People of WalMart

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I think this is where the disagreement lies. To my mind it has always been this way. It's the same to me whether you are at Disneyland, snickered at by a few thousand people in one day or whether you're posted on a blog, snickered at by a few thousand people. Yes, it could go viral and hit the million mark, but dare I say that is still rare enough. I don't see much difference there.

Stand up on a table at Plaza Inn and gather an audience of strangers and start insulting people walking by in the distance. Sure they'll probably be entirely oblivious to what you're doing but you're not doing anything to avoid them hearing of it. That's ok, right?

Like I said, the line in the sand I see is so bright and obvious to me that I can't fathom that you don't see it and I can't figure out how to explain it. And to me it looks like you're saying "it's going to happen anyway so you might as well play along" which I can't agree with.

Regarding making judgmental assumptions about underlying character and value - again, this happens anyway. If people will write it down, people will think it while walking around.

True. I guess I'm just not in the camp that just because it happens in private means it is appropriate for happening in public. And that every though that enters my head is something I'd want the person I'm thinking it of to possibly hear.

The idea that you can think that and not make assumptions about that person seems silly to me.

Of course it is. It is natural. And sharing all of those thoughts in public is, in my view, extremely rude. Both can be true at the same time.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Alex

Stand up on a table at Plaza Inn and gather an audience of strangers and start insulting people walking by in the distance. Sure they'll probably be entirely oblivious to what you're doing but you're not doing anything to avoid them hearing of it. That's ok, right?

One of the best street performers I ever saw was outside a cafe in Berlin. This man would walk behind people passing by and do mine-like caricatures of that person. It was awesome. Sometimes the "mockee" would figure out what was going on and the interaction was all the better.