Taking a cue from John McCain's reference to Obama as "That one," I thought that it would be good to start a list (hopefully to be added to by other posters) of the characteristics associated with the increasing US vs. THEM polarity we've been seeing on Fairfield Life lately, and the tendency by the US group to treat the members of the THEM group as if they are less than human and deserve to be thought of as "That one" rather than as a human being. If you're a newbie, you can use this list to find the group you feel you best fit into.
US group members (also referred to as "We who know the Truth while you don't") -- * Have elite membership criteria, so elite that at present this group has only 4 members: Shemp, Judy, raunchydog, and Willytex. * Know The Truth about everything. Anyone who dis- agrees with a member of the US group is by definition wrong and REEEELLY REEEELLY STOOOPID, and can be legitimately referred to in posts as "That one" instead of using the poster's name. * Have no lives. As far as anyone can tell, the most important thing in US group posters' lives is writing vitriol to Fairfield Life in an attempt to make some- one else feel as unhappy as they are. Tend to panic when they exceed the posting limit and can't post for several days, and during those "on the bench" periods read FFL compulsively. * Have no friends. US group members never mention any friends in their real lives, and seem to consider no one here their friend. * Demand to be respected and taken seriously, while acting in a manner that makes it impossible to either respect them or take them seriously. * Fantasize that their posts are making someone feel bad and gloat over the imagined devastating insult or putdown. US group members tend to do this a lot. * Imagine an audience. Tend to fantasize that other posters (the ones they're trying to make feel bad) are reading their posts as slavishly as the US group reads the posts of others. THEM group members (also referred to by US group members as "idiots" or, individually, "That one") -- * No real membership criteria, except still having a functional mind. (This may be one reason why the US group feels so outcast; they don't meet this criterion.) * Have opinions about things. Don't consider those opinions to be synonymous with the Truth. * Have lives. Read and post to FFL only for entertainment and relaxation purposes, and don't consider it all that important. * Have friends, both on FFL and in real life. * Don't assume that anyone is reading their posts and taking them seriously. Don't feel that either of these things is terribly important. * Just write things and send them off. Don't seem to be concerned if no one responds or if they don't respond the way that the poster wanted them to. * Don't need an audience. Don't really CARE if anyone is reading their posts or not...for them, the pleasure is mainly in the writing. * More and more, don't bother to even read posts made by members of the US group.
