer screen hammering away at a keyboard. Remember last year when I tracked down and called out the troll who left a nasty comment on my blog?
THE STORY
…I still cannot fathom how a grown woman would find it to be acceptable to cut down another woman for no other reason than to be cruel. This week I unfortunately have been part of a situation in real life that I have even less of a grasp on. I have zero tolerance for intentional cruelty; particularly when it is based upon speculation, innuendo and complete and utter ignorance. What was already a stressful difficult situation was intensified a thousandfold by the thoughtless self-serving and vicious words of individuals who knew nothing of the reality.
While social media in all of it’s iterations certainly has it’s positives, for example, without it I would have never had the opportunity to meet so many of you whom I’ve come to think of as friends. Social media has helped to make the world a much smaller place which I believe to be a good thing. But as we are all aware, it also has it’s dark side. Social media provides a readily available forum for the proliferation of ignorance and cruelty and once it starts, it spreads like a wildfire.
This week there were several separate and entirely unrelated situations directly involving only a small number of individuals and their families in our three school buildings. But the situations affected all of us within those buildings to varying degrees. Due to privacy issues, what transpired was not the business of the public at large. There was no nefarious sinister secret plot occurring; it was simply not the business of anyone not directly involved.
Enter social media. Since only general information was provided, as it should have been, a number of individuals decided to take it upon themselves to fill in the details as they saw fit via social media. In the process they hurt good people. And for no other reason than to fuel their own need for self-importance. To add insult to injury, our local newspaper, which is notorious for public school bashing, jumped on the bandwagon and ran a front page story.
As a group, we were portrayed as the enemy; the bad guys who are apparently up to no good with something to hide. I assure you, that portrayal could not be further from the truth. The vast majority of my coworkers are like myself; we went into education because of our love of children. Part of that love includes protecting them. And if protecting the few from the unwarranted intrusiveness of the masses makes us the bad guys then so be it; I’ll gladly be one of the bad guys.
THE OUTFIT
This gorgeous burgundy velvet slip dress from Shein was a welcome addition to my little velvet collection. Today it’s making an appearance as a skirt since a bunch of snow is not exactly conducive to slip dress wearing. When looking for something to layer over the velvet slip dress a strange fact became apparent. I do not have a basic loose fitting slouchy black pullover sweater. How is that even possible? So what’s a girl to do? Raid the hubby’s side of the closet of course.
This is a men’s Old Navy sweater that I have layered over the slip dress. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it did the trick in a pinch. I upped the warmth factor with a pair of Berkshire tights and my ever present black over the knee boots. When a warmer day makes an appearance (maybe like four months or so from now) I’ll wear the dress layered over a tee so you can get a look at how truly gorgeous it is. The lace detail along the side slit is also around the neckline…it’s seriously gorgeous and I’m a sucker for lace. It’s actually dressy enough that if you’re on the hunt for a standout look for New Year’s Eve, this just might be the dress for you.
THE TIP
A slip dress is a super versatile piece. It can stand on it’s own when the weather is warmer and once it cools down it’s the perfect layering piece. A slip dress works beautifully over a tee or turtleneck and it can also do double duty as a skirt when it’s layered under a sweater.
THE LINKUPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas…
Dress: c/o Shein; Boots: ASOS (Similar); Sweater: Old Navy (Similar)
**Dress was provided c/o Shein. All opinions expressed, as always, are my own.
