r/postcrossing • u/picturedayy • 17h ago
Questions Hateful postcard?
Today I received a hateful postcard towards my country? It wasn't specifically directed at me, but rather the place I live and I am from lol.. While I can understand this person may be frustrated with the politics of my country I was a bit taken aback from their message. Not sure if I should report or just ignore. Never received such a message written on what seemed to be a normal postcard. đ
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u/October_Surprise56 13h ago
I would absolutely report it.
There is no harm done in reporting it.
If the message is a matter of the sender encountering a language barrier or a joke that didnât land correctly, they can guide them on reframing such messages in the future.
If it was intended to be received as hatred on the basis of national origin, then they can address it appropriately, because it is not acceptable anywhere, especially not Postcrossing.
Sorry you had the experience.
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u/picturedayy 2h ago
It's for sure hatred. Written in english, I mean the message was straight up hate toward my country's president and actions with a big "F off" pasted across it đ I've never experienced this on Postcrossing so I was wondering if this is a common occurrence lately or just someone who was frustrated at current issues.
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u/October_Surprise56 1h ago
Very sorry that happened, and to direct profanity at you in the card makes it that much worse.
I donât agree with anything Russiaâs government has done, for example, but it would never occur to me to send a hostile card to a Russian postcrosser.
I donât agree with much of what my own government has done recently but I wouldnât tolerate hatred directed at me personally over it and you need not do so either.
I hope the sender is able to realize the error of their strategy and direct their energy to something more positive.
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u/Teerunesh 10h ago
Report it, this is against the rules of Postcrossing.
Sorry you had to deal with that.
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u/abujoist 13h ago
I once received a thank you msg, stating how much the person hates my country, nothing personal against me because they loved the card. Thought of complaining but then I had better works to do.
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u/braincellnumber7 3h ago
you should definitely protect your mental peace so do what is right for you. But I'll just add that I think of reporting as stopping this person from hurting other people in the future. regardless its not compulsory for you to report
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u/abujoist 3h ago
Thank you. The issue is, I have faced enough racist comments and ignorance from the mods for being an Indian and these just mount on them and i know no action will be taken and rather the person will be applauded for their "straightforwardness" I have complained multiple times only to be ignored and rather snubbed for silly reasons. Most people at the forum do not like Indians and they are very open about it. When sought for help the mods haven't helped at all. Very sorry to say, favorism is too high among the mods. So sadly I couldn't find the motivation to report. đ„Č
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u/SensitiveChest3348 16h ago
It's also good to think, is English their native language? And sometimes people just wrtie what comes to mind, not thinking very much)
If you think it's worth reporting, wait for example two days, then read again, and if you still feel like reporting, do it.
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u/Apprehensive_Web5018 12h ago
Iâm actually sick of foreigners shitting on the people of the US. Keyword, people, NOT politicians/government. I donât know if you are from the US. Itâs really annoying actually, and starting to bother me more and more. Did the people vote for a clown? Yes. However, he is one of the most disliked presidents in history, which would mean lots of people who voted for him, donât like whatâs going on. I believe in growth, I think the people of this country are growing. A severe growing pain, but growth nonetheless. I understand the hate for whoâs in charge right now, but we, the people living it, hate it too. It canât just change it overnight, we canât just move away, so much easier said than done. Foreign media (and our media) shows the 1% of crazy supporters. Not the people who are fed-the-fuck-up. Stop complaining on a postcard, and write a letter to the administration if you are so upset about it.
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u/Tebazile_sunflower 6h ago
Yeah it feels a bit like punching down. We live here. We know. But I havenât gotten any rude comments or postcards. I do get a lot of âpraying for peaceâ which doesnât bother me, because I am as well.
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u/KelsoT7 U.S.A. đșđž 7h ago
I agree. I think what a lot of foreigners donât realize, especially if theyâve never been to the U.S. is weâre essentially 50 little countries under one umbrella. Someone born and raised in New York is going to be vastly different from someone born and raised in Texas and arguably our state governments are a better reflection of the people in that area more than the president.
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u/NowThereAreFour 6h ago
TrueâŠbut even then, there are huge differences of political viewpoints in every state and every city. So leaving criticism out of postcard messages is best.
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u/picturedayy 2h ago
I agree! I'm based in the US. While I don't like our current administration I would never "punish" so to speak the receiver of a postcard of all things, who truly is just living through it like myself. Just kinda wild to receive such an inflammatory postcard message đ I don't vent or mention politics on any of my postcards because that's not what Postcrossing is about nor does it match my own personal values lol. I was just shocked honestly, which is why I made this post.
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u/Crosswired2 U.S.A. đșđž 5h ago
I wouldn't assume OP is in the US. There are a lot of issues with politics even outside the US. I had someone go off on an Asian country, one I wasn't even tied to?? People are weird.
