The Truth About Ruth - Part 4

[Stephanie66]

So the truth about Razing Ruth blog seems to be down. Does anyone know what's going on?

[Cran]

Not down for me...

[happy atheist]

Haha, I just read the post about Chatter. Sounds like the closed thread about "Ruth" is still in the private area though.

I'm sure she's reading here, which is...whatever, there's nothing in these threads that hasn't also been hashed out on the blog at this point. I mostly want to know if there has been speculation about "Ruth" sightings elsewhere, and who she may have been posting as at TAR. I've been googling some of her old usernames (scarlett75 at Splitcoast Stampers, PennMommy and of course PossumMomma) but it's so hard to get an accurate history since there have been deletions and, in the case of the stamping board, their search function no longer works. I just can't believe how prolific she was.

I think the hysterectomy support site was discussed here, where she lists her numerous "health issues"--holy moly. At some point she mentions that her mother had a hysterectomy when she ("Ruth") was five, and after the surgery suffered from some pretty severe mental health issues, including OCD. As far as I can tell from googling, she had to have her hysterectomy put off until after her last child was born, but never came back to the board thereafter. Would have loved to know what was going on with that, or what she had up her sleeve. The scams I've seen have been focused on physical health crises, and not mental health, although Ruth had PTSD and depression I think? Interesting.

The Ruth thread in AYTFJ isn't even on the first page anymore. There's nothing new being discussed there.

[baignoire]

Good to know. Thanks, happy atheist.

[NJMom]

I finally caught up with this story, and haven't been here in months since the board changed over. For some reason, I can no longer get a password over at TWOP, and the administrators there have ignored my e-mails, so I'm glad to be here again. Good grief. This woman sure told a few good stories, didn't she? I do remember bringing up the ofduggar post a couple of years ago with other members over at TWOP, and having doubts about Ruth, but the 3 people I asked about her all said they believed her. I think I remember posting my doubt here on one thread, and afterward "Ruth" posted she felt bad that someone thought she was making up her story..and a few people got irritated with me for doubting her, that her story couldn't possibly be made up,etc. I guess this is a lesson learned...if anybody has a blog and a paypal account/tip jar, it's a warning sign.

[Whipple]

Dear Razing Ruth (or should I call you *****?)

I know you are reading her so I thought you might want to read this. It is because of you that I trust nothing on the Internet anymore. I just read a story about a hate letter sent to the caregiver of an autistic boy in Ontario urging the caregiver to have him euthanized. Ordinarily, I would have been outraged. Not anymore.

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/08/19/Auti ... 376958505/

Because of you *****, I don't believe the hate letter is real. I think the caregiver is trying to get attention and money. It might be a true scenario, but my innocence is lost. I also read about a bride who has terminal cancer who got a dream wedding. Now the bride thinks that the good wishes of others may improve her prognosis. I find myself wondering, Does she really have cancer?" Even though the poor woman is bald and looks sick.

For about 15 seconds I even suspected the good and honorable blogger who writes The Truth About Razing Ruth of being you. That's how much I distrust everyone, even the person who has gone to great lengths to expose you.

But you are not smart enough to be Anita, Ruth. Like Anita says, you are cunning but not as bright as you think you are. You may be learning from us but your mistakes will always show through via your disordered personality. The money you made, it's a pittance considering all of the time you have spent online. You could have made more money honorably via a minimum wage job and had some self-respect. But easy money is all you care about.

I will sign off now using my real name because I have nothing to hide -- Debbie Lindstrom.

[Closed Womb]

Dear Razing Ruth (or should I call you ....?)

I know you are reading her so I thought you might want to read this. It is because of you that I trust nothing on the Internet anymore. I just read a story about a hate letter sent to the caregiver of an autistic boy in Ontario urging the caregiver to have him euthanized. Ordinarily, I would have been outraged. Not anymore.

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/08/19/Auti ... 376958505/

Because of you ..., I don't believe the hate letter is real. I think the caregiver is trying to get attention and money. It might be a true scenario, but my innocence is lost. I also read about a bride who has terminal cancer who got a dream wedding. Now the bride thinks that the good wishes of others may improve her prognosis. I find myself wondering, Does she really have cancer?" Even though the poor woman is bald and looks sick.

Snip

For good or for bad, I had the exact same reaction to that letter.

[okayobee]

Same here. I even went to snopes to see if it was real. I couldn't find any info on it.

