Zen and the Art of the Bingo Chat Room
It's happened before and it will happen again. That's the way of the bingo chat room. It's the dreaded encounter with the chat room bigot - the kind of person who makes your blood boil as you wonder how long you'll be able to bite your tongue or keep yourself from exploding forth with a string of angry invectives.
Here's the scenario: You arrive in the best of spirits, ready to enjoy a great evening of online bingo games. None of the regulars you play bingo with are online, but the people in the room seem chatty and funny. They're bingo players who could become bingo buddies - they're witty, smart and welcoming even though you're a stranger. When you need a number to win, they're rooting for you and crossing fingers and sending you positive wishes. You do the exact same for them: when they win at bingo, you're cheering for them and you're almost as happy as if you'd won that game yourself. Soon there's a spirit of warmth permeating the room; the kind of camaraderie that makes online bingo more than just a game, but a way of really connecting to people. That's what got you hooked on the game in the first place, the fact that the bingo chat room can really be a place where people share hopes and dreams, jokes and playful repartee.
But then that dreaded negative person signs on. Often there's more than one of them - they seem to travel in packs and encourage each other's bad behaviour. You know the type. They whine about their misfortune when they don't win. They complain about everything and find only negative things to say about the bingo site. (You have to do everything you can to keep yourself from telling them that if they don't like it here, why don't they take their whining someplace else.) And as if that's not enough, they offer snide comments when you win. Worse, they seem to enjoy seeing others lose. They seem to be schadenfreude addicts, taking smug pleasure in anyone else's misfortune and ruining everyone's bingo fun. Sometimes they write in CAPS without any regard for the bingo chat room etiquette. But they're not abusive enough for anyone to actually discipline them, even though you can sense that your like-minded bingo buddies are on your side.
The solution: take a deep breath and don't give in to the momentary lapse where you vent your anger. Because then you will be sinking to their level and you'll look as bad as they do. You have to be zen about it. You can either ignore the player by clicking the ignore option provided in most online bingo chat rooms. Or you can politely confront them. Be sincere and civil. Say something like: Hey, let's keep it positive in here. What will most likely happen is that your bingo friends and allies in the room will join in. In fact, even engage some of the allies in a private bingo chat and ask them to back you up. You'll be surprised at how willing they'll be. Once you've put the bingo bully in an awkward spot, he may be defensive, but he'll realize that he's not very popular. He'll either fight or flee. If he stays and it gets worse, then email the support staff of the online bingo site with the name of the player. This will put an end to your online bingo woes. Fortunately, these instances are few and far between in the world of online bingo.
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