There's an episode where I make a joke about someone's idiotic post by muttering "This is the kind of stuff that gets posted from public terminals." I believe that is probably the source of most of the idiot-traffic online are people who don't have the means (or the freedom) to have the internet in their home.
I used to work at a famous computer company's store in the Midtown Manhattan area, and I think I basically met most F Plus subjects on a daily basis. I could see a lot of people posting comments on blogs or logging into their forums and 3rd-rate e-mail clients. And FACEBOOK FACEBOOK FACEBOOK! Two customers stand out to me, though, as people who quiet possibly have been featured on the F Plus.
I was helping folks with answering questions when a lady flagged me down and asked me if our internet was out. Google's up, Facebook's up,
yeah the internet is working. The customer, an African-American woman in her early-forties, starts to explain her problem to me. "OK, because I was trying to get onto my forum to--" she stops, realizing there is an important piece of information I need, "First of all, I don't know if you know this, but the government is targeting people, like myself, who lead an unconventional lifestyle. I wanted to get onto my forum to connect with other targeted individuals, but the website won't load." Oh boy. I take a look, and she is trying to access David Icke's website. However, the in-store wi-fi has a blocker to help prevent most adult material from being accessed, and Icke's website must have triggered it. All I am able to say is that the site is blocked, and she gets a little terse. "Is that the computer's block or the company's block?" I don't know how to answer, so I say it's blocked by the store. There's an odd, inappropriate look of understanding on her face. She nods and smiles and starts to leave the store. "OK, I see, I see. Well, you're young, you have a lot to learn, and you take care of yourself, OK?" And she never came back. Odd that someone who is so worried about being tracked that they would try to use a computer with a camera in it, in a store canvased by cameras, in one of the busiest places, in the most crowded city on the east coast. But what the hell do I know? I'm 30 and I have a lot to learn.
The other customer had just bought a new tablet and needed some help getting it up and running, but was very adamant that I show her how to make a bookmark. As we go through other steps, she keeps mentioning the bookmarks. "I need to get my bookmarks so I can read my fan fiction." The needle slid of the record in my brain, because this was a middle-aged woman and not the twitchy teenager I imagine most fanfic authors to look like. So, I'm expecting awkwardness for the next 20 minutes as I try to have a conversation about anything else. Because who know what kind of fanfic she likes? Maybe they are all winged dogs that wet on each other instead of British wizards? Who knows! As she looks up the site she needs to bookmark, she starts raving about how much she loves reading Harry Potter fanfics, and making apologies. "I know, it's silly, but I gotta have my fanfics!" That's about how weird it got. When the bookmark was saved, I think she might have been the happiest person I've ever helped. It was nice to see that much joy in one person, and it was infectious. I wanted to shout for her to never apologize, never be embarrassed. Go and live your journey, lady! I gotta have my fanfics, too.
