Suppose Neil and Chris Were A Part Of the Grunge Era?

Neil had made the worst decision of his life and if he could make it disappear, he certainly would. But he was unable to erase the unfortunate events or put that genie back in the bottle.

He inadvertently become enmeshed in high drama on the often humiliating social media hotbed of You Tube. He'd always steered clear, because it had the reputation of attracting a lot of unbalanced, angry and nasty miscreants, whose lives must be utterly broken to be as cruel and sadistic as they are. It's so easy to become enmeshed in deplorable traps that can and do, lead weak and fragile souls to suicide.

"Well, how bad can it be? You and I have been dealing with idiots who, for one reason or other, build themselves up to try demolishing and unsuspecting targets. Of all the social networks, You Tube is brutal and dangerous."

Neil Tennant had always attracted people who like to bend his ear when there's no-one else to do it. He often wonders whether or not he's got a sign on his back proclaiming "If you ever need someone to listen to, I'm here to do it!"
I'm calling the police and let them know that you've been stalking me for months now! Are you with the CIA? Are you God?"

Neil was getting frustrated. He never went on any of the social media sites anymore (Twitter was becoming an obsession) particularly not You Tube until today. It would turn out to have tragic consequences.

Neil opened his laptop and got onto You Tube. He and Chris were bemused to see the Pet Shop Boys videos splashed everywhere. The You Tubers's comments ranged from "Great, guys. Wish we still lived in the 1980's" to the less-than-endearing "They sound gay."

Chris chuckled. "If they only knew."

"Remember Usenet?" Neil chuckled. "What a quagmire of rubbish that devolved into at break neck speed."

Here's an article I dug up on this very subject:

Usenet was a once popular and wildly successful collection of newsgroups in the 1990's. the place to be when the grunge sensation was at its peak. Seattle bands, like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden, to name a few dominated the radio stations. One of the enthusiast heralded bands from Athens, Georgia, REM. Personally, Michael Stipe, Bill Berry, Mike Mills and Peter Buck were not typical musicians. Intelligent, witty, they were a band for disenfranchised youth, with anthems like Everybody Hurts, Losing My Religion and Automatic For the People. Generation X, having moved on from Duran Duran, Cheap Trick and other colourful groups to the ironic, pessimistic, depressing and often rage-consumed "slackers." This monicker came from a novel by called Generation X by Douglas Coupland. Squeezed between Boomers and the Gen Y.s they were unable, for the most part, to achieve the American Dream. I'm not totally sold on that fact, however.

Anyway, Usenet had a newsgroup for literally every musician, writer, death penalty activist, all religions in the world and was "the place to be." The Nirvana fans, who'd suffered the death of one of the most heralded grunge bands to emerge from Seattle. Kurt Cobain shot himself to death in April of 1994, leaving behind his wife, Courtney Love and their baby, Frances Bean Cobain.

I spent a great deal of time on the REM and Nirvana newsgroups. Probably too much. I soured on the REM newsgroup, because of the unending "Is Stipe Gay?" On and on, day after day it choked the relevant and intelligent posts as they were squelched with this immature nonsense. Michael Stipe himself stopped reading, understandably. Yes, he's gay and what's the problem with that? I never understood idiots who get tied up in knots with this subject. Rather pathetic, isn't it?