BronsCon's Journal: Talk about it

Recently, I was flamed for making a "joke" of HIV (see below).

Said by an AC: I recommend a guerrilla trademark war: we simply need to decide what STD now gets the street name of "scrabble".

Said by me: HIV. It's about as active as scrabble and gets just about as much attention from the general populace. A ton of people have it but nobody really talks about it anymore.

Said by another AC: Why don't you grow a FUCKING brain cell. You are a fucking moron for taking something as serious as HIV and turning into the latest joke on slashdot. There are people who are FUCKING DYING because of HIV and I'm sure that none of them find you funny. I'm also sure you would stop laughing if you had an HIV test come back positive.

Said by me: Should I fax it to you, or is a simple scan and email enough?
I was actually going for insightful, rather than funny. A ton of people have HIV but nobody really talks about it. Just like Scrabble.
P.S. -- Who's the moron now?

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In all fairness, he's right, I don't have HIV. Dumb luck on his part.

Lord knows I've had some close calls; an ex fiancé who contracted it from a guy she cheated on me with and a girl I dated for a while who called me a few months after we broke up, insisting that I get tested. Dumb luck on my part.

Assigning the nickname 'Scrabble' to HIV might be the best thing to happen to it. If it gets people talking about it, if it raises awareness, beyond using it as an insult, it's a good thing.

If it raises awareness among corporations that, when they take something dear to us, we will take something dear to them in exchange ("Let's hang out with Kevin, he has Scrabble!" becomes "Don't sleep with Kevin, he has Scrabble!"), it is a good thing. But only if it's true.

I have a "FUCKING brain cell". In fact, I have many of them. Enough to realize that anything that gets people talking about an important issue is a good thing. Enough to realize that only a complete moron would flame someone for pointing out a problem such as people not talking about such an issue.

I stand proudly by the positions I take. I feel that, if something is not worth saying, it's not worth taking the time to say; if it is worth saying, it's worth taking credit for having said it.

Let it be known that I truly feel compassion for anyone who has Scrabble; the board game, or the illness.

Heh

[Captain Splendid]

FWIW, I thought your original comment and and your reply to the AC were both pretty funny.

Re:

[BronsCon]

Thank you! Again, I was going for insightful more than funny with my original comment, but I'll take what I can get, I guess...