open and shut case

[John J. Lee]

Andrew Dalke <adalke at mindspring.com> writes:

> John J. Lee wrote:
> > PS. these days, your subject line sounds distinctly spammish
> > (especially since it's a woman posting the message to a
> > comp. newsgroup -- how likely can that be? ;-)
> 
> What the .... ??! Was that supposed to be funny?  The smiley
> suggests you thought it was.  It isn't.  It's crude and rude.

Now *I'm* left thinking "What the.." .  That went over my head...  How
is it crude, or rude??

It just seemed funny that the very presence of a woman on this
newsgroup indicated spam to the sensitive spam-detection circuits my
brain has grown over the past few years.

If you want me to deconstruct the reasons why it seemed funny:

I suppose it fits the standard joke format, according to Vilayanur
Ramachandran (not sure the idea originates with him): a sudden
re-evaluation of the facts (it's not spam after all), and the
consequence turns out to be inconsequential (a perfectly valid
everyday post -- no harm has been done).  The wink was mildly
self-mocking, I guess: The almost total absence of women from this
little virtual place must to some extent reflect badly on whatever
communities it comprises.

Maybe I should be pleased that I can't even imagine what it was you
thought I was saying...


John