Source: https://x.com/asherwolfstein/status/2061507918957322536
Thread posts: 3
I have made it extraordinarily clear that no one forces you to look at a post when I’ve stated that no one has forced me to look at a post.
People need to genuinely remind themselves of this today, especially if there is no relationship between you and the poster. If you don’t like a joke, then, it wasn’t written for you. There’s plenty of other places to read jokes. No one made you read that joke.
This is good advice for all voluntarily sought out media, and something I have always practiced for myself. It will save you offense and help you maintain a positive, less resentful, peace of mind.
2026-06-01 17:59:23 / 2061507918957322536 / Twitter for iPhone
This is to say, more directly, that, if you consider voluntarily reading a random post that's not written for you-
one that you know is most likely going to contain something you're going to disagree with or might upset you-
one that is personal and has no other context modifying it's highly personal nature outside of the one you might think you have that you legally don't-
and you're *specifically* personally offended, disgusted, irritated, upset, or disturbed-
and you consider it an assault of any kind-
or, say, sexual harassment, because it was a bawdy joke involving only the poster, and no one else, that *many others* laughed at-
my opinion is that you have a personal issue that you should seek help with, whatever that looks like to you, because anyone suggesting anything beyond the joke being an "assault" to the imagination of the reader-
or worse claiming the post is sexual harassment by describing it as sexual harassment when there was no relationship, neither commercial nor personal, between the voluntary viewer, who reasonably knew what to expect to read, and the poster-
is irresponsible.
It is especially negligent when it's not made clear that such a description is purely an opinion, which is also what transforms such an opinion into a descriptive accusation of an event that took place.
The words you choose to write may demonstrate a reasonably inferred intent, not just any intent, and beyond that, they possess a reasonable meaning at that time that others who read it will be able to communicate. You might clarify your meaning later, but it doesn't alter what you wrote then. The words convey the subject, the object, the action, and the topic, not just what you assign to it.
If the context given is misrepresenting the facts, and if the target of the accusation is a member of a demographic that is particularly vulnerable to such accusations even when they're false-
It may also be defamatory, and, given additional context, constitute targeted harassment and potentially criminal behavior. False accusations are abusive, dangerous, manipulative, and immoral by most any standard, including mine (and my morality is selfishness, so… ?♂️)
2026-06-02 02:58:49 / 2061643670357778804 / Twitter Web App
I categorically refuse to validate or respect the nonsensical notion that anyone forced anyone to go to any URL that they had to type in manually or otherwise navigate towards, or that anyone, anywhere, is assaulted by words, or otherwise proactively sexually harassed by a joke that doesn't involve them whatsoever, isn't about them, and especially when they reasonably knew what they were going to find along those lines in the first place.
If I joke about my genitalia, an aspect I've used as an (recurring) aspect of comedic routines as has been documented and recorded, then, the joke isn't about you (you, as in, anyone reading it), it was about me.
And if you find the joke distasteful, are offended, or otherwise disapprove, then I will remind you that it wasn't written for you, wasn't meant to appeal to your sensibilities, wasn't meant to be read by you, and was assumed to be completely irrelevant to you because the author doesn't even know who may or may not read it.
This is all to say a non sequitur joke I write about myself has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else, past, present, or future, or even, most likely, the surrounding context since my intention, as the author, is for it to be one in a repertoire of absurdist rhetorical mechanisms, specifically, the incredibly surprising, shocking even, aforementioned non sequitur.
Not meeting the audience's expectations in unusual and interesting ways is a core element of comedy as well as pacing, as any professional humorist will tell you, and that's precisely what a humorous non sequitur is.
In order to be able to not meet the audience's expectations, care must be taken to not reveal the potential nature of the surprise a shocking non sequitur will provide.
This means that warnings are not only against the pursuit, but, there exists no obligation since maximizing the impact of their writing is the rightful goal of the humorist, and is their inalienable right to do so since readers need not be reading it at all.
Personally, as a humorist, I'm never striving to meet anyone's dull expectations in anything I write.
If you doubt this, might I suggest you peruse my short story https://asherwolfstein.com/7-ways-to-be-mindful-of-the-now-this-holiday-season/#be-mindful-now "Be Mindful Now," a very special piece I wrote in four days around the turn of the new year.
All of this explains why, when I'm writing a thread mocking extreme ridiculosity, I might make a joke about how one of my testicles is prone to slide up into my inguinal canal when I shower, completely out of nowhere.
Surprise!
This is also a phenomenon many in the queer community are familiar with, and that is why I might employ it when I'm appealing to a queer or otherwise marginalized audience; a demographic that I will never mention before, during, or after, as that's the type of ridiculous expectation I may be mocking.
The topical absurdity of this non sequitur is demonstrated in review, when I then speak of consulting files in filing cabinets that are located in my bathroom. There, I might make a connotational lateral connection to one of my testicles having to return from said canal to its more comfortable position within my scrotal sac, the timing of which I carefully planned for gluteus-maximus hilarity.
If that is discomfiting to you, then don't read what I write.
If this is confusing, upsetting, or you otherwise view this as irresponsible, impulsive, disgusting, or, most importantly, creepy (because you have mistaken yourself as my intended audience or the subject of my joke, a common side-effect of sophistry that aims to decide everything for everyone) then, I suggest you either seek assistance elsewhere, as this explanation is a generosity for the feeble minded, or you seek your entertainment elsewhere. I might venture to suggest obscure late night shows on local Canadian networks, because I, myself, enjoy absolute and total obscurity.
2026-06-02 03:31:48 / 2061651970461741564 / Twitter Web App
Twitter/X root tweet: 2061507918957322536