I've Got Mail
I got an email from a stranger in Kuwait a while back. It was an interesting experience.
I get email from people I don't know all the time, of course. Some of them want to give me a lot of money if I'll help them escape from Nigeria. Some, God love them, are concerned about me. They want to help me enlarge my breasts and my penis, get me cheap Viagra, and introduce me to naughty farm girls.
But back to Kuwait. This woman in Kuwait had read something I'd written, something that made her angry.
"It must be easy to be sarcastic," she wrote, "living in such a safe place."
It's unnerving to get criticism from Kuwait. I look at my globe and put one finger on Washington State and the other on Kuwait. I'm not great at geography, but I think it's possible you can't get further away from my house than Kuwait before you start getting closer. Maybe not, but it's pretty far away.
North Korea, on the other hand, is a hop and a skip away, relatively speaking. North Korea is so close that it's possible they could plant a nuclear missile in my backyard. But, see, the thing is I'm pretty sure nobody in North Korea is mad at me, and for all I know this lady in Kuwait still is, and might be telling her friends. She might be making stuff up, too, just because she's mad. People do that.
This is the Dark Side of the Web. Strangers can reach out from anywhere and call you names, tell you your opinions suck, tell you to shut up and that Ann Coulter knows more than you do and that your penis probably needs enlarging.
So I've been there, and now I'm somewhere else. In the past week, people have stopped by here. Some of you have left nice notes. And several of you have blogrolled me.
Like Blanche Dubois and everybody else, I've always depended on the kindness of strangers. I just wanted to say that I appreciate it. It makes me feel like the Welcome Wagon lady has dropped by and left me with coffeecake and lots of coupons. I feel part of the neighborhood. So, thanks. I'll return the favor as soon as I get some time.
By the way, I'm not a sarcastic person generally. Wry sometimes, maybe ironic occasionally, but rarely sarcastic. Try telling that to the Kuwaitis, though.
4:20:59 AM 
|
