“You need a boob job.” Blanketed by the security of anonymity, Internet Trolls relish in polluting Blog comment feeds, Instagram photos, and Facbook statues with their nasty, spiteful comments. They are yesterday’s news and definitely nothing new.

Or so I thought. Until they happened to me.

I’ve been blessed by an extremely supportive group of friends and family, and have been humbled to witness that support extend to other mama bloggers who I haven’t even met. So, when I became the target of an Internet Troll, it caught me by surprise.

“You need a boob job.” That was it.

I was taken aback. And it stung, but only for about 5 minutes. Because, you see, THE JOKE WAS ON HER. What she didn’t know, was that I have had a boob job. And, after 2 years and upon realizing I hated them, I had them removed and returned to my “au naturel” state. It’s a very “been there, done that” situation for me.

It was then I realized the most important thing about these Trolls: THEY DO NOT KNOW ME.

There could not have been a better first nasty comment for me to receive. She clicked on a link, saw a picture of me, and assumed a whole lot. And her blatant ignorance was actually humorous. I didn’t let it continue to bother me. I went about my day.

Until the next Trolls hit.

Recently, I received 2 vile messages in the same day, both personally attacking me and aiming to hurt. Pretty damn ugly.

Now, I would be lying through my teeth to say their comments didn’t do just that. And for the rest of the day, I let them get to me. I let them take the wind out of my sails. Maybe I even started to believe them.

Until I remembered the lesson I had learned from that first Troll. These latest comments were just as much rooted in their insecurities as my first Troll remark. Because, THEY DO NOT KNOW ME.

I’ve decided to regard Internet Trolls a little bit differently now.

I think of them as an annoying co-worker. You know the one, right? The one who can ruin your day if you let her, but you sure as hell aren’t going to let her get in the way of a job you love. The one who is bitchy because you received a promotion, and she didn’t. The one who is unhappy on the inside, and everyone can see it.

Now, when those highly unpleasant Trolls pay me a visit, I pause for a second, hit delete and then go live my life.

Oh, and the good news? INTERNET TROLLS STILL COUNT AS TRAFFIC. Yay.

"What Susie says of Sally says more of Susie than of Sally"

(And, I don’t have to run in to them at the water cooler.)

Internet trolls: my annoying co-workers