Reply To: Dystopian Future of the CR

“On the one hand, you don’t want to offend, on the other – you want to wake them up…”

A legendary (in his own mind) CR poster brings down the story about a farmer who wanted to sell his mule named Goldie so he put posted a “mule for sale” ad in outside the small shul in the town square. Coincidentally, another farmer from OOT who needed a new mule was visiting and the two farmers got to talking about a possible transaction. The second farmer asked if the mule was a good worker. The first farmer replied that his mule could be relied upon to do a “good day’s work”. The next question that was asked was did the mule obey every command. The owner said yes.

The second farmer seemed very intrigued and asked if they could hitch the mule up to a wagon for a test drive to see how he worked. The first farmer said no problem.

They got the mule into his harness and the potential purchaser took the reigns and calmly told the mule “Giddy-up Goldie”. The mule turned its head back to the farmers with an annoyed look but just stood there. The second farmer tried his “Giddy up Goldie” mantra several more times and still the mule didn’t move. The potential purchaser looked at the owner and said angrily “I thought you told me this mule obeys.”

“He does,” says the owner, who then picked up a 2×4 from the back of the wagon and walked to the front where he was facing the mule. He then hit the mule as hard as he could with the 2×4. He then walked back and said to the farmer, “Try again.” The farmer sternly shouted “Giddy up Goldie” but this time, the mule immediately obeyed and started pulling the wagon forward.
The owner turned to the second farmer with a knowing look and said, “This mule always obeys, but you have got to get his attention first.”

I’ll leave the mashal to our other CR mavens as to what are the implications of having to interrupt an otherwise boring thread with an inspired vert designed to “wake up” the Mods