To be clear, I wasn’t saying umkay had any obligation to prove her identity. But if she was so inclined, that was a proposal that would be both identity-confirming and identity-protecting as well as informative. Honestly, I would be fascinated to see someone type out vB posts of such complexity using only mouth-control.
If not, well, I can comfortably continue to feel no obligation to believe a word she says.
Who are you again?
I’m Cecil Adams’ brother.
Cecil Adams’ other brother, I’m sure, Giraffe. (If indeed that IS your name.)
Not reading the thread, but trusting that you’re right: maybe that makes my analogy a little clunky as literature, but does it do anything to make it less apt? People don’t still think he’s a fabulist, do they? (Because, if so, that would be pretty fucking stupid at this point.)
No, I am Cecil Adams’ brother! Wait a minute. Why are we protecting him again?
Do you believe I am a middle-aged male Hispanic lawyer?
To be fair, nobody would care if you were pretending to be a middle-aged male Hispanic lawyer. That isn’t interesting.
On the plus side, nobody as far as I can see has told you that they literally are in literal love with you based on some thread you started, so there are some perks to not being interesting that make up for the general indifference.
For people from Europe: this is actually quite accomplishable with Budweiser beers. I’ve only done it with hands (friend’s father said I was permitted to drink in his house if I opened him and myself a bottle with my teeth), but next time I go out drinking, I’ll try it hands free. I tried a similar thing with a Kopparberg, no dice. Figure there’s a different technique to affix them or different strengths of metal.
Course, some of us find is simpler not to care about people than others.
To be fair, that’s not a direct comparison, since you’d stand to lose fiscally due to your lack of scepticism in that case.
As for the behind seven proxies thing: if umkay consistently posts from a proxy and isn’t on an ISP that automatically assigns a different IP address, that’d also be reason to be suspicious.
As for scepticism in general: after falling for an April Fool’s prank of an e-friend I had added on facebook, I now require obituaries in order to offer tailored condolences. Another board I posted at had a troll outed as posting for a woman for several years. Turned out to be one of the older members (had been present for about 8 years prior to being outed on his new female account). He even got one of his friends to pose with a poster with the board’s name, but no time stamp.
I suggested she might establish her veracity by working with Mods to keep things low key and got slammed by a few folks in the original thread.
All right, here’s my contribution to this madness (which I just discovered late last night):
For the haters and the troll-suspecters–you’re wrong. I am who I say I am. Why don’t I provide proof, you ask? Well, gee, is there any form of proof that hasn’t been completely discredited in advance on this thread alone? Photos, blogs, IP addresses, video blogs, specialized knowledge about a peculiar lifestyle, longevity of posting career–all can (and have been, apparently) faked before or used to add credibility to a faker. The way I see it, the only thing no one has poo-pooed is showing up, in person, at a Dopefest. Give me a break. As many, many others have pointed out, me having to prove myself in any way is pretty outrageous, and I find the demand that I actually, physically present myself to some Doper in RL absurd. I don’t have any doubts about who I am, and if you’re in such a panic about losing face if I turn out to be some humongous troll, just ignore me. For the love.
I seem to have unwittingly acted as a bit of a Rohrshach test for the board. Meaning, you’ve all seen what you wanted to see, particularly in this thread. For the cynics, it’s so “obvious” that I couldn’t possibly be who I say I am. You cite lots of reasons, almost all of which are based on your ignorance of disability. Allow me to fight a tiny bit of that here:
*I’m a troll because I type fast, and can edit just as quickly–I can even do multi-quotes and smileys! Gotta be a troll!: I’m guessing you never clicked on any of the links I posted to my assistive devices/software. If you had, you’d have seen at least 2 videos of AB people using Dragon voice software to rapidly compose and edit text (faster than most people can type). As for the smileys and multi quotes, these are so simple it’s crazy to me that it’s even a question: There are commands for smiling, frowning, and winking faces included in my software. And it doesnt take a Nobel Laureate to figure out the simple (speakable) code behind all the other emoticons. I did have to look up how to multi-quote, but found instructions on this very site. And it is also simple for me: click a button and/or select some lines of text. Both of which I can do just as well as an AB person with the quadmouse I use.
