think skimming over the past page or so in this thread would pose a serious counterargument to that statement.
No, really I think would provide a compelling argument about it being a slow news day.
Let me tell you a story about your relation to this board in general.
Once upon a time, I worked for the Big Apple Circus. It was back when I was a kid, maybe 15 years old, and the idea of working with a traveling circus was still appealing. I was on summer vacation from school, so with my parents permission, I stuck a copy of Keroac's 'On The Road' into my back pocket and called up this guy, Todd, who was the stage manager for the theater I worked at during the school year. He had mentioned that the circus might need stage hands during the school year and when I called he said he could me a job.
Well, it turns out the term 'Stage Hand' was a gross exaggeration. The reality was that the traveling circus at that time had several elephants and what they really needed was someone to travel and assist the elephant trainer. I was a little leery, but I still got to travel and hang out with exotic tiny Eastern European women gymnasts, alcoholic clowns, and Tan, the tiny wizened Thai elephant trainer. Tan was a funny guy. His English was pretty good, but he wasn't much of a talker. He seemed to mostly forget I was around unless one of the elephants took a giant poo, and then he'd have me clean it up.
After I'd worked for him for a few weeks of traveling he seemed to warm up to me a little and one late night, as the circus was packing up for the next stop, he sat down with a large pitcher of Cha Yen and asked me how things were going.
"How you like the elephants" Is what he actually said.
"They're even bigger than I'd thought from seeing on them TV, but they seem fairly harmless."
"Yeah, they big big. In Thailand we use to knock down tree."
"Really? That doesn't hurt them?"
"No, they very strong."
"You know, Tan, there's something I've been wondering about since I started this job, maybe you can explain it to me"
"You go tell me!"
"Ok, well, I understand that the elephants are really powerful and strong and also that they're really well trained, but whats with the string?"
"String?"
"Yeah, the string on their, well, I guess you'd call them ankles. You know, how it seems like they're tied to the stakes by this tiny string they could break at any time?"
He laughed.
"Oh that string! Well you have heard people say Elephants are never forgetting, right?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Well that is true."
He went on to explain to me that when elephants were first captured in the wild, (and they all are, no one breeds elephants) that they had to be fastened to secure iron rings deeply set in the ground, usually in concrete, with huge chains to prevent them from breaking free and returning to the jungle. Over time, though, Tan told me, the elephants would eventually stop struggling. Once that happened, they could be tethered with almost anything, in this case even some old kite string, because they remembered that trying to escape was futile.
After explaining it to me he waited for a moment, drank some the Cha Yen and looked at me somberly.
"People should not be like elephant." He said.
It changed my life.
You see, the asylum is like that long ago circus, and you my friend are the elephant shit.
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Disclaimer:
To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.