CompuServe's Issues Forum

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Went Up The Water Sprout.

I first logged on to the Internet so I could follow my niece's basketball career. She was playing at Central Arizona Junior College. Such a small school you really couldn't get normal information like scores from the local paper. With the Internet I was able to follow her career. She became a junior college All American and then went on the play at the University of Nebraska for two years becoming all Big-8. She is a beautiful gal, could have been a model. Now she is the head pharmacist at a store in Newberg.

When I was looking for Internet providers I chose CompuServe. Seemed the easiest to use and had the most sports sites. On one of those days when I was looking for some information about Kristi's basketball career I also checked out a few other features that CompuServe had. They had a lot of forums. The three that attracted me the most were the Authors Forum, the Sports Forum, and The Issues Forum. The Issues Forum became my home forum. It was a great forum. People had to use their real names which not only resulted in bonds being formed but kept the vitrol at a managable level.

The Issues Forum was divided in to sections. Mens Issues, Womens Issues, Political Debate, Elder Issues, Boomer Issues and so on. I checked out several of the sections. The Mens Issues was just to mean for me. When women visited there they were treated poorly, certainly not the way I was taught to treat either guests or women. I eventually lurked in the Womens Issues Section. What a treat. Sort of like a high school dream to learn what women are really talking about. I lurked for a very long time. It seemed to be the one place on the Issues Forum where people were becoming friends. Talking about what was going on in each other's lives. Discussing serious issues like the legalization of drugs and the not so serious issues like which bread maker is the best. When there were disputes it was done in a very respectful way of each other. There were real quality women there. Most happily married. A medical transcriptionist now theatre critic, A music editor of a very popular TV show now retired, Authors, Attorneys, CPAS, supervisor of the national domestic violence hot line now retired, a journalism major that now manages an income tax preparation office, Two wonderful ladies from England, an MSW, A police department transcriptionist now retired and so many more.

I lurked and lurked until that one day a man came to the forum and posted in the Womens Issues section that women should stay in the kitchen and the bedroom and not be out in the working world. It really upset me. My grandfather was bedridden so my grandmother had no choice but to go out into the working world. My mom was liberated long before women's liberation. She always worked with dad in his various businesses. So I responded to the man's post with a much different view than he had. Then I became accepted by the women on the forum. I never really fit in anywhere like that before. It was great becoming friends with such a great group. We had annual offline meetings. I was able to attend the first two, in Boulder Colorado and in Seattle, Washington. and hosted the the third right here in Portland, Oregon. Even had a brunch at my house on the Sunday Morning of the week they were here, complete with a sign on my garage "Danger Men Cooking." Later some of us got together in Ashland, Oregon a beautiful little town on the Oregon/California border known only by Oregonians, Northern Californians, and New York Times readers.

The debate that lasted the longest on the Women's Issues forum and is still going on in the Yahoo group started after the demise of CompuServe was how the childrens' spider song is sang. Is it the Isty Bitsy Spider or the Eency Weency Spider? Of course it is the Itsy Bitsy Spider but it doesn't matter how much evidence you give the Eency Weency Spider group they just won't accept the correct way to sing it. It is sang on TV commercials, to start a Robert Fulgham lecture, seen in print in numerous articles as the Itsy Bitsy Spider. But will the other group concede? Nope. I love them anyhow.

If you want to read a great blog that really shows how well rounded the women on the Womens Issues forum are go here

http://www.funnytheworld.com/2007/Dec/30.htm

Of course she says nice things about me but the real reason to read this post is her personal top ten list. It has everything. Love, sadness, happiness, adjustments, humor. She is a really great writer and I wish she would write a book. The only drawback is she is one of those Eencys.