The Limits of Civility

Okay, the idiots writing on the elevators are at it again. I've commented on this before - whenever the elevator doors in my apartment get repainted, some troglodytes feel the need to scratch comments into the paint. These comments are usually of the "Fuck you" or "I need sex" variety, and sometimes they descend far below the level of crude and offensive I'm willing to tolerate. For instance, there's a girl that works at the building - a very nice, cute, 20-something girl - and our esteemed residents often make her the target of their comments. The latest was the simple assertion that someone had sex with her, followed by the other commentators asking certain questions like "Did she moan with pleasure?" Every time there is a fresh coat of paint, this poor girl becomes a target all over again.

At times like this, I'm moved with the righteous indignation to want to write something back to chastise these bastards. Something along the lines of "Every single one of you is fucking pathetic, and deserves to be shot in the face. Repeatedly." But then, wouldn't I be sinking to their level? Sure, I want the comments to stop, but wouldn't I just be continuing the cycle? Of course, any comment I would make would only draw an increasingly asinine and vulgar response. After all, in the words of the great poet Jay-Z (and someone before him), "A wise man once told me 'Don't argue with fools, because people from a distance can't tell who is who." And if not to comment myself, I at least want to scratch the shit out.

Occasionally there are other people that do this - comment themselves or scratch it out. But I just can't bring myself to do it. Something inside says that anything I do to that door puts me down at their level. So, I leave it alone.

Any thoughts?

-- Also, one comment on the door I found interesting. One particularly brilliant person wrote "I like butt sex" on the door about a week ago. Then someone added two letters, changing it to "I like button sex." Somehow, the concept of 'button sex' made me smile. It's kind of like the phrase "nipplefucker." Is it wrong somehow? Maybe, but...it's just so weird.....