People are Gullible...

I am constantly amazed by what people will believe. When folks ask what I do for a living, I sometimes tell them that I'm a professional sumo wrestler - Tokyo welterweight division - but I'm on disability because of significant weight loss caused by my skin becoming lighter as I age. In reality, I've always been average weight (OK, maybe a *little* pudgy around the middle) and my skin is naturally pale as a result of my Irish genetics. If I tell this whopper with a straight face and serious tone, I've never once been questioned!

My pasty skin doesn't do me any favors outdoors in the summer, and I sometimes get sunburned. Inevitably, someone will ask, "Have you been out in the sun?" If this question is asked by a darker-skinned person who might not have experienced sunburn firsthand, they get a pass and I tell them the truth. But when a fellow pasty-white person with a name like "Patrick O'Kelly" asks me this question, I tell them, "No! I was mopping the kitchen floor on Saturday and was warming up a cup of coffee in the microwave. I didn't realize that the oven door wasn't completely shut...and now look at me! I've got microwave burns! The doctor says I should be OK in a couple of days!" And people have nodded their heads "knowingly!"

I'm a news-junkie, and I regularly visit all kinds of online news outlets...CNN, MSNBC, my local newspaper, etc. I love reading the comments that my fellow Internet surfers compose in response to the articles they've read. Some of these people are absolutely nuts with their conspiracy theories and weird beliefs. I've often wondered if other people actually believe these rantings. I started to ask myself how much bunk can be written...how much bold-faced craziness can be composed...before someone realizes that the writer is either completely insane or totally full of bullshit? Can people make the distinction, or will they simply accept any outrageous comments as legitimate?

To answer this question, I've started posting my own thoughts in various places around the 'net. My comments will offend some, outrage others, be mocked and ridiculed by many, and sometimes quietly erased by blog administrators. I have hope that some people will catch on and "call me out."

I don't know where this is all heading. Let's just have some fun and see what happens...