I got my first computer & went online for the first time in my life in April 1995. I had a 2400bps modem, meaning you'd download about 10 words an hour & you couldn't believe it was even possible to ever go faster, the only other person I knew who was online was Rrthur (YES ladies, THAT Rrthur), and I just couldn't believe that there were people out there to connect with to talk about the bands I loved like The Ramones, The Clash, The Replacements & on and on.
The earliest interaction I can remember is I accidentally spelled it WesterbUrg instead of WesterbErg and some guy jumped all over my shit, questioning my bona fides as a Replacements fan. I fumed for a few minutes, staring at this interactive television set I'd spend the next few months doing pretty much nothing nothing but creating album covers with ClarisWorks for albums that didn't exist that were never recorded by bands that didn't exist. While I started fume-typing my reply to him, suddenly he followed up his own scolding:
I didn't mean to hurt you
I'm sorry that I made you cry
I didn't want to hurt you
I'm just a jealous guy
Yes, this was the last instance in human history of an online stranger NOT doubling down on being an asshole.
I'm not a huge John Lennon solo guy now & I certainly wasn't then, but I recognized it enough to know where it came from and he was instantly forgiven. While to this day it's not a song I ever particularly care to hear, nor one I've ever purposefully chosen to listen to out at any time since that moment in 1996, whenever it does pop up I tilt my head back and smile a little bit, thinking of that early moment in my own New Wild West.
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