I have been following this and the Scylla’s other thread with some interest.
Scylla and Sam’s rants were offensive. No two ways about that. But I can’t help wondering if the criticism of them is a little unfounded in this context (ie in this forum).
Is there anyone out there who is prepared to claim to be without sin when it comes to ugly and offensive and unjustified thoughts?
I doubt many of us would make that claim. And normally (at least in my case) I have ugly thoughts about something or other, and they just stay inside me, not only in the sense of being unexpressed, but also in the sense that I would never act upon them.
Take Scylla’s viper situation. If I saw that, would I think something unworthy? Quite possibly. Would I express that? No. If it was up to me to make laws and enforce them etc would I do anything other than allow handicapped people to drive what they like, where they like, and have the small privileges that they have? No.
This is the pit. It is the nasty infernal place on this wonderful board where the wild things come out to play. Where people say things they would never say. Rant about petty annoyances. Vent their steam.
And then very probably carry on thinking and behaving in a reasonable and civilised fashion in the rest of their life.
I think that many on these boards find those like Scylla who do not self censor very entertaining and refreshing, and we have a quiet internal moment of recognition when we read an ugly rant we can secretly identify with for a moment, before carrying on being nice people for the rest of the day.
I think it would be a sad thing for the pit if people felt that they would be rated down for being a bit devilish here, even though (for example) the same person shows reasonable attitudes in the “real world” of GD etc.
I’m sure that if you are not dealing with handicapped issues on a daily basis you might find Scylla or whoever’s uncensored thoughts to be refreshing. Hell, some people probably find a racist thread to be refreshing.
Forgive me if from my perspective a bit of self censorship might have been a good idea. I don’t find it to be refreshing at all but rather just reinforcement that there are people out there who are clueless about disability.
Oh, bullshit - YOU were offended. Some other people were offended. But now I am offended. Because I did make a point of saying that I DO deal with handicapped issues on a daily basis. I know in DETAIL. I have catheterized a paraplegic, I have picked shit out of his bowels with my fingers, I have packed decubitis ulcers two inches deep, I have watched in horror as his legs go into spasms that knock him right out of his wheelchair. So your little holier-than-thou crap can be dispensed with, please. You can’t just ignore it and let it go away, you’ve got to get your two cents in there and let everyone know that dammit, you’re just a better person than Scylla because YOU know what it’s like to be handicapped, and you’ve never in your life stooped to having an uncharitable thought. Fine. We all know now. Now shut up.
It’s not the big hairy deal everyone is making of it. Ask me if I give a rat’s ass what Scylla thinks is an appropriate car for a handicapped person to be driving. I found his post funny. That’s all.
Well, Primaflora, I think your somehow putting that thread in the same category as racism to be major bullshit.
And yes, I deal with “handicapped issues” on a daily basis, as I have one fucking leg. As I said before, I had no prob with Scylla’s OP, just that he seemed to be freaking out a bit on the boards lately.
But to even bring up the spectre of racism as a comparison in relation to Scylla’s thread is beyond lame.
So, why should these clueless people not post? Now normally on this board when we find someone clueless about something we try to educate that person. Just venting your spleen on everyone who doesen’t have your worldview isin’t what this board is about.
Elucidator brings up an important point… Scylla has CLEARLY been, in the past, a font of wisdom with regards to resourcefulness and good, clean family fun.
I didn’t find Scylla’s particular post to be refreshing, I was speaking more generally.
I found it to be a report of a small minded, little-green-god inspired thought that went through Scylla’s head. And I could see the black humour in it.
And while I’m not sure that I would have had the same thought, it’s not, to be honest, a thought of a type that would be a complete stranger to me.
But I don’t lose any sleep over that, because I also know that I would not say anything (in any forum that mattered, ie other than in this very BBQ Pit) or do anything to give effect to such a thought, or even take my own thought too seriously.
What would self-censorship have achieved? Scylla would have had his thought just the same, you just wouldn’t have known about it. And how would that help?
I will let my work stand on its own, to swing and twist at the whim of the SDMB intelligentsia.
If it made one or two people smile, and it apparently did, then that’s good enough for me. Beats the hell out of screaming at someone because you’re pissed off and feel like a little gang pile-on.
I don’t like these kind of jokes. What’s more, I don’t care what people post.
So this was what, a satire?
Why the hell don’t you keep that shit in the magazines and leave us to our business?
Holy great jumpin’ Jesus Christ.
Why in the hell do people post that shit on message boards? Do you get a Goddam thrill from seeing people actually trying to take you seriously? Are you so insecure you have to get your rocks off by playing with people’s perspectives and emotions?
Of all the kinds of threads I’ve seen here this is the only kind that pisses me off.
And for all of you who are kissing Sam’s ass and giving him little golf claps, I hope you’re fucking happy you had the luck to see he’s full of shit so you can laugh at the folkis who had something to say about their feelings pertaining to the Scylla’s OP.
“Oh, look, they didn’t realize it was a joke and they took it seriously! Ha ha! Let’s point at them and laugh for being so silly as to as believe someone may have reacted to something they thought was wrong.”
FWIW, I got Sam’s joke having just read the Viper thread. Perhaps a link was in order. It’s that Alabama by way of Mars John Carter who whooshed me. Damn him, his red planet, and the infernal deceit. I had a pretty good whooshless record going.