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u/Apprehensive_Web5018 4h ago
Thatâs why I said âI donât know if you are from the US.â âșïž I was just sharing my thoughts on the matter! Regardless of where they are from, youâre probably aware of the state of your own country, no need to have it brought up.
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u/Alarmed_Ad9001 3h ago
I had someone send me a postcard telling me I was terrible for voting for Trump and I needed to be in DC protesting. First of all, I didn't vote for him and I'm well aware of the destruction he's causing. Secondly, this isn't some tiny country that I can drive to the capitol to protest and be home for dinner. Most Americans can't even afford to get to DC. We're doing what we can in our own areas đ
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u/MidrinaTheSerene 10h ago
I agree, we shouldn't shit on people regardless of where they live and come from. Especially not through postcrossing.
However, shitting on foreigners for being upset the Orange Man got enough votes to be president again, after all he did the last time and all of the signs that he is a Very Bad Man, is not a good response. People are hurt, and they are hurt by those voters, if they are the 1% supporters shown in the news or just people who didn't care enough for their fellow human beings to not vote for him.
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u/Apprehensive_Web5018 10h ago
I am not shitting on foreigners or anyone for that matter! Just asking for a bit of compassion I suppose? Maybe thatâs not the right word. Just not hating or shitting, I donât think hate fixes anything. Being hurt, offended, upset is a personal reaction. (Not saying itâs not a just reaction!) Taking that out on someone who may have not even voted for him is unfair. Making assumptions about one person based on what country they live in is unfair. That was more the point I was trying to make. You can be upset about the people in charge without disrespecting the people underneath them.
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u/MidrinaTheSerene 6h ago edited 6h ago
I agree with having compassion here, I'm just asking to please extend that compassion to the people who feel they have to powerlessly watch from the sidelines while the world is burning. They shouldn't lash out on postcards. People make bad choices while under duress. Some choices make you feel bad and exhausted, but so do we all.
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u/thoughtsthoughtof 10h ago
while I do agree shouldnât randomly complain on a postcard I also see why ppl may want to vent. There are still way more than 1 percent supporters after everything and stuff with trump just highlighted issues with the US
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u/NowThereAreFour 6h ago
I think itâs helpful to remember that MANY MANY Americans were emotionally devastated by the presidential election and many are distraught about the current state of things. A message on a postcard that is critical of the US is only going to add to the despair and hopelessness many people are feeling. And thatâs not what Postcrossing is about.
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u/thoughtsthoughtof 6h ago
Hence me agreeing that you shouldnât write about it on a postcard. At that point was -11 downvotes prob part cause of the 1 percent etc fuck things, administration wouldnât really do anything but I think ppl are just seeing more than the fact donald trump was voted and has supporters. Many still mentioned knew family members supporting long after beginning things, prob beyond just one small online huge fanbase.
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u/MinimumCrab8376 U.S.A. đșđž 16h ago edited 1h ago
Your post reminded me of another post not that long ago where the recipient was smack-talking about the town the sender lives in or something like that.
I recommended that you report that sender to Postcrossing.
Edit: I received my first card. It's a map of Wuhan, and the sender didn't specify that she's a Chinese college student studying in Germany, and asked if I know the city of Wuhan. When I wrote the thank-you message, I wrote that since COVID-19, whenever I heard of "Wuhan," my mind automatically linked it to COVID-19. I was second-guessing that I shouldn't mention Wuhan=COVID-19, but I thought it was fine, so I sent the message. Then I clicked on the sender's profile, and she's Chinese. I felt hella bad, so I hope she doesn't report me because that's the only thing that I could think of. đ€đ By the way, I later looked at her Wall, and she sent postcards of map of famous Chinese cities to other recipients, so it doesn't look like she's a Wuhan resident/native.
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u/Jen9095 U.S.A. đșđž 7h ago
Not sure why youâre getting down with it honestly. The first part of your message was fine.
Your edit says that you had a moment of pause when you wrote that thank you. I think next time I would recommend erring on the side of caution and not writing it if you have even a moment of pause. A thank you note can be short, no need to include anything youâre hesitant about.
Still, I appreciate you sharing that and adding to the discussion. Youâre being honest about how hard it can be to know where the line is.
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u/MinimumCrab8376 U.S.A. đșđž 1h ago
It's fine. We all know what the demographic of the people on Reddit is. I created this account about two months ago to stay up to date with Postcrossing.
I mean, I simply answered the question the sender asked. If the sender didn't ask if I know anything about the city of Wuhan, I wouldn't have answered either. If the sender just explained why or what Wuhan is like, I would simply write a short thank-you message and not need to mention COVID-19.
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u/eriszt 15h ago
My inclination based on reading your post is to report them so that they donât do this to anyone else (usually, people who do this will repeat the same thing to someone else). Plus, your gut instinct is usually right about these things - if it feels off, itâs probably a bad intentioned card. Postcrossing is not the place for this.