There is No Aloha Here

Alright, don't say I didn't warn you. I will be uncharacteristically serious and angry in most of this post. This is why I am giving fair warning about the lack of aloha.

Simply put, don't step to me in the water about something that happens on land. Period. Read my lips. I will reiterate. If you have a problem with something I said or did on land, keep it there. You got one free bite today. You will not get another.

Why am I mad? Well, someone with whom I've always had a good relationship paddled up to me today and I could tell she was irritated about something. Then she proceeded to tell me that a comment I made to someone else, in a public internet space, was essentially inappropriate and wrong. What's worse is that she wouldn't let it go. I had to paddle away from her in order to stop the madness. Of course, this essentially ruined my session. First, I was worried that I'd hurt the feelings of the someone else to whom the comment was addressed. Second, I couldn't help but wonder how this person who was giving me this dressing-down got off thinking this was any of her business. Third, I tend to emotionally shut down when I'm in the water. I'm just there. And that's the way I like it. I leave everything else on land. When I surf, I want to sit quietly and just be. As far as I'm concerned, what happens on land . . . stays on land. So, don't bring it to me in the water.

So I spend the drive home concerned about having hurt the feelings of the friend to whom the comment was made. Once I get home, I immediately send her an email in which I apologize if she felt I'd said anything hurtful or insulting. Her reply? "Now I hope I don't offend you...but I don't even remember what you wrote. So, clearly I wasn't offended in the least."

Right!! That just made it worse. I'd had to deal with this stupidity for nothing? The only person who was not happy with what I said was someone whom I was not addressing? And she felt it within her right to chastise me? In the water? I will now address her directly. You will not be allowed to cross that line again. I have always shown you love. I have always shown love to everyone in the crew. Obviously you felt it necessary to be all up in my business. As one of my friends would say, you need to go find some business of your own. And, yes, this is totally uncharacteristic of me. This is a person people don't see often. This is, in fact, the person I am on land. I am never this person in the water. But, hey, I'm not in the water as I type this.

If you read this, feel free to be offended. You've already offended me; I did not expect to be spoken to with such derision . . . especially in the water. No. I'm not havin' it. Not from someone I know and respect. I would never have spoken to you like that. I certainly wouldn't have confronted you in the water.

And with that, I'm done discussing this. I will not discuss it with you again. The next time you see me in the water, show some aloha. I will do the same.