Before the Internet, were you aware that there were so many morans, whackjobs,

[raccoon]

and crazies out there?

I wasn't. I'm sure they were out there....I just didn't know it or think about it.

On second thought--I just happened to think, I want to add some more before posting this.

On the Internet, the filter is off for many if not most people. They say things they would never have
the nerve to say in RL.

So I'm not sure now if there are so many morans, whackjobs, and crazies out there. Maybe it just seems that there are.

[murielm99]

1. I think I was aware of it.

I worked as a librarian for many years. You would not believe....

Also, I live in a small town. We know our crazies here. They are numerous and quite often, vocal.

[clarice]

2. Other than my husband????? No.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

3. What a coincidence...

...I thought my wife was crazy for marrying me too.

[MissB]

4. Nope

I lost my innocence at another site. I'd posted a very long post anonymously to help another member, which she appreciated immensely. Another member claimed the anonymous post was hers.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. We get to see more of them now.

But they've always been out there. I think the Internet also provides validation for some really heinous behavior - the assholes are encouraged by other assholes.

[LynneSin]

6. I'm originally from rural Pennsylvania so yes

[Tom Ripley]

7. Yes, I worked at Kinko's during college

I copied so many manifestos, screeds, crazed correspondence, Ku Klux newsletters...

[surrealAmerican]

8. Do you not remember High School?

... or did you just grow up in a saner town than I did?

[hifiguy]

9. They were below the radar in the low-information age.

I am sure that everyone in Mudville knew about Crazy Gomer, the sheep-fucking enthusiast who lived just outside of town, but kept quiet about it. It was understood and acknowledged by the adults and the kids were warned away.

Now Crazy Gomer is the webmaster of Sheep-FuckersUnited.com - which in all likelihood has a design like Freeperland - and the wise ass kid down the street finds their website and puts you on their e-mailing list.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

10. Whenever I traveled from Massachusetts back to Texas

I always felt I got the opposite of the Benz. (Now I feel stupid; did I spell that right?)

[Tom_Foolery]

11. Yep! I was a radio DJ for years and years...

I had my share of crazy phone calls.

[angstlessk]

12. No, but when I was a kid I knew of "Holy Rollers"

they were 'out there'.

My first taste of the internet was about how the internet will give us so much free time, we would work only 15-20 hours per week...

Oh, those were the days (all dial up (HP 1080, 128 RAM)) Met a geek who talked about 512 RAM (or more) and wondered who would ever need that much...as you can see I was not a VISIONARY

[shenmue]

13. Kinda

[Skittles]

14. I figured it out when Reagan was elected twice

[DFW]

15. I knew they were there. Sometimes, I even got to meet them

I remember the 1968 election, got to vote in 1972, remember 1976 (though Ford was an OK guy), 80, 84, 88.

Plus, I worked in the U.S. Senate at age 15, got to meet plenty of elected nut cases of all kinds, from Jim Buckley to Lester Maddox.

Oh, I knew they were out there. I just didn't imagine that when the internet was there to expose them all to mass scrutiny, that so many would like what they saw. THAT was the big disillusionment. I would have thought the internet would end up being their downfall, not their saving angel.

[malthaussen]

16. Well, no actually.

Since I think the Internet has increased the breed of which you speak, any awareness of it beforehand would be inadequate to current circumstances.

-- Mal

[WinkyDink]

17. As a misanthrope, I had my strong suspicions.