Many years ago, I visited the decaying men’s room in a crumbling building at a tacky seaside “resort." There I discovered that, in lieu of individual urinals, there was a long basin with drains in the bottom, along which men gathered to relieve themselves.
For some reason, the memory of this eye-opening experience comes to mind whenever I stumble across the online comments that readers post on newspaper stories. This feature, which is a magnet for the illiterate, the ill-informed, the deranged and the hateful, is a lot like that communal urinal, only more disgusting.
That’s why I was in stitches the other day when I read a column from the St. Petersburg Times written by Howard Troxler and headlined: “If there were online comments on the Declaration of Independence.” You can read this hilarious bit of satire in its entirety by clicking here, but here are a few of the comments that Troxler says readers might have posted in 1776, if given the chance to do so:
GEORGE3: This is the most idiotic piece of cr*p I ever read. Maybe next time they should try getting somebody who can actually write.
For some reason, the memory of this eye-opening experience comes to mind whenever I stumble across the online comments that readers post on newspaper stories. This feature, which is a magnet for the illiterate, the ill-informed, the deranged and the hateful, is a lot like that communal urinal, only more disgusting.
That’s why I was in stitches the other day when I read a column from the St. Petersburg Times written by Howard Troxler and headlined: “If there were online comments on the Declaration of Independence.” You can read this hilarious bit of satire in its entirety by clicking here, but here are a few of the comments that Troxler says readers might have posted in 1776, if given the chance to do so:
GEORGE3: This is the most idiotic piece of cr*p I ever read. Maybe next time they should try getting somebody who can actually write.
TORYTORYTORY: So the king is behaving like, you know, a king. Boo blanking hoo.
JEFFERSONISASLAVELOVER: DONT BELIEVE WHATEVER JEFFERSUN SAYS CUZ HE DID IT WITH SALLIE H.
SAMADAMS: Sorry to annoy you king-lovers out there. Can't take a few unpleasant facts, can you?
JEFFERSONISASLAVELOVER: U R A ******* MORON.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: Hello, this is Thomas Jefferson. A most intriguing idea, this "comment" section. I hope that our nascent democracy puts it to excellent use in the spirit of enlightened and elevated discourse.
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