Did I step over the line when I joked that Rachel Lucas is dead? It gets hard to step over the line with humor about distant subjects, but Rachel had been a big part of the blogosphere and that’s more like making a joke about someone we know. Personally, I’m frustrated by her dissappearance, and I guess I did it out of a hope to provoke some answers.
Anyway, I like making fun of Commies and hippies because we all hate them, but things become quickly unfunny for me if I feel I’ve distressed someone. So was that joke over the line?
Yes Frank. When someone you really like, you enjoy to read and to be the friend disappears, you don’t say he’s dead. It is superstition maybe, but it is not correct. She has bought a house and she is busy. That is all.
not over the proverbial line…and i would like to say that this is not the second post…oh, and hippys are funny.
I wouldn’t worry about it. Those who were around back when she went on her hiatus knew better.
The responses to the dead thing: those were funny.
I think you could make a special post about her so her aunt could read it, and tell it to Rachel. You could also apology and go to the church, light a candle and tell God it was only a bad joke. You should say 5 pater and 40 ave Maria and make a donation for the orphans in Florida. Of course, you cannot take your car to go to the church. You have to go by walk or by bicycle, just as Rachel when going to the university. And you should put a memorial picture on the right bar, for people to never forget.
Have you heard of the man who for Valentine’s day, told that his wife was dead. He is the father of three children and his wife is serving in Iraq. Read the full story there.
I personally don’t feel the Rachel bit crossed the line, but only because it seemed like the sort of thing that would crack her up. So, no Frank, you are not an asshat.
I’m glad to hear she’s not dead (But will you refund the money for the rubber plant I sent, huh Frank? Will you? Bah. Blasted comments, I never get a response till after I ‘post’).
At the same time I’m sorry to hear she has ‘hiatus’. I just hope it doesn’t require surgery to correct.
SpaceMonkey, at least, I believe that having a hiatus being a woman cannot as tremendous as having a hiatus while being a man.
It appeared to me overtime that you and Rachel got along well and that this was just a friendly little jab at her for not continuing blogging.
I guess the only way we’ll TRULY know is if Rachel gives us her opinion on her blog….yes, what an excellent idea!
If Rachel isn’t bothered, why worry? 🙂
Frank, yes it was a bit over the line. Rachel was one of ours.(oops! now you have me doing it too) Rachel lives!!! She is sitting front row at the Frank J. concert. So lets hold back on the spittle, umKay?
Well, Frank, there really ARE two sides to this.
I know that there wasn’t the slightest bit of malicious intent involved on your part, but it still stung. Stung because Rachel is a very dear friend of mine that I love dearly and the mere thought of her being hurt in any way causes me pain, even when I know that it isn’t true and that it was only intended as a joke.
So no, I don’t think you’re an asshat, because I know that you never intended to cause me any distress with it, but yes, I do wish that I’d never seen it, because it DID distress me.
Coming from you, I take it as a joke. I wonder what Rachel would think of the joke. I don’t know if I was close to Rachel like some here, but I emailed her and enjoyed her commentary. I also knew you were simply making a joke…I can’t say I take you seriously most of the time becasue of that 🙂
YES YOU BASTARD I WAS VERY UPSET
P.S. Who is Rachel Lucas?
I thought the joke was fine. You could tell it wasn’t true if you stopped to think a sec.
Frank: I think Rachel would be the first person to laugh at your six feet under scenario. I took it like you were baiting her to come out of seclusion and make one of her classic, ranty-rant comments here…
The only problem with joking about someone’s death is when, coincidentally, the person happens to die. So it might be better to use a kidnapping or captured by a monkey story next time.
No, it was not “over the line.” People need to stop being overly sensitive. I guess I gotta go join that POOP* outfit.
* People Offended by Offended People
Don’t worry about it, you thought it was funny at the time, and indeed it was funny. Besides, all the smart people figured out it was a joke, and that only leaves hippies and commies who thought you were being serious, and they only read the site to glean vital information that they might one day use against you. Be careful Frnak. Me? I was more offended by the thought of Michael Moore eating (shudder).
I didn’t think it was over the line. I mean, if she HAD mysteriously died.. her blogging wouldn’t have slowly slacked off.. and her site would have been as it was left. So it’s not like any thinking human being is going to be like.. oh my god, the blog fairies cleared out Rachel’s site because she died in a fiery car wreck. And I think Rachel would have laughed, so.. tell ’em to stuff it. 😉
i wonder how rachel would have reacted to Amphitryon’s inanities and hypersensitive, european socialist arrogance…
for those annoyed by politically correct suppression of free speech, you should take a look here: http://www.thefire.org
I didn’t like the firey death idea, it just I liked the joke of only being able to identify her by her ranting.