[Whipple]

Same here. I even went to snopes to see if it was real. I couldn't find any info on it.

With all the comments, there is no skepticism, bit it pings my fraud radar. Even the article said "allegedly" from a neighbor and that the police were investigating. The commenters are talking about death for the writer. Talk about a galvanizing letter! The caregiver is getting a lot of sympathy. But...nothing from the parents. I expect that the police will let us know in a few days.

Lots of people lately getting attention when receipts, proposals, etc. go viral. Some workers at Dunkin' Donuts got over $10K for college after a video went viral. If someone was attention-hungry and greedy, this could be a way to do it. Is this what the Internet is coming to!

[Stephanie66]

I don't believe the letter, either.

Now the community is gathering around and probably giving money. I think it was written by an overwhelmed caregiver who needed some support, but didn't think it would go this far. I don't think she wanted to get the police involved.

[Shanny87]

With all the comments, there is no skepticism, bit it pings my fraud radar. Even the article said "allegedly" from a neighbor and that the police were investigating. The commenters are talking about death for the writer. Talk about a galvanizing letter! The caregiver is getting a lot of sympathy. But...nothing from the parents. I expect that the police will let us know in a few days.

Lots of people lately getting attention when receipts, proposals, etc. go viral. Some workers at Dunkin' Donuts got over $10K for college after a video went viral. If someone was attention-hungry and greedy, this could be a way to do it. Is this what the Internet is coming to!

I have lurked for years and am only coming out to say that the parents and the grandmother (who is the caregiver) were interviewed on CityTV the day after the awful letter was received. Watching the interview, I don't believe the grandmother wrote the letter for "attention" or money. They were all truly heartbroken. Someone in that neighbourhood wrote those horrible words, in my opinion. The parents and grandmothers reaction broke my heart.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08 ... er.bb.html

[apple1]

,,, I trust nothing on the Internet anymore. I just read a story about a hate letter sent to the caregiver of an autistic boy in Ontario urging the caregiver to have him euthanized. Ordinarily, I would have been outraged. Not anymore.

http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/08/19/Auti ... 376958505/

Because of you *****, I don't believe the hate letter is real. I think the caregiver is trying to get attention and money. It might be a true scenario, but my innocence is lost...

This showed up on my FB yesterday. I also had the immediate reaction of thinking that it is fake.

[atheistjd]

So glad I'm not the only one who thought that letter was a fake/way to get attention. It sounds like something a cold-hearted, terrible, pissed off, frustrated person MIGHT say in person, in a moment of real anger or frustration. I cannot imagine ANYONE actually sitting down to write those things out. I know there are terrible people in the world but that would really take the cake if true...

[AmyP]

I watched the interview with the mom and grandmother. I don't think their reaction was fake, and I am usually pretty skeptical. The mother could not stop crying and the grandmother just seemed to be in shock. I haven't heard anything about people giving money, or the family asking for money. They called the police themselves.

[BravaAmica]

I don't think the parents or grandmother wrote the letter. It was probably some teen agers or young adults who thought they were being funny.

[Sydney Fox]

I don't think the parents or grandmother wrote the letter. It was probably some teen agers or young adults who thought they were being funny.

I agree. To me the letter sounds like it was written by a young person, not one of the family.

[OkToBeTakei]

The Internet for sure makes it easier for people to lie. With anonymity comes a lack of accountability.

The Razing Ruth thing in no way affects how I think about liars in general. I've met plenty in real life and let's face it scammers have been operating for centuries. She's a tiny blip on a very large radar when you look at the big scheme of things.

I still admire those who gave to her as it proves there are good people out there, I would hope whilst feeling hurt at the deception that people would not be naive enough to tar everybody with the same brush. Press reset forget her and weigh up the experience gained but not stop being good people .. If that makes sense.

[holierthanyou]

There is something that is "off" about that letter. I can't decide if it was written by a group of people contributing to its content, or what the heck happened. The "voice" in that letter pings my literary radar as being off though. It's not consistent.

There is only one spelling error that I recall, using "whaling" in place of "wailing". Obvious overabundance of exclamatory punctuation- but sometimes using exclamation marks instead of question marks. Using a word like "hindrance" seems unlikely a bunch of 12 year olds thought this letter up and typed it. It is just the most bizarre mishmash of levels of education, grammatical knowledge, vocabulary, punctuation, and sentiment.

[frumper-rump]

For good or for bad, I had the exact same reaction to that letter.

