The Joy Of Listservs

["Dr. Leo Casey" <LeoCasey@AOL.COM>]

To prove that I haven't lost my sense of humor after having been baited into
a flame war after my last posting of humor to this list, let me pass on this
piece about listserv life.

Q: How many Internet mail list subscribers does it take to change a light
bulb?

A: 1,348 -

1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail list that the light bulb
has been changed;

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light
bulb could have been changed differently;

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs;

27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs;

53 to flame the spell checkers;

41 to correct spelling/grammar flames;

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb";

another 6 to condemn those 6 as anal-retentive;

156 to write to the list administrator about the light bulb discussion and
its inappropriateness to this mail list;

109 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this
email exchange to litebulb-list;

203 to demand that cross posting to grammar-l, spelling-l and illuminati-l
about changing light bulbs be stopped;

111 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light bulbs and
therefore the posts *are* relevant to this mail list;

306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy
the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique
and what brands are faulty;

27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs;

14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and to post the corrected
URL's;

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this
list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list;

33 to link all posts to date, then quote them including all headers and
footers and then add "Me too";

12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they cannot handle
the light bulb controversy;

Another 5 to post to the list that they are brand new list members looking
for serious discussion but can't handle all of the heavy discussion about
light bulbs;

19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three";

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ;

44 to ask what is "FAQ";

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago on Usenet?"

143 to ask "what's Usenet?"

Leo Casey
United Federation of Teachers
260 Park Avenue South
New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)

Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never has, and it never will.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who
want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and
lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
-- Frederick Douglass --

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