Self-confessed Shenaniganiser

After speaking to a close friend today, I was surprised to discover that she was blissfully unaware of the final sentence I had received because of "Ozgate"....  the troubling affair that rocked my world at the beginning of 2013. An affair that almost saw me sacked from my place of bonded slavery and lead to feelings of paranoia and depression in the following months... An affair that mutated my whole character, poisoned my persona and seriously made me consider the possibility that my sense of humour really was the result of a disturbed and twisted mind...

I likened myself to the Joker, one of the most iconic and recognized villains in popular media and archenemy of Batman, the masked weirdo in grey tights. The Joker, like me, was just a happy 'Shenaniganiser' with a quick retort for every serious 'grown up' comment he heard and a hunger for childish tomfoolery. However not all others regarded his retorts as funny and he, along with his humour was exiled from society.. hmmm Been there, well, except for the "falling into a tank of toxic chemical waste which bleaches my skin white, turns my hair green and my lips bright red" bit.... My heinous crime has gained me a little notoriety and a hero-comic type title, I wish it was 'Urban Legend' or 'Manager Slayer' as I have heard heartily announced  as I enter the messroom but it was 'Cyber Bully' and 'Troll'... these are the names that were whispered by managers around the offices in the Temple of Power.

Troll is fast becoming the 'trending' word in the modern press.... anyone who disagrees with common beliefs (or the beliefs of a particular tabloid or broadsheet that is trying to create a common belief) is referred to as a Troll... if you blog about your fear and mistrust of the Muslim family next door then you are a racist troll.
If you post a joke about a blonde using her rear view mirror to adjust her make-up then you are a sexist Troll. People react strongly and emotionally to the term Troll, anyone labelled as such a pariah on the likes of Twitter can expect a barrage of thousands threats and abuse at an alarming rate .... is this justified bullying of the bully or just an instinctive pack reaction to attack the weak and vulnerable when the smell of blood is strong.

Anyway, Troll or Legend it doesn't matter, the truth of the matter is that my humorous scribblings upset someone so much that they sought to have me sacked and that is unacceptable behaviour in a polite civilised society and in the end I myself became the victim and still am.... as my life is still out of sync with the status quo, I am still exiled from the normal working relationships that I once enjoyed .. I am a modern day Joker (but without a tight wearing nemesis) living on the edge of my peer group occasionally launching an attack with a cut-throat quick witted quip or a sarcastic salvo and then beating a hasty retreat and denying all responsibility. This is how I survive now, 'Humour in Exile', a menace, an outdated comic dinosaur roaming the shadows of a society where I feel that I no longer belong.

But I will not submit.. I am slowly but surely drawing up my plans for escape..
and I will not go quietly!