I just don't understand this blog post - Idler's Journal

[formergothardite]

idlersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/12/tale-of-christmas-compassion-involving.html

This person is linked to on the biblical beginnings blog, but I can't tell if this is all made up, if it is real but written in a fashion to make it look like it took place in era of Dickens, and what exactly was the Christmas compassion shown? That he told the boy not to buy the 12 pack of hot dogs and instead get beans? What am I missing here?

[kittypie]

I think all he was trying to say was "Damn, I wish I could afford a spiral ham!" but in a funny way. FAIL. Too verbose for me. Brevity is the soul of wit.

[formergothardite]

Oh I kind of see. Didn't think of it from that angle.

[Guest Anonymous]

I don't get what that entire blog is about.

That particular post seemed to be suggesting that poor people are also stupid and need to be educated and patronised by the tax-robbed rich, as to how best to spend their limited funds.

[formergothardite]

Sometimes you just want a hotdog and not beans. I still don't get what the Christmas compassion shown was.

[Guest Anonymous]

Sometimes you just want a hotdog and not beans. I still don't get what the Christmas compassion shown was.

Indeed. Compassion might have seen and acknowledged this and kept the fuck out of another person's business.

[desertvixen]

That particular post seemed to be suggesting that poor people are also stupid and need to be educated and patronised by the tax-robbed rich, as to how best to spend their limited funds.

That appears to be the only real point, yes. Christmas compassion would have had the poster buying the ham.

[alba]

I got distracted by the author's apparently belief that 'shillings' is a generic term for money. "Surely thou must have enough of the shillings to purchase even a small ham?" Seriously?

Yeah, I haven't a fucking clue what the author's going on about here, nor the point of the attempted archaic language.

[genericJname]

My take is that rather than the evil government taxes going to handouts for poor people's hot dogs it should subsidize the ham industry so the upper middle class can eat it more often.

[JesusFightClub]

What the fuck is this shit?

[Angri-la]

I think all he was trying to say was "Damn, I wish I could afford a spiral ham!" but in a funny way. FAIL. Too verbose for me. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Totally OT, but this reminds me of a Dorothy Parker caption for a fashion photo: "Brevity is the soul of lingerie".

I couldn't get past the first few lines, so I thought I'd class up this thread with a quote from a real writer.

[Aurora]

Why must the crazies always be Canadian?

What is a spiral ham, anyway? And how much does it cost? Kind of rhetorical 'cuz I can google this later.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

What is a spiral ham, anyway? And how much does it cost? Kind of rhetorical 'cuz I can google this later.

Spriral ham is food of the gods... they take a 1/2 ham and cut it in a spiral all the way down, slicing it into pretty pieces. Some of them have a really nice sugar/honey glaze burnt into them, and some come with a little glaze packet you can make and pour all over it. You can find them on sale sometimes, but a medium sized spiral ham is around $20-$30 depending on the brand and where you get it.

[Aurora]

Spriral ham is food of the gods... they take a 1/2 ham and cut it in a spiral all the way down, slicing it into pretty pieces. Some of them have a really nice sugar/honey glaze burnt into them, and some come with a little glaze packet you can make and pour all over it. You can find them on sale sometimes, but a medium sized spiral ham is around $20-$30 depending on the brand and where you get it.

Well damn, I can't afford that either. You don't have to be Oliver Twist to not be able to buy one of those. No wonder the kid went for hot dogs instead. It sounds fantastic though!! HUNGRY

[QuoVadis]

I found it rather amusing, although it would have been nice if he could have bought the boy the ham. The story goes: the author of The Idler is working in the meat department of a grocery store (or working in some store that sells meats), a kid comes in and drools over the ham but can't afford it. The meat department guy says, hey, why don't you get beans? They have similar hickory-savory flavoring as the ham might. The author concludes with a, boy, it'd be nice if these prices were lower, then more people could afford them. *Shrug* That's my take on it. (Um, not that you need unnecessary explaining. Sometimes I can't tell what's a question and what's just snark.)

As to the verbosity, the title of the blog is a hint. He's trying to write jocundly in the style of The Idler done by Samuel Johnson, or his Rambler. As to the language, it's rather like the tricks employed by Pope in The Rape of the Lock.