The Most Insulting Story I’ve Read Yet

Just when you think ignorance has reached its peak

Fellow Medium writers and readers, imagine that you are struggling to make ends meet because you have lost your job and are facing what is to be your last unemployment check. And you don’t know how you’re going to feed your family, much less yourself.

Imagine that you don’t have a clue as to how you’re going to pay your mortgage or rent and that the only jobs you can find are minimum wage. And good luck finding even that.

Imagine that you have to wait in your car, in a line many miles long, for food. In America. With hungry kids in the backseat.

Imagine that you lost a loved one to our 21st-century plague known as COVID-19, their last breaths gasped-out while hooked up to a ventilator.

Now, given this scenario, imagine reading a story on this platform from one of its “superstars” who cleans up big time, month after month after month. Yes, one of the anointed here, the “chosen” by the powers-that-be to make more money than you or I could ever imagine, mediocrity be damned. And the writer, in my considered opinion is indeed mediocre, pumping out the same variation on a dusty tune, story after story.

All business as usual here, until this superstar decides writing a story about the fact that $10,000 is the LEAST they made in ONE MONTH here, is a good idea. I have never been more gob-smacked in my life and I’ve waded through plenty of crap here, as have you.

What in the hell is this person thinking? Ramming their earnings down our collective throat during a pandemic? Someone, give me a horsewhip. No, I take that back, although I am mad as F.

I’m not making this up, although I wish I was. Ten grand in one month and that’s the least this person has earned. In. A. Month. According to this recent story, anyway. What’s more, the eleven-minute piece, which admittedly, I couldn’t get through because the gorge started to rise in my throat, had a “poor me” stench due to the fact that writing, for this individual, is so “stressful.”

You read that correctly. A writer is making bank here but is whining about how stressful it is because they have like, you know, “issues.”

And the rest of us don’t? Every single person on this planet has “issues.” Deal with it, baby. Life is hard, haven’t you heard?

So, in order of what I read: “I’m making the really big bucks, and I’m so stressed out about it because I have to keep writing. Like, a lot.” MWAH!

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that there was some “inspirational” claptrap tacked on at the end for the author's slobbering fans.

Which brings me to another point:

“You readers who are lining this writer’s coffers, please, tell the rest of us what the hell you’re getting out of it? It looks like a few half-assed tips amounting to “Keep at it. It doesn’t happen overnight.” Is that doing it for you? Well then, c’mere. I got a bridge I want to sell you.

Tired, regurgitated twaddle so that the writer doesn’t have to feel “guilty” about cleaning up. That’s about the size of it and you “fans” look like dupes. Suckers. I say that respecfully, although it’s tough to have respect for people who can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s not your fault, but if you want to believe in something or someone, believe in yourself. Not these phonies.

To be fair, this writer isn’t alone in their overt braggadocio, albeit they’re in the top percentile when it comes to earnings on Medium. Something is not Kosher, here, folks. If someone could explain this to me as If I were a two-year-old, I’d really appreciate it.

What’s wrong with the rest of us? Are we “misstepping?” If so, how? Hold up, I think I know. Write about having a “threesome,” as Money Bags did. That story received over ten thousand claps! But, lest you think a good time was had by all, the writer said “it was awkward as F.”

Poor thing.

So many great writers on Medium who receive what amounts to a hearty ass-kicking every time they publish. Myself, included. Many of us have complained about this in numerous stories, but we’re not getting heard. What is that going to take? A mass exodus? I’ve already lost writers who I consider to be friends, here.

You know, I’ve been trying to keep this “nice.” But the more I write, the more infuriated I am. What a disingenuous idiot. What a bloviating blowhard. What a Trumpian move, to boast about one’s bottom line when ours have bottomed-out.

I’m going to finish by addressing this writer, directly, in the unlikely event they see this.

“Your recent story was the ultimate in bad taste. Especially egregious given the times we’re living in and the number of people who are one step away from the streets. You are living proof that ‘class’ has nothing to do with having a bulging bank account. If nothing else, think of your followers who rely on you to provide a ‘nugget’ of real advice from time to time. In other words, show some humility. Be a mensch. If you don’t what that is, read the following story. My story, which, even though I’ve followed you for two years, I don’t ever recall you commenting on a one. No worries though because I’ve unfollowed you. Whatever you’re doing on Medium, you’ve obviously got it locked up. That, or you know where the bodies are buried. Cheers.”

Thanks for reading. I appreciate it more than I can say.

© Sherry McGuinn, 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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