I am *cross-posting*, to both lace and chat -- a sin to the n'th degree -- because I think it's important that *everyone* reads this.
Arachne is a unique list, especially when it comes to generosity of heart. That's the reason it's been the only list I read/interact with and have been since June '95... It *pains* me, to every fibre of my being, to think that we might be considered to be just so many dim-witted sheep, ready for shearing.
The sympathy for Hannah and Amanda (her daughter), whose house had burnt, and the "put your money where your mouth is" expressions of it, have been typical of Arachne as we know and love it.
However... We might have been "had"...
The reason I no longer had any spare lacemaking equipment *left to send*, and had to send a "pledge" to a vendor instead? I'd sent all my "extra", *a year ago*, to another (?) "burnt out" Arachnean... I've just found the original message, which is *riveting*:
Mon, I I Feb 2002 10:10:26 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject- [lace] Exciteing news yet sad news
A few weeks ago I got to teach my very best frien how to make lace. I was so
proud. I walked into her house with 2 pillows, a couple of books, pins,
pincushions, and all my extra bobbins with all my other valuables. When I
left she had already started a bookmark and loved it. She was hooked. I was
so excited a new racer here in Ash Grove. As far as I know we are the only 2
at this time. Well 2 nights later her house burned to the ground including
all the lace stuff. We stood there watching the house burn for 5 hours.
They still do not have a home and are moving around but she stil has the
bug. Yesterday she asked me if I could loan her more stuff so she can work
on lace. She says it would be the one good thing in her life right now. I am
trying to get some stuff together for her but it may be a while before I can
get what she needs. I think it is great though that she wants to work on it.
It is so strange because I am still collecting stuff like clothes and
household goods and she is thinking lace. Another addict is born. Hannah
Moad, SW MO
(The following was her response when I offered to lend her some of my bobbins.)
That would be ever so kind. Thank You so much. Hannah Moad
409 N McQueary Ave Ash Grove Mo 65604
OK. The one with the egg on her face gets to try and unscramble it all...
I suppose it's *possible* that the same person loses all her lacemaking equipment to a fire on a yearly basis.... It just doesn't seem *likely*, to me; I welcome contrary contributions from statisticianas on the list :)
I'll be rescinding *my* gift certificate -- it had been to within an inch of what I can afford, because I'd thought it was going to two *deserving* lacemakers, one of them in her teens; I'm no longer sure of it. I feel that my (infrequently employed) sparks of generosity had been mocked, and I don't like it; I *may be* an old fool, but I don't have to like to have it pointed out so starkly.
Hannah and Amanda are listed in the most recent IOLI Directory, with the same address, so, perhaps, they do both exist, and are not as much of a fraud as they seem to me at the moment. Both have been on the Secret Pal Exchange for quite a while, which suggests that they've been meeting their "send out" obligations (Alice "chops" the no-shows). I expect that Karen Sartain (the collect-contact nearest to Hannah and Amanda) is "bona fide", even if I'd never heard of her before...
Frankly, I'm not enjoying my winter this year, and this "affair" only makes the season bleaker. I've always been "leery" of things and people; distrust is a part of my upbringing. But, to encounter it on *Arachne*, feels like ultimate betrayal...
Yours, disenchanted, ----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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