Anybody that spends even the slightest bit of time on social media today is woefully aware of internet trolls. If, by some miracle of a chance, you haven’t had a run-in with one of these anger facilitators on platforms like Facebook or Twitter, you’ve still almost certainly seen their kind surfacing in the comments sections under news articles and YouTube videos as though these digital outlets are little more than the sharpie-laden door of a bathroom stall.
They strike without warning, offering nonsense arguments without context or citation, caps-lock tirades, or insulting one-liners that someone, somewhere apparently thinks is funny while the rest of us are stuck scratching our heads or shaking our fists. In the societal hierarchy of the digital domain, internet trolls rank somewhere just below tantrum-throwing toddlers in terms of discourse, but their presence has become such an expected bit of online life that most of us log into our social media platforms of choice with our eyes already rolling in anticipation.
But what if it didn’t have to be that way? That was clearly on Lieutenant General Ted Martin’s mind in July of 2020. The deputy commanding general of Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) released a hilarious video on Twitter showing exactly how he’d like to handle the masses of keyboard warriors.
This is how it goes in my dreams when I read snarky comments on my twitter feed… pic.twitter.com/VsBU1rltB7
— TRADOC_DCG (@TradocDCG) July 22, 2020
“I got another snarky comment,” Martin tells a member of his staff after calling him into his office. “Can you get ahold of [Army Cyber]? I need to find out about @jackwagon. I don’t know who that is.”
Obviously, warfighting is serious business, as is training for the same–but often leadership is knowing the right tool to use for the job (figuratively or literally) and knowing the right thing to say at the right time. It might seem far away now, but COVID made July of 2020 quite a bummer, and this 3-star general saw the need for some humor in a difficult time for everyone.
Unfortunately, we probably won’t be able to get the 10-digit grid coordinates of every snarky jackwagon with a black belt in keyboard-fu, but at least we know we’re not the only ones that wish we could send a tank platoon and some Rangers after them.
Bravo Zulu, sir.
Read more from Sandboxx News:
- General Leslie Smith on how the Army can honor MLK’s Legacy
- 13 easy stay at home date ideas for couples in quarantine
- 10 ways to thank those on the COVID front lines
- 5 plagues that predate THE Plague
- 10 ways 2020 was nothing new for the military
This article was originally published 7/22/2020
