Is That The Real You Behind That Avi?

The other day I started thinking about people in Second Life and wondered….is that the real you behind that Avi?  Of course, you can say the same of me.  It's easy for all of us to be nice, sweet, polite for short periods but is that you in real life?

I’m reminded of an incident that occurred when I was playing Greedy with a group of friends.  We were all voicing; laughing and enjoying each other.

In the background my cat, Mia, was crying that forlorn sound that means she’s starving to death.  >>Rolls her eyes because her cat is most definitely NOT starving, but likes to think so because her owner is trained well enough to get up and feed her<<

But this time, I didn’t and she kept crying.  Like hundreds of times before and without thinking about muting my mic, I had finally had enough and shrieked “Meeeeeya”. Everyone went quiet.  No one had heard THAT voice from me.  Of course I got comments.  After all, these are my close friends.  But it was at that moment that I wondered just how much of the real us do we hide?
 

Do I want people to know I can screech like a banshee?  Of course not.

I have taken a lot of good natured ribbing over this incident.  One of my friends even made a gesture from the incident.  It’s not my voice in the gesture but I winced each time I heard his voice shriek my cat’s name, remembering how I must have sounded to the people around me.

Lesson learned?  Has it made me change the tone of my voice when I’m irritated? Nope, but I do remember to mute the mic much more often.