It was funny how one asshole could ruin the whole chat room…
just one troll coming in and slinging abuse could kill the vibe. But our room had some folks that didn’t
play. They could really cut someone down
to size, when their behavior warranted it.
They especially hated was when a dude (always a guy) would
come in the room and start asking for dirty talk or naked pictures. That was the chat room equivalent of someone
walking into a crowded bar and going, “Which
one of you broads is going to fuck me tonight?”
I remember one time one of the veterans convinced the guy
that he could find naked pictures of everyone in the room if he just pressed [Alt]
[F4] on his keyboard. (Alt/F4 is a keyboard
shortcut to close whatever program you’re in.)
I laughed as the guy’s avatar promptly disappeared. Dumbass…
Sometimes there would be real 4-alarm flame wars in the
room, usually with newcomers, or acquaintances from another room. I learned that there were people in Virtual
Places (VP) who could find your IP address and hijack or cripple your system
from their PC, so I tended to lay low. In
technological terms, I was a lamb in there with the lions. I had no defenses, and no expertise to
recover my system. Because of that
vulnerability, I became real good at withering putdowns of people who had just
left the room. I wanted to defend my
friends, but I didn’t want my PC turned into an expensive paper weight.
But on most nights, we had a ball. I didn’t have to go in and perform; I got to
play to my strengths. I much prefer to
be a comic “counter-puncher,” than go in with solo material.
I had so much fun in VP, I would spend the workday feverishly
wishing for quitting time, so I could race home and get online. There would be weeks when I was completely
down the rabbit-hole and no one could get ahold of me. And I mean that literally because I only had
dial-up internet service. When I was online,
anyone calling me would get a busy signal.
I swear, my parents must have thought I dropped dead with the phone in
my hand.
My regular 40ish room started doing annual “reunions,” in
various parts of the country. I was so
torn! Part of me was dying to go;
another part of me was scared I’d be let down.
It was moot though, because all parts of me were broke, so going
anywhere was out of the question. Even
when they met in Washington DC, practically in my own back yard, the hotel
prices were obscene for a dude of my limited means. But after each Reunion, they’d put up a
website, so I could I look at pictures. It
basically looked like the people you’d see at a PTA meeting, only with drinks
and cigs.
(It seemed like everyone
in the pictures smoked, so I know that would have bugged the crap out of
me. And you could still smoke in bars
and restaurants then, so my eyes would have been burning like crazy.)
In retrospect, I wish I would have gone, if for no other
reason than it would have made a better story.
I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve always tried to meet up with
bloggers, when possible… because I missed out before.
This was my old dog, Jesse, from when I was a
teenager. I still miss her, but she made
a nice avatar. She was too good for
shades, though.
Eventually, I cut way back on the chatting, and settled on
one night a week. I chose Fridays,
because not only could I drink wine and stay up late, but because our room had
a theme: Butt Fridays. Basically, that
meant that everyone would fly an avatar that featured their finest back-sided
assets.
That was the only time I used beefcake avatars, but even
that didn’t last very long. I found a
picture online that I figured would be perfect for Butt Friday, and it became
one of my first self-made avatars.
Yes, that's a rhino in a thong. Once you go “rhino,” you’re knee-deep in vagine-o. (Sorry.)
It was always a fun vibe.
I’d light some candles, pour the wine, pull some CDs to play on the PC,
and settle in for a night’s worth of digital revelry. I’d never know where I’d end up that night,
who I’d be talking to, but I had a pretty good idea what it would be about.
One thing I learned is that there were an awful lot of
lonely women out there, married or otherwise.
I mean, I know that chat rooms weren’t the most efficient place to meet
potential mates (or even hookups), simply because of the long odds of finding
someone in my area. But still, I
preferred to chat with the single ladies.
I mean, I’m no home-wrecker, right?
I don’t want some dude coming into town, wanting to kick my ass for keeping
his old lady up all night.
(Although I’d say, “Dude,
if you were taking care of business on your end, your wife wouldn’t be up late chatting
with some schmo like me.”)
I also found that the lonely housewives really just wanted two
things from me. A sympathetic ear, and cybersex.
Honestly, it was inevitable, after fifteen minutes or a half
hour of exchanging our stories, listening to their problems, they would hit me
up to tell them sexy stories. They usually wanted me to tell them about what I
would do with them, if we ever met.
I swear; I never, EVER, started the sex talk. Not that I minded, particularly… Hell, I was bored and lonely too. So I obliged, and lo and behold, found I had
a knack for it. Well I guess I did… they
sure seemed to like it. I’m pretty sure
I’m responsible for ruining a good number of desk chairs across North America.
So I would make up a scenario and start telling the story,
as fast as my little fingers could type.
It’s funny how bold you can be, when you’re talking to a stranger from
across the continent. I’d type the kind
of things I’d never be able to say to someone face to face, without turning
purple from embarrassment. Of course,
the wine helped.
The other chatter would chip in a bit, sometimes it was a
real back-and-forth, but for the most part, I did the heavy lifting. And once I got a response from her like “frswdrqqqqqq…”
I knew I had just won. Or maybe she did.
So after all of that, spinning line after line, setting up a
location, a plan of action, and a play-by-play description of the hot virtual monkey
lovin’ that was so engaging, they were able to rub one off, they’d always ask
me if I had done the same.
Then they’d get offended, because I’d be like, “Seriously?
How many hands do you think I have”?
It takes two hands to type that fast… how the hell am I going to do
anything else, for cryin’ out loud? I
could either tell the story, or do something else, but not both.
Sometimes I’d slip a joke or two into the narrative, just to
see if they were paying attention.
Bluzdude: Now I’m
moving further up your leg… mmm, so soft.
Moving further… further…
Chatter: Oh yeah, keep going.
Bluzdude: Ow, just
hit my head on the underside of the table.
Bluzdude: Who are
you again?
Sadly, my sense of humor wasn’t always appreciated in the
spirit it was given. They probably
thought they were chatting with one of the Three Stooges. But if they laughed, I knew I had a good one.
Not all my chat friends were temporary. In fact, I formed on-going relationships with
several. And I’ll tell you all about
them… in the next posts.
2 comments:
The alt/f4 trick was hilarious!!!!
Hugs!
Valerie
Couldn't believe the douche fell for it.
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