Do the Math

Turning the math tables on haters

A reader on social media told me today that they admire me because I didn’t let the nonsense out there scare or deter me.

I told him that he didn’t know the half.

Plenty of times, I was so disgusted and infuriated, and even a little spooked, by the ugliness my work seemed to provoke from some that I contemplated tossing in the towel and doing strictly “positive” stories like I see so many other writers here do.

I can’t blame them, though.

Seriously.

A writer gotta survive, gotta eat, and the market is more considerable for work that is complimentary or sings Japan’s praises than for work that calls out its troublesome aspects. And if you regurgitate the widespread propaganda in print you can actually make a VERY lovely living here. You can have the populace fawning over you and publications rolling out the red carpet. No question.

So it’s simple math, really.

When I think back, though, I remember why I didn’t give up the ghost (besides the fact I was never a wiz at math, that is.)

You see, not so long ago, I was just this guy with a blog saying things some people weren’t trying to hear. Entertaining and engaging, sure, but Loco in Yokohama was dominated by stories from a decidedly unpopular perspective here.

The criticism I get now, I got then, too, (even their wording hasn’t changed much) only then I had no way of knowing if I were truly on the right track or barking up the wrong tree.

All I knew was something needed to be said, that saying it wouldn’t make me popular, and that No One could say it quite like I could.

I believed that if I said what I had to say well, the word would get out, and it might have an impact and bring about some needful changes. Also that editors would come a-knocking to find out who the fuck was this guy with this blog talking this heavy shit.

And that’s kinda what happened.

I wrote through the pain, fear, rejection, and absolute certainty that those who supported me were outnumbered 10 to 1 by those who have nothing better to do than spend their time Pooh-poohing my work and telling me why It’ll never make a difference.

But here’s the irony.

These same people are the ones who put my work on the map, so to speak.

Funny how that shit works, right?

It wasn’t the generally silent back-clappers and skulkers. It was the loud-mouth opposition. It was their hate that amplified my voice and helped people who had never heard of me to discover me.

Exposed me to more of those 1-in-10 people.

I got so much traffic from sites like Reddit, 2-channel, and Japanese versions of Breitbart. There are whole Subreddits dedicated to circle-jerking about my work.

I began to see that for what it really is:

Recognition that I was a force to be reckoned with.

So I stayed the course...

And here we are. They’re still reckoning. And I’m still recognized.

Baye McNeil

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