I’m a troll because Ambivalid, with his unimpeachable knowledge of all things quad, says I’ve clearly never been in love: Ambivalid, you dipshit. What you said about me and my experience was such a fcking jack@ss para thing to say: “If she was really in love, a chair is no big deal.” Perhaps YOUR chair, which I’m imagining is some sporty lightweight thing, that you can propel with your own two hands, is no big deal. You also have full sensation and no catheter. On top of all that, you’re apparently some kind of gym rat. In your case, the only thing “disabled” about you is that you can’t move your legs. I agree that YOUR chair is not a big deal if some girl really loves you. But your situation is light years from my own, so your comment is complete bullsh*t. And if you really wanna know, I thought YOU could be a dev for the first week or two I interacted with you: immediately PMing me and asking for my Facebook, pressing me for photos and more info on my job, and just seeming to know an awful lot about the “DPW” spectrum, even for a gimp. And while I actually laughed out loud when the suggestion was made here that maybe I am Mr. D, you know that would make me, by definition, a pretender and not a devotee, right? At least make your accusations accurate, dude.
*I’m a troll because of my “perfect” life: Because disabilities only happen to poor, sad, ugly, dumb, inarticulate people, right? Hm…
*I’m a troll because people react kindly to me: Most have, but not all. I can’t control how people react to me. I like nice people (who doesn’t?), but I have privately rolled my eyes at the over the top fawning along with all of you. I don’t “get off” on it, particularly because I know (as has been suggested) that much of it is due solely to my disability. This plays out in my RL all the time, and I find it just as grating there. So, we agree that it’s annoying. We disagree that it is evidence of trollery.
*I’m a troll because I don’t post in other threads/forums: First, I have, though admittedly only a handful of times. Maybe I’m too constrained by a false perception of forum etiquette, but I felt it was rude to let my thread die while people were still asking good questions. I don’t have time in a day to respond to 20 detailed questions on my thread AND chime in on a bunch of others. So I prioritized. Also, I’m in awe of the sheer force of intelligence and capability and experience of the posters to this forum, and often don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said, and better. I imagine continued exposure to this forum will make me more informed and more comfortable jumping in.
*I’m a troll because I’m middle-of-the-road on controversial topics: Seriously? That’s further proof I’m a troll? In reality, I’m just uninformed about a lot of controversial subjects, and haven’t yet formed an opinion. Also, I don’t like debating hot-button issues on Internet forums, where people quickly turn vicious.
*I’m a troll because someone faked my death and I had the temerity to deny it (with italics): May YOU never be the victim of this, and have the board turn against you overnight, regardless of anything you or the Mods say about it.
*I’m a troll because…well, a quad couldn’t possibly have composed this long of a post! Yeah, well, it took me two hours to get it down and edited. So there. 
again - I suggested this in the original Ask thread, in a supportive tone. She has not responded and I got slammed. Seems like a reasonable way to cut to the chase.
Oh man, that’s the part that I think would suck. It’s happened to me on a small scale, because I am regularly controversial, and even that has been painful–and humiliating.
I just came into this forum a day or two ago and then registered because I was getting a lot out of your thread. I thought your posts were honest and open, without being crude. And that your writing is fluid and entertaining. Thanks for contributing to my further engagement with the board.
I’m sorry this came up for you. You should stick around if you’re at all inclined. Things change with the tides.
tapu (ok, really, Jess --female Jess)
p.s. You may be gratified to know that I don’t love you or worship you. I probably like you, but I’m still reserving judgment. 
Umkay - I hear ya; on the Internet, no one knows you’re a quad.
Either stay here on the Dope for a while, post on other threads and build up a longer history while dealing with a stream of snarky skepticism, or cross a line not typically asked of posters and engage on a physical level with a Mod or something - or let it go and move on.
I don’t really care whether or not you’re real or fake, but it’s kind of shitty to air out private interactions in public like this - and everyone here knows I’ve never been the biggest fan of Ambivalid.
Honestly I don’t even suspect umkay just because of NotOkay, and I don’t expect that they’ll share the same IP address (because as Myralene mentioned… proxies are easily faked or often simply shared by multiple users of an ISP; most admins know not to rely solely on them, though often that’s really all you can do).
My dubiousness began at her first thread, not the death hoax. Because someone showing up out of the blue (though allegedly after lurking)* with a prurient topic bound to attract attention, specifically about a fetishist. As Sarabellum says, that’s alarm-triggering territory that it might be a post by said fetishist. Next of course she’s asked for an “Ask the…” thread because everyone with any unusual trait is basically asked for an “Ask the…” thread, as we’re most of us curious types and genuinely interested about others’ unique experiences. And this gregarious person obliges, naturally, and falls in love with the community and they all fall in love with her – some apparently literally despite not knowing who she really is, which is practically fetish territory itself.
