In the dugout to our left, one lone restaurant goer who wrote several online venues about her bad experience at The Village Idiot on Melrose. In the dugout to our right, an annoyed blogger who decided to take on said reader in a duel to the end. Last week, The Kinfe editor Dana Harris decided to track down the writer of a slew of negative posts about the Idiot---actually the same post written over and over again all over the web---because her site was targeted. Harris sent an email and waited. The reader came out ready to swing at anything.
The writer's response:
"I am saddened that in a society of free speech and open forum for discussion I am lambasted and bombarded with criticism for posting an honest experience. I was called a slut, a bad-business person and you went so far as to post my IP address. All for following a given freedom in this country. I guess I have learned my lesson and should not speak up when there is something wrong. Just shut up and read. Thanks for slapping my hand."Who called her a slut? Oh, wait. She might mean us, but we never said that; we just insinuated that, perhaps, her ire was the result of a one-night stand gone awry. It's a joke...lighten up. Dana gets a slap on the hand for posting the writer's IP address, but she apologized and we've all learned a little blogging etiquette today. The writer gets slapped on the wrist for blanketing the entire Internet with the same negative review. At least change it up a bit, discuss in greater detail, provide clear facts, then maybe one wouldn't get called out for being a Negative Nancy. Pick your battles even. Us? Well, we threw out the first pitch, now we're sitting behind home plate eating peanuts and watching all the action. The game's all tied up, folks. Batter up!
· The Return of the Village Idiot, or, The Knife Learns a Lesson [The Knife]
· Bad Commenters Get Spanked: Outing the Village Idiot [The Knife]
· Banned on Chowhound, But Nowhere Else: An Idiot Tirade [Eater LA]
