J. A. Stroud a.k.a. GlassPoet.
Nothing on these pages may be used without the express permission of the author / webmistress.
That man or woman was not what he or she appeared to be. Those glorious stories of vacations at ClubWhatchamaCallit, the business that person was in, educational background, children or non ... husband / wife or non ... even the pictures were all a falsehood! Yes, even gender can be a lie. I personally, spent six months chatting with what I thought was male, when in fact ... it was female!!
When it happens to you, you take one huge step back away from the NET ... gather all your toys and go home, for a time. You vacillate between wanting to hunt them down and cut out there measly li'l heart or screaming at yourself about how poor a judge of character you are.
It's the medium we choose to use. The medium we chat in. It's far too easy to hide here, to live in subterfuge. Try as we might ... there is no escaping the falsehoods of online chat.
It's always amazed me how sexual prowess here seems so incredible too! Heck, we expect that from the men here, but even the women boast of being more then they really are in Virtual Time. If the stories we all told about our sex lives were true, why would we be here online? Wouldn't we be out enjoying ourselves?
Honesty is a rare commodity here. When I find someone who is willing to share ... warts and all, I am quite impressed!
For me, I have no other choice then to be who I truly am. I see no point in lying about myself. Having been on the receiving end of a number of lies on the NET, I choose to be honest about myself, even brutally so and demand from those I chat with over time, the same respect and courtesy.
I am not impressed with what a person does for a living as much as I am impressed with what they do for others. I don't care where someone went to school, or what degrees hang on their wall. The mechanic that takes an engine apart and puts it back together is as equally important in life as the editor of a magazine, who aspires to the Pulitzer. The woman who works at home caring for her family and her children has an opinion just as valid as the college ethics professor.
Even in Cyberspace we are judged by the status quo. We are judged on our spelling and typing skills, on our screen names and pictures, by the computer systems we have! "Is that the new Pent3 or are ya still running that ole piece of crap 300?"
I use a sweet old 486 myself. Gets me where I need to go and back again ... on very little fossil fuel!
I still haven't gotten a clear grasp as to why lies abound here. I've heard many differing opinions, so many, I can't even see the cyber forest for the trees. But ... there is no place for it in my Virtual World nor in my Real Time World!
So, if you are looking to peddle your wares of lies and falsehoods ... I suggest you not enter my WEB. My bite can be as deadly as the Black Widow Spider and I doubt I would be as forgiving as She.
6/99
* Update: My sweet old 486 had to be put to sleep, and at this moment in time, I use a Pent 3