Me too...and I felt guilty for feeling that way.

[church_of_dog]

There is something that is "off" about that letter. I can't decide if it was written by a group of people contributing to its content, or what the heck happened. The "voice" in that letter pings my literary radar as being off though. It's not consistent.

There is only one spelling error that I recall, using "whaling" in place of "wailing". Obvious overabundance of exclamatory punctuation- but sometimes using exclamation marks instead of question marks. Using a word like "hindrance" seems unlikely a bunch of 12 year olds thought this letter up and typed it. It is just the most bizarre mishmash of levels of education, grammatical knowledge, vocabulary, punctuation, and sentiment.

The letter-writer claims to be angry, and in my experience people who are really worked-up angry when they are trying to express themselves in writing often do things like the too many exclamation points. There were other vibes in the letter that said "really worked-up angry" to me -- "really worked-up angry" together with "not mentally stable" plus a generous helping of "just not very nice".

Of course that says nothing about who wrote it. And as I learned with RR (along with some personal experiences over the last year which made this whole dealing with liars thing of keen interest to me), I have no radar for it. I am trying to develop it, but so far even when I can sense that "something is off" it generally doesn't strike me as fake. So I'm learning to at least be very wary instead.

[WonderingInWA]

I think the letter is a hoax. And if it isn't, it really doesn't belong on the internet, it belongs in its own locale with the recipient and local law enforcement. Poor, inconsistent writing aside, it was on purple paper. Really? That's all they could find?

[EmmieJ]

I read about the letter and I felt it was likely a really awful, terrible, juvenile prank letter. Whoever wrote the letter, they are clearly "off". Because it's on purple paper, I associate it with a female letter writer or writers. Teen girls have been known to be pretty vicious.

Anyway, I hope they find out the culprit.

[rward]

The letter-writer claims to be angry, and in my experience people who are really worked-up angry when they are trying to express themselves in writing often do things like the too many exclamation points. There were other vibes in the letter that said "really worked-up angry" to me -- "really worked-up angry" together with "not mentally stable" plus a generous helping of "just not very nice".

Of course that says nothing about who wrote it. And as I learned with RR (along with some personal experiences over the last year which made this whole dealing with liars thing of keen interest to me), I have no radar for it. I am trying to develop it, but so far even when I can sense that "something is off" it generally doesn't strike me as fake. So I'm learning to at least be very wary instead.

If it's not a hoax, I think whoever wrote it is over their personal edge. The letter is awful, truly awful, but there is a boy with autism down the street and I listened to him scream and howl for hours Saturday. I can't imagine what it was like right next door. This happens on a regular basis, though not every day. If this is what's going on with the boy in question, every day, for hours (which is what the letter says), I can see why the letter writer was pissed. (I'm not saying the letter is okay or having to listen to the screaming is worse than parenting the kid who screams.)

I could even see a scenario where the letter writer tried to talk to the parents/caregiver about not subjecting the entire neighborhood to hours of screaming on a regular basis and getting dismissed, shamed and yelled at, which may have motivated a much angrier letter than intended. Letter aside, I can feel a lot of sympathy for a person who works nights and has to sleep days, or is trying to put small children down for a nap and can't because the neighbor kid is outside screaming at the top of his lungs every day.

[CallmeChaCha]

I just read the letter, and wow....

I was thinking, though, hoax or not, the fact is that someone wrote it. Someone thought up those disgusting comments. Whatever the reasons behind the letter, those are really fucked up things to write.

[Black Aliss]

Dear Razing Ruth (or should I call you *****?)

Because of you *****, I don't believe the hate letter is real. I think the caregiver is trying to get attention and money. It might be a true scenario, but my innocence is lost. I also read about a bride who has terminal cancer who got a dream wedding. Now the bride thinks that the good wishes of others may improve her prognosis. I find myself wondering, Does she really have cancer?" Even though the poor woman is bald and looks sick.

This. In the past I've also sent many small payments to C****** C****, the woman who lost her job, and home, and had been living in a trailer with her 4 adopted kids in CA, until eventually she scraped enough money together to move to the midwest and live temporarily with a relative. She's smart, she writes well, she works hard at finding even temp jobs. She has an Etsy store where she sells hand-knitted goods, she's on LinkedIn, she includes pictures of her kids on her blog. I really want to believe she's for real. But lately I just can't shake the idea that everyone who has a tip jar or a gofundme site is a scammer.