We’ve all seen it – a car taking up two parking spaces. Usually, if other spots are available, it does little harm, but there can be exceptions. One such exception occurred several years ago, when I was going to a doctor’s appointment at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. I was in one of those indoor lots that sends you upward, like the Tower of Babel, until you are alert enough to grab an open space. With the last floor of the lot fast approaching, I thought I found a vacancy. I began to turn my Chevy Malibu into this space — only to discover that about a quarter of it had been taken by a neighboring vehicle. Frustrated and angry, I continued up to the top level and thought about the nasty, accusatory note I would place under the offending vehicle’s windshield wiper. After finally finding a space, a few feet below the stratosphere, I grabbed a notepad and pen from my glove box and started to write the note. Then I stopped and put the pad and pen back in the glovebox. It occurred to me that the driver of the intrusive car might have a stressful appointment, a loved one in ICU, or some emergency that pulled her attention away from her parking. But there was another, more fundamental reason why I didn’t write the note. The fact is, I didn’t want to sign my name to it, and as a matter of principal, I (with rare exception) don’t believe in making anonymous statements.

We live in an age that makes it easy for people to throw dirt and hide. Social media platforms such as Tiktok and Twitter allow users to gang up on someone who holds a view contrary to their own, to insult that person and accuse them of being bigoted, unpatriotic, treasonous, etc. These critics on social media have what author Jon Meachem calls “keyboard courage.” With their computer in front of them or with their cell phone in hand, they throw taunts, accusations, and insinuations against people far away; people who they hardly know or don’t know at all. I had my own encounter with some keyboard-courageous critics a few months ago. It was an unpleasant, albeit enlightening, experience. (See https://writenows.com/2022/06/03/gender-neutral-language-essay-engenders-controversy/.)

What bothers me is that people on social media often are not required to identify themselves. Thus, they can avoid having to face refutation or any other consequence for their statements. Even if they do provide their names, they seldom have to worry about confronting their target face-to-face.

Of course, there is nothing courageous about keyboard courage, but, with some exceptions, the same is true of anonymous messages in general. Such messages give the receivers no chance to defend or even explain themselves. Had I left that note on the windshield of the two-parking-spaced car, the driver would have had no way to explain herself or to express contrition. I believe any person, even if I think she is wrong, has the right to defend herself from any criticism or evaluation I’m making of her. I’m not sure, but that belief may have taken root during my days as a debater at Upper Arlington High School and Ohio Wesleyan. In a formal debate setting, you stand before your opponents (as well as a judge) and plainly state your arguments against the points they are advancing. There is no subterfuge, no anonymity.

So today, any time I make a criticism or evaluation of someone, I let him know it’s me who’s doing the criticizing or evaluating. Granted, there are occasions when it’s not possible to identify yourself or when you are explicitly asked not to. Online surveys on political issues or candidates are one example. Surveys that ask you to appraise your experience with a service provider are another. However, if I’m given the option to provide or withhold my name from an evaluation of a person, company, or event, I always opt for the former. As much as possible, I stand by my words, and allow — sometimes even encourage — others to do the same with their words.

I wonder, in closing, how much keyboard courageous people contribute to the divisiveness so evident in contemporary American society. I wonder, too, just how courageous they would be if they had to stand by their words and be accountable for them. I think I know the answer to the last question, and I doubt there would be much debate about it.