u wot m8 i swear on me mum

What...?

Yeah man, prejudice and discrimination don't exist! They're just concepts of your mind! We didn't spend hundreds of years down-talking blacks and women, they should just nut up and get over it because we're an enlightened society where everyone talks to each other as if they're animals but everyone knows "It's just a prank bro!".

Jesus this went off the rails...

Remember kids, you supply the tone of a text-based conversation. Just because you feel like someone is being condescending/insulting doesn't mean that you are justified in responding emotionally.

It's totally fine to take offense. But assuming the other party is acting in bad faith especially when someone's taken the time to engage in a civil manner rather than just throwing insults doesn't justify flying off the handle in my eyes.

I respect Pop's intellect. I respect his rationality. Sure he can take umbrage quickly --he's opinionated. That's fine. I'm okay with that and it'd be hypocritical of me to call him on it negatively. It can sometimes make conversation with him unwieldy, but at the very least, he rarely contributes to a conversation in a totally baseless manner.

I think this thing was mostly a misunderstanding. I often neglect others' feelings when I write. It's not a good trait. We're both victims of irreconcilably different contexts from which to communicate. Communication is about using words to bridge that gap of context. Obviously, I failed to do this appropriately.

My bad. I still stand by the logic used, but perhaps I could have been more delicate. I didn't think I'd need to with Pop, though. He's a smart dude. I assumed we'd both just turn off monkey brain for a bit and go into machine brain. I was wrong to assume that approach is one that Pop would find agreeable.