Sup, preppies! Look, it’s almost midnight on Tuesday night, and I really haven’t done anything I needed to do today, because these last 48 hours have been… unexpected.
I don’t even know where to begin, but I’m going to try and spit something out that will explain a little bit of this madness. In the recent past, I published some blogs about a guy, we’ll call him… Mr. Belding (I love “Saved By The Bell”), this was a guy I liked a lot. In a nutshell, he didn’t like me back. It’s a classic love story.
But, as soon as I published these posts, Mr. Belding got really pissed off. At me. And he told me that his mom was upset and that everyone in the United States was upset (exaggerating because this will be used against me, I am certain), and he also said that many of my readers were texting him pictures and screenshots and messages, OH MY.
He also got Tori, remember her, the biker chick that was kind of on the show for the Fall Dance episode and then faded away, yes, her, Tori was trying to swoop in and save Mr. Belding from the evil, ME (can I be Lisa?). So she was telling him to sue me, and maybe they can get together and talk shit about me and sip wine, and he’ll touch her hair, and they’ll laugh about how awful I am, and they can skip off in the sunset (and a cliff) together.
So, I’ve been dealing with children for two days. But, Mr. Belding also told me that he was going to lose his job over what I said. So, he’s sent me probably around 50 messages asking me to not continue with my series.
So, let me explain a little further here.
Growing up, my father was a journalist for the city paper where I grew up. And I am proud to say that my dad was (and probably still is) a great writer. My dad also had guts when it came to his work. If he wrote something even a TAD controversial, our house phone (that’s how old I am) would be blowing off the hook – people were pissed off about things he said. But my dad never backed down.
And I am really thankful I saw that from a young age. When I grew up a little, and got to high school, I was really lucky to have a journalism teacher who also encouraged us to exercise that right to free speech. We were one of the only high schools in the state of Indiana that didn’t have to have our principal, or any administrator, proofread it before it went to print.
If you’re not a creative, this may all sound like a load of shit. But, asking me to not write, not blog, not publish something, feels like a complete, and total violation. It’s like cutting off my air supply. It’s like getting rid of THE MAX.
I’ve had this blog for more than 5 years. There have been many people that love it, and some people that don’t. And, as I’ve said many times here, that’s the risk you take when you put yourself out there. But, I’ve also learned that the biggest risks sometimes come with the biggest reward.
The reward? Getting messages from men and women around the world, telling me they can relate to my stories. And that is what my blog is about: taking the ugly, embarrassing stuff we deal with on a day-to-day basis, and giving it some sort of resolve. At the very least, this little Bitter Lemon community can know that they are not alone when it comes to the frustrating struggles of relationships.
While I have built this school, this Bayside High, to be a place of honesty and truth (and it will remain that), I also don’t want it to be a place that would cause someone to lose his job. Do I think he really would lose his job? Absolutely, 100 percent not. But what if I am wrong?
Ultimately, the fate of Mr. Belding is no concern of mine. I think the truth hurts, unless you’re a good person, and he’s harassing me out of that fear.
But at the very least, I know that I also don’t want to get another three days worth of threats and bullshit sent to my phone. If you’ve ever had a crush on anyone like Mr. Belding, you know that he is never going to admit any wrongdoing, so it’s the song that never ends.
And he very well may read this and analyze every single word and bitch about them all. But that is what the “Block” button is for on my phone.
I feel like a real lame ass for kind of letting Mr. Belding win a little bit here. So let’s even things out. If he’s Bayside and I’m Valley, let’s put ants in the Bayside Tiger’s pants.
I am going to publish the final three parts of my story. One part on Wednesday, one Thursday, and one on Friday, as planned. And I am going to put password protection on them. And I’m also going to tell you that the password is in all lowercase letters. And that its rhymes with “rake”. And it starts with a d. A lowercase d. And it’s the same name as the person who sings “Hotline Bling”.
Editor’s note: These blog posts are no longer password protected. Enjoy!
So, there. If you want to read, I welcome you to do so. If not, that is your right as well.
In any case, there have been so many of you reading this week, and I thank you for that. I do hope that my choice to offer up a slight hurdle to get to the content won’t make me look like too much of a wimp. I hate that the bad guy won here, but he still has to live with his wrongs. Even if he doesn’t care.
The Bitter Lemon 
One Comment