Frank,
Here’s an Idea, cap’s intended.
How about giving her a role in your IMW?
She’s on a mission to the secret distant icy liberal stronghold ‘the Fortress of Intitlement’ deep withing canada where Cheney’s is being held hostage for a mind transfer from Dean. Somewhere during the middle of the rescue, Barbara Streisand attacks, have Rachel tear Babs’ nose off then use it call in Chomps and Rummy who kept ‘stopping to beat Canadians’ on the way.
There, I practically wrote the whole thing for you, Frank. No charge. Just credit me with the idea.
Shutting up now.
Frank,
But seriously, I think we’ve all said things we regret about people dying. My worst? Pizza guy is dropping off pizza, in Florida where I used to live. I notice the guys name tag said ‘Bret Starr’. Now, I had just seen a news story about Bart Starr’s son Bret dying. So I said ‘Hey, I thought you were dead’.
He replies , “No, that was my cousin, I am named after him.”
SpaceMonkey is right! To atone for the erroneous Rachel Lucas report, you can either beg the Lord for forgiveness after crawling to the nearest church on your hands and knees over rusty nails & broken glass – or write her into a future In My World, fighting valiantly alongside the Rumsfeld Stangler, Chomps, and Buck the Marine.
It was obviously a joke. I would have said it was over the line, however, since the Imperial Mufti of the Idiotarian Poodleboys was upset, I would have to say that it was a success.
I guess you never played baseball FJ? It’s bad form to jinx teammates and friends.
If you include Rachel in and IMW post, you must include Sunny and Digger as Chomps’ faithful sidekicks!! Think of all the liberals the three of them could take out!
I’ll say it. No one else has the guts to say it so I will.
I’m glad she’s dead. Glad! Do you hear me? Good riddance!
I always like the line from HST,”He was eaten by canabals”. Try that next time.
Apply this simple equation to all things –
Tragedy + Time = Humor
The length of Time is a simple variable based on the inherent value of the Tragedy perpetrated. Standing in the blindspot of an Israeli bulldozer is unquestionablly dense, therefore, the Time factor becomes extremely short. A monstrous Tragedy (crime) like the Holocaust is so obscene, that the Time figure becomes incalculable.
Yay Spacemonkey! Obviously she’s not dead, just on hiatus, and though I was only familiar with her work for a short time before she started, um, hiating, I gather she’d laugh at your little joke and then show up and chew you out in that special way only she can do. Then you’d feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Frank.
But I LIKE the idea of immortalizing her in the IMW sequences…
I think that, when read solely by people who have been on the “in” side of the Rachel Lucas-Frank J circle of the blogosphere, it is a funny joke. But the problem is that not everyone reading is part of the same tight-knit social circle. There are probably some people reading you for the first time who don’t see it the same as people who have been reading since the first Rumsfeld Strangler murder. Likewise, some readers might have been long-time Rachel Lucas readers who know all about your mutual respect and admiration for each other’s web sites. But other readers might have very limited knowledge of Rachel. The more your blog grows in audience, the more you have to think about this.
I thought it was funny, but go ahead and add Rachel to an IMW post!
Yours,
Wince
BUT, I do think it’s important to apologize to her aunt (which I can only imagine you’ve already done.) It’s heeby-jeeby hearing about someone you love, esp. kin-folk, dying, even more so if it’s a joke.
willow, i think this talk of rachel’s aunt is BS. i mean, look at who brings it up: Amphitryon
Joe:
Actually I was referring to a post in the comment section of the Frank Answers(tm) in question…a woman claiming to be Rachel’s aunt posted there and told Frank he was out of line. Still, not sure about whether she’s really her aunt or not, but that’s where my comment came from, not from Amphitryon. 🙂
Willow
Being the aunt or not, it was also in Frank’s mind to see if he had over passed the line. It seems that he did not feel that much sure of him about the kind of humor he was making there. Still, it’s bad to joke on a friend’s death, being real or not.
Friends never die, not even for humor.
Hey Frank… I think anyone reading Rachel’s blog would see that she clearly explained why she isn’t around, so I see no problem with joking about whether she’s still alive out there or not. I mean… you probably could have achieved the same thing a little less harshly with “she disappeared from her home and all that the police found was a rant” etc etc, but… shrugs Then again, I can see where it might have upset her aunt and Misha. I don’t even know her, and I was a little jarred.
didn’t bother me. but I have a very high threshold of offensensitivity…