the truth about jennifer - fireball did it - nklr
Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2001 11:04 am
				
				It is true.  Jennifer never existed.  I did it.
 
 I apologize for manipulating the list.  It was so easy, but not 
 clever.  I feel so stupid.
 
 However, some observations:
 
 Most of you showed total class with Jennifer.  Bogdan was really 
 cool, fer instance.  Monahan was cool.  Lot's of others were cool.
 
 But...
 
 Nearly a dozen of you offered unsolicited sexual suggestions to 
 Jennifer offlist during her short, tempestuous life.  Lessee...that 
 would be almost a one percent response rate.  Direct mail people 
 quiver at those numbers.  You guys should pat yourselves on the back, 
 maybe.
 
 When Jennifer challenged the list regarding its sexist treatment of a 
 fellow rider, she got over 30 apologies.  That's a whopping 2.7 
 percent response rate.  She began to feel a great love for the list 
 at that point.
 
 And as Jennifer's technical intellect began to blossom (after she got 
 off her meds), and she began to offer playful, yet real answers to 
 real tech issues, there was always a verifiable cadre of list members 
 who preferred to make sexual responses, or discount the validity of 
 the observations simply because they questioned her existence.  List 
 members, in fact, demanded proof of her existence, to an extent well 
 beyond what would have been granted to a man.  I dunno - I've met 
 less than 50 of you, so how do I know the rest of you really exist?
 
 Finally, this exercise confirmed that a certain group will foster pre-
 conceived notions of who could do such a dastardly manipulation.  
 Gino and Ron were unjustly accused for no other reason that they did 
 the same thing earlier.  Jennifer was shocked to learn that this 
 prejudice had nothing to do with fact, and that anyone could believe 
 that Gino and Ron could be so dumb to try it again.  Clearly, it 
 takes a new dumb person to do it again.    
 
 Lastly, I wish to formally apologize for dragging Toby and Gino and a 
 few others into this mess.  I derive all my inspiration from these 
 men, and admit it was not terribly imaginative.  I apologize to the 
 women on this list, one who I convinced to lie on Jennifer's behalf.  
 
 You may also be assured that the T-shirt design, financed by me for 
 no consideration on behalf of the Moab Get-Together is alive and 
 well.  I fully expect a partial boycott of this shirt as a result of 
 this exercise, and if that works out for some of you, great.  
 
 I hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive my 
 transgressions.  I feel so bad, so soiled.  After being one of the 
 original people on this list, and after being so responsible for so 
 long, I feel my reputation is, like, totally shot.  
 
 Let's go ride.    
 
 Best Regards,
 
 Stuart, aka Fireball
 Stuart, Florida  USA
 1998 KLR 650
 58,000 miles