influence

in a way, it reminds me of a time of my childhood. my group of friends had a leader, you see - all groups have one. and if he decided that he didn't want to talk again with someone, everyone would do the same. it was the logical thing to do. if someone refused, he'd shove that person aside - and everyone would do the same, of course. i remember i was the first one rebelling against this - when he decided to make a pariah out of a classmate and i told him "he hasn't done anything to me, so why should i quit talking with him?" it cost me a lousy week, when none of my class would talk to me - except one girl, who had always been my friend and remain so, even if not showing that not to suffer any consequences. but i broke him - and even though he tried to get his revenge by blaming me for shit i hadn't done, his leadership was definitely broken then. yes, i was proud of it. and i like to know that, of the old gang, everyone is my friend, and no one is his friend. things just evolved like that - and people like him either find a group of followers (who are never friends, but mere acolytes), or become outcasts. good riddance to him, i hope he fries.

but why am i remembering all this? oh, that's right: because of the power we have to influence someone's attitudes towards someone else. the power we have to make personal "smear campaigns". i'm thinking about someone in particular, of course, and in the possibility that such a smear campaign might be running. against me, that is. that person would be stupid and low enough for that. but such an attempt is meant to fail, eventually, because there's someone with more power of influence on my side... and that's rather ironic. but i would never expect that a former friend would declare war on such terms against me. the next months will be funny indeed.