The internet, especially social media, is a two-way street of opinions. When you post an opinion on your Facebook page, if you are of the stature of Mike Portnoy, fans will react to your opinions, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. This is one of those instances where a Portnoy rant sort of backfired.
Mike was in London, England with the Neil Morse Band and was feeling under the weather before his big show. He tried to visit the local hospital, Whittington Hospital and went to the emergency room for some treatment. With the clock ticking, the hospital could not get to Mike in time for the show, so he returned to the venue to play the gig. He also made sure to post about it on social media:
Some Portnoy fans were not pleased with the statements and accused the drummer of entitlement issues because he's a celebrity. Fans pointed out that emergency rooms treat patients based on the severity of their injury, and not if they have a show to play in 20 minutes. As MetalSucks points out, the main image on Willmington's website advises patients with not life-threatning emergencies to seek help elsewhere.
The conversation got so out of hand in the comments section that Portnoy's wife had to chime in:
With her retort buried deep in the comments, it didn't help matters and by this point, public opinion had been formed. So Portnoy retreated and apologized:
He also felt the need to re-share one final explanation from Neal Morse:
Ultimately, the lesson here, I think, is that you don't have to share everything on social media. Especially the negative stuff. Keep it positive and there won't be any blowback. Had Portnoy just kept his anger to himself or just expressed it to the fans in attendance that night, this whole situation could have been avoided.
