20% lying (was) RE: [at-l] Purism

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

I assume that the 80/20 was concerning telling the truth about what one
hiked on the AT.  If not forgive me.  But, no-one really knows who lies and
doesn't lie about blue blazing, white blazing, slack packing, etc.  

A body can blue blaze into a town and then come back on the same trail and
pick up on the white blazes.  A body can slack pack a portion of the trail
they have already done before.  Just because we see someone yellow blazing
does not mean they have done the trail.  And just because everyone swears
that "Granny Goodwench" had a purist thru-hike, does not mean she did.  

Someday, I intend to do a "turtle" walkabout of the AT and environs.  I'll
walk every white blaze inch, but I'll go into town or other places when I
feel like it, and return on the blue blazes and yellow blazes to the spot I
left the official-okey-dokey trail.  But the only one who can swear to what
I did is me.

If someone wants to lie, let them.  I'll know what I did.  And that's the
only one who will count.

William The Turtle
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lynch [mailto:jplynch@crosslink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 6:58 AM
To: Jason Ball
Cc: Felix; AT-list
Subject: Re: [at-l] Purism


Jason Ball wrote:
> 
> Dear Felix, the moral fibre you speak of is alive and well for 80% of the
> people. The other 20% unfortunately lie.

It is indeed unfortunate, and we shouldn't excuse it.  

> As long as you do what you say you
> do so that you know, that's what counts. 

Is this the same as "do what you want and say what you did"? (i.e. don't
lie).

>  .. we have to look no further than our own
> neighbourhoods to see people lying all the time. ... But in the grand
scheme, > see how little a part it plays? 

Your argument would seem to suggest that lying is ok, that everyone does
it and that lying is much less consequential than 'bigger' crimes, so we
shouldn't worry about it.  Sorry, don't agree: our society is built on
truth-telling.  If that fails, society fails.  I'm sorry about the 20%,
but I don't want to give encouragement, even tacitly, to that
unfortunate minority  (that might encourage the weak ones among the 80%
to start lying too!).  


-- 
James P. ('Jim') Lynch
jplynch@crosslink.net