Things You Can't UnSee

The title of this post came from a TV segment on Web Soup where they show videos that are so disturbing they will haunt you forever. I immediately thought of it as I read an article on how Facebook keeps objectionable content off their website. It seems they rely on low cost labor in other countries to scan for prohibited content. The article talks about how difficult it has been to keep employees because of the types of things they are looking at. I've experienced that and how impossible it is to erase those things from your mind.

When I was pregnant with my first kid, I started working for a press clipping service. My job was to quickly look through magazines and newspapers to find things our clients wanted. For example, a music group might want to receive copies of their concert reviews or a company could be looking for people infringing on their copyrights. Public relations agencies also like to show proof to their clients of where the press releases are running. At one point, I was assigned to what was considered one of the most productive category of publications - entertainment and alternative. This was a big deal since we had quotas to meet. Alternative included a wide variety of publications catering to various cultures - drugs, piercing, tattoos, homosexuality, nudity, etc. If you think you can imagine the things I had to read or the images I saw, multiply it by at least 10.

After a steady diet of these alternative publications during my 40 hour week, my brain was fully stocked with every conceivable obscenity and a lifetime of images that I still can't get out of my head. The worst one didn't even involve nudity, but the fact I couldn't clear my mind of it led me to ask for a different assignment. It was an advertisement for a tattoo and piercing parlor and there were two people standing face to face. Both people were sticking their tongues out and there was a metal ring connecting their pierced tongues together. I kept imagining how painful it would be if somebody tried to swallow or lost their balance. It became something I couldn't unsee.

We all get told at some point in our lives about things we shouldn't look at. Whether it came from your parents, grandparents, teachers, or church, you probably wondered just a little about how dangerous it could actually be. Wouldn't you just forget the ugliness? Seeing it for just a few seconds wouldn't change you, would it? I can tell you that it doesn't just go away. Even the obscenities you hear in music and speech come flooding back to you at the most inopportune moments. It's just not worth it. I try hard to keep control of my thoughts and language and it bugs me to have those things pop back into my head so easily.

You'll never see him the same way again

I'm not going to share any of those ugly images with you, but I can still make my point with some less objectionable, yet unforgettable pictures.

Yep, you'll always notice that from now on.