But this gregarious person with loads of interests who writes like a speed demon and who’s lurked for years is apparently only interested in herself, pretty much, because she’s got 400+ posts and only 5 or 6 are outside of those two autobiographical threads (and the majority of those reference her SCI, including one about a manicure where it was fairly irrelevant but she felt it necessary to bring up anyway: “I prefer neutral colors, 'cause I’m a quad so it’s especially important!” is only a very bare exaggeration of that post.**). Otherwise she confines herself to threads where she’s the star of the attention, the queen among hundreds of courtiers.
That’s what triggered my warning signs. Good God, look at blinkie. This guy, with locked-in syndrome for fuck’s sake, a condition that makes umkay’s difficulties communicating (such as they are) seem as nought, managed to find other threads besides his own to hang around in when he could, having fun in The Games Room for example. He’s also given identifying info (when he was on the Today Show or GMA, one of the two) and wrote about his life in Teemings (actually sharing a mini-autobiography he’d spent a long time writing already).
No one has to prove anything or appear on TV in order to be real, and every poster is allowed to remain private, as it should be. But her response to all this, where she says she’s not going to do anything because hey, she doesn’t know who we are either and besides it’s beyond her boundaries (though those boundaries apparently don’t prevent her from sharing intimidate details such as her sexual prowess and her wealth and so on)… no, that response just does not ring true to me. It’s so weirdly vague and almost intentionally opaque. And speaking purely as a reader, that post doesn’t match her usual writing style at all.
All I can do is ask myself: If I were someone with no posting history whatsoever, who delurked out of nowhere to talk about sexual fetishists related to my extraordinary situation, and then proceeded to tell even more amazing tales about the unique life I lead while racking up 400+ posts in a month to an adoring crowd, with only four or five posts outside my own thread, and then was the subject of a fake death notice, which led to people feeling suspicious and asking for some small method of verification… would I be shocked to be asked?
No. I would not be shocked. Hell, I would’ve expected to be somewhat doubted, starting with my very first post a month before the death hoax! And after the death hoax, of course I’d send some method of verification to an admin or mod, and have no problems doing so. What’s the big deal, if I’ve trusted the community with every other detail of my life thus far? Do I feel the admins of the community that embraced me so fully and openly for a month can’t be trusted? And I’ve lurked for years, people; I KNOW the SDMB. This is supposed to be the place where extraordinary claims require evidence. That’s basically the whole freaking reason for this site, right?
But either I (this is still my thought experiment here, where I’m in umkay’s shoes) have grown quite the sense of entitlement and righteous indignation because, y’know, we super-rich quadriplegics usually aren’t used to people daring to ask “so, erm, are you really who you say you are?” – that’s beyond the Pale, y’all! – or I’m a socially inept person who doesn’t get why my nearly unique claims might need a little back-up.
Third option? I’m a fakey faker who fakes, issuing a very oddly worded refusal because I can’t provide evidence.
Going back to being regular choie: I just can’t comprehend any of the above options except #3. Option #1 would make sense if she’s kind of a jerk, which doesn’t match her personality profile as shown here, and neither does option #2.
Edited on preview: Ah, she answers here finally. And I take it back. Option #1 and #2 actually are apparently likely.
If she spends as much time on the internet as someone claimed above (to explain why she’s so adept at multiple methods of formatting her posts), then she knows exactly how many fakers and scammers there are. She should also know, if she spent years lurking here, that many of us are skeptics and do ask for some proof of unusual claims.
In the end, the only reason it matters to me isn’t because I want to pop the balloons out of the folks who believe in her. It’s because I’m pissed off at someone who’d toy the emotions of a community for which I feel affection, and that has shown itself to be big-hearted and generous to many people (including myself) who’ve felt able to admit some difficult things about themselves because the community is, generally, trustworthy, and–especially in MPSIMS–trusting. I don’t like people abusing that trust.
** And someone with carers and a zillion bucks who’s able to get around relatively regularly can only get a single mani-pedi per season?
We have never asked this of anyone else who submitted one of those “Ask the …” threads.
NEVER.
So why in this case?
Why is this one poster being held to a different standard?
Just wanting to know.
So, when are we going to go nuts demanding that Cecil prove he is who he says he is? If we’re gonna fight ignorance, I say we should start with HIM!!!
:scurries off to gather torches and pitchforks for the flash mob:
I read a few posts in the “ask a wheelchair girl” thread, immediately concluded that this was clearly a fraud/role playing persona thing, and chuckled, wondering how long it would take before they ratcheted up the weirdness to get further attention. It took about a week.
Speaking as someone who is enthralled by behavioral psychology, this whole thing has been fascinating.