From Wikipedia on the "internets":
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts.
In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement.[1] Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.
A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"[2]—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing.
This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.
@Larry - (as for your charges of racism) ANYONE who knows me will tell you that this couldn't be further from the truth. I married into a Spanish/Italian family and anyone who knows what my real name is would assume that I was a Latina.
Contrary to your assumptions about me, I hold a great deal of respect for West Indian culture and for
all residents of STJ and the VI's regardless of race, creed, color, age, gender, sexual orientation or whether they have two feet, four feet, eight feet or fins.
I have repeatedly witnessd racist statements on this forum,
none of which you have ever called out.
In truth, I don't think that the people even realized how racist their statements were
(we all come from different social constructs and socio-economic backgrounds) and not wishing to rock the boat I, like most everyone else, just let it go.
NOWHERE in my little tales of "locals" do I state
what I am talking about
(in both cases they turn out not to be human at all, but in fact local wildlife).
If people paint their own picture in their minds and make their own assumptions about what they are reading before they get to the end, then that is their baggage and that is not on me.
Why would you assume that when I say "locals" that I mean locals of color? Again, YOUR baggage NOT mine.
Many, many other folks on this forum clearly got my message loud and clear. It was meant and presented in a humorous and reasonably thoughtful way.
My creative tales of local life also contained clear advice and guidance about how to handle these situations with the wildlife on island -- which in both cases I have learned the hard way.
I find it intensely fascinating that I posted advice about "where to store luggage while on STT" last week - this is a question that is commonly asked on the forum as ALL of us have to pass thru STT going home
(unless you are coming from the BVI) -- and to date that post has only recieved 246 hits
(as of 10:29 am EDT on July 27, 2010).
Whereas posts regarding "thieves stealing lunches from tourists on the beaches" and this one on "locals harassing tourists on the main road" have received 807 and 1473 hits respectively in less than half the amount of time.
Clearly, based on a couple of recent events, folks are looking for the worst case scenario and then they think they have found it with my post. When, in reality, they don't that may be a little jarring for some.
I think some may have been caught off-guard because while reading the post they have subconciously assigned a subtext and a narrative of their own that in reality doesn't exist and is in
no way part of the outcome of my posts.
But in a way you have proved my point by outing your own take on the narrative. Dontcha think? Just a little?
Larry, my forum friend, perhaps one day we can meet and have a beer and pass the time together. But until that time don't make assumptions about me that are baseless in reality.
In the meantime, I'm sure that folks would welcome and appreciate any thoughts or guidance
you have for folks considering a trip to STJ.
As several first time visitors have recently indicated, they were very appreciative of the time folks on this forum took to help make their trips the best they could be and my "thieves and locals" posts will no doubt caution first time visitors against leaving food unattended on the beach and to not feed the donkeys.
Whatever you do, please don't waste your time trying to figure me out. As most know from my trip reports or from meeting me in person or who truly
do know me, it would be as fruitless as gathering leaves in a windstorm.
As my Grandpa used to say, it's like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
And in case its not
completely clear:
I am the pig in this scenario. Oink Oink.
Weekdays I can be found rooting around in the dumpster on Centerline road.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled program....
