Who cares about Joe Six-Pack anyway? Isn't he the one who popularized the term "geek"? Isn't he the one who broke our glasses, forcing us to repair them with masking tape? Who do you think he really is, anyway?

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

He's the guy that will kill you and take your food when he realizes that he didn't prepare. My guess is, you'll care about him, at least with regards to the safety of you and your family.

-- (its@coming.soon), December 20, 1999.

Actualy Amy,"geek" is an old carny term for self made freaks,as opposed to freaks who were born that way(and had higher status).The term you seem to be looking for is "nerd".

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

I do.

Joe is my brother, a dolt if there ever was one. Don't get me started. But my Mom is stuck in St Paul with other family members, and she'll turn to Joe because she's old-school and she thinks Joe is smart simply because he's male. Go figure. So I have to pound what Y2k awareness that I can into Joe's thick head, so he'll be some use to my Mom, who is a whole lot more GI than she was a year ago.

Another Joe lives next to me, and if he doesn't get it, he might come looking for help. It's a whole lot cheaper to warn Joe, and let him prep is own family, than for me to feed him. The old buy-a-fish vs teach-to-fish proposition, and it makes sense. My community is better off if I warn Joe, even if it takes lots of persistence and even if the results seem skimpy. It's not his fault he turned into Joe Sixpack, just as I can't claim I became a geek on purpose. There is some danger, of course, in being noisy about this, and I might end up paying a heavy price for speaking out. But even if I end up a victim, my community is STILL better off for having heard the message. It's like going into the Army - nobody gives their life for their country, that's bull, but lots of people are willing to RISK their lives for their country, and some are unlucky. Hope we guessