Page 9 of Nearly Roadkill
Tonight’s winners will be announced in 32 minutes.
All new registrants will be awarded a double chance to win tonight’s drawing.
So send those entry forms in now now now!
We apologize for interrupting your service temporarily, and we thank your local service access provider for their assistance in making this public safety announcement available to you.
End: PSA #3724
The silence continues until the last of the announcement fades from the screens of The Tavern attendees. Then gradually, the room’s ambience begins to return.
FredMan:I know someone who won last week’s lottery.
Hanzoo:Wow, what I could do with $6 million!
BarBun:You do, Fred, really? ::pouting:: I suppose I should Register.
FredMan:It wasn’t six million, Han, that’s only the grand prize. You haven’t Registered, Bun?!
Hanzoo:You haven’t Registered, BarBun?! Get with it, woman!
BarBun:I know, I know, it’s just all those questions they ask you!
Winc:I’m with you, BarBun. Major ick!
Hanzoo:The questions aren’t so bad, BarBun… just the standard age, sex, race, income, stuff like that…
Winc:::whispering the name of a private room to Scratch::
Azazello:Yeah, and what else… simple stuff like sexprefs, brandprefs, zip, zip-plus, famzips… it’s not hard.
Scratch:Got it, Winc…
BarBun:All right, all right, you guys, I’ll fill out the forms now. Geez!
Winc:::waving::
FredMan:If you win, BarBun, take me to the islands! I have a time-share condo, but no way to get there!
Scratch:No Reg for me. Too intrusive. Plus Reg messes up what’s so great about this place. We’re all the same, we can be whatever identity we want, the playing field is leveled.
Hanzoo:Leveled how?
Scratch:Huh?
Hanzoo:Don’t you think the default is white, and probably male?
Scratch:Well yeah in the world, but not here.
Hanzoo:Are you sure?
Scratch:?
Hanzoo:When you’re *not* a white person, you can tell what the vibe is in the room—real life or online—
Scratch:Oh.
Hanzoo:You probably assume everyone is white because you’re white.
