Linux People

We prefer to speak evil of ourselves rather than not speak of ourselves at all.

We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.

We read to say that we have read.

We really don't have any enemies.  It's just that some of our best
friends are trying to kill us.

We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.
                -- Thucydides

We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much.
                -- Jean de la Bruyere

We thrive on euphemism.  We call multi-megaton bombs "Peace-keepers", closet
size apartments "efficient" and incomprehensible artworks "innovative".  In
fact, "euphemism" has become a euphemism for "bald-faced lie".  And now, here
are the euphemisms so colorfully employed in Personal Ads:

EUPHEMISM                       REALITY
-------------------             -------------------------
Excited about life's journey    No concept of reality
Spiritually evolved             Oversensitive
Moody                           Manic-depressive
Soulful                         Quiet manic-depressive
Poet                            Boring manic-depressive
Sultry/Sensual                  Easy
Uninhibited                     Lacking basic social skills
Unaffected and earthy           Slob and lacking basic social skills
Irreverent                      Nasty and lacking basic social skills
Very human                      Quasimodo's best friend
Swarthy                         Sweaty even when cold or standing still
Spontaneous/Eclectic            Scatterbrained
Flexible                        Desperate
Aging child                     Self-centered adult
Youthful                        Over 40 and trying to deny it
Good sense of humor             Watches a lot of television

Well, I'm disenchanted too.  We're all disenchanted.
                -- James Thurber

Were it not for the presence of the unwashed and the half-educated, the
formless, queer and incomplete, the unreasonable and absurd, the infinite
shapes of the delightful human tadpole, the horizon would not wear so wide
a grin.
                -- F.M. Colby, "Imaginary Obligations"

What do I consider a reasonable person to be?  I'd say a reasonable person
is one who accepts that we are all human and therefore fallible, and takes
that into account when dealing with others.  Implicit in this definition is
the belief that it is the right and the responsibility of each person to
live his or her own life as he or she sees fit, to respect this right in
others, and to demand the assumption of this responsibility by others.