Re: [Thinkpad] TP240 won't take AC power in

Okay. Since I made that slight comment yesterday, I got 3 private emails
about why I casually mentioned that the person who knocked my laptop on
the floor was black. Ironically, the first email that I got on the
subject was our very own lightning rod, Mister Bruce Markowitz. Oh, and
then he dropped me a fairly helpful hint on what to look for in terms of
diagnosing the problem. Okay, in the spirit that I am sick and tired of
having to explain myself in each and every single email from people trying
to probe whether I have a blutfahne on the flagpole in the yard, include
bedsheets in my fashion challenged wardrobe, or pledge my allegiance to
the third reich or something, here is a nice, long, detailed response.
And I shall mention this no more on the list.

Look, as much as some of the people on this mailing list would like to
make something out of it, the fact of the manner is that the gentleman who
carelessly knocked the laptop on the floor in the subway car...was black.
And the last time someone broke a Dell Latitude of mine on the train
through careless scrambling between cars in an otherwise half-empty
train...She was black too. Both of them muttered a quick apology and left.
Both of them caused me quite a bit of money, and both incidents could be
avoided if they are not running between cars from one end to the next
carrying large bags, and watching where they are going. (I was not
sitting near the edge, BTW) It happened before, it happened already, and
dammit, if I take out my laptop on the subway I might run the risk of it
happening again, and this time, probably by another African American.

Hell, since when is this world become so PC that making one offhand remark
about the ethnicity of a person who caused me monetary damage become a
freaking major point of contention? Now, If I made an offhand remark like
"That lazy bastard should be lynched", or used the 6 letter n-word when I
made that comment, then THAT would be flameworthy. But I didn't. (And
that one above was meant as a sample, so screw you bastards who take it
out of context or try to second guess me on what I think when I originally
made that "black gentleman" comment)

I know I sounded like I am prolonging this or hijacking the list, but I
am NOT. Seriously. In the last 24 hours since I knocked that laptop on the
floor, I received 3 really helpful tips on fixing the Thinkpad, and 3 and
a half (No, more like 4) emails on why I mentioned that the dude was
black. Personally, I am sick and tired of responding to those email that
should not have been written in the first place.

Now, can we go back to talking about Thinkpads, or do you all want to air
out your race relations baggage in here? I certainly don't.

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004, A. Kellerbauer wrote:

> Why did you mention that the person who knocked into you on the subway
> was black? Did you think that that would help us in finding a solution
> to you power problem? Would you have mentioned it expressly if the
> person had been white? Just a few questions that came to mind.
>
> Alban
>
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 11:29:38 -0500 (EST)
> > From: Kev <co273@bfn.org>
> > Subject: [Thinkpad] TP240 won't take AC power in
> > To: ThinkPad Mailing List <thinkpad@stderr.org>
> > Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.1040316112203.519A-100000@bfn.org>
> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
> >
> > Hi guys. Some black gentleman on the subway knocked my 300MHz Thinkpad
> > 240 onto the floor this morning. He apologized profusely and ran off to
> > the next car. The machine was in a nylon protector pouch and it is on
> > suspend.
> > ...
> _______________________________________________
> Thinkpad mailing list
> Thinkpad@stderr.org
> http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
>

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Received on Wed Mar 17 10:59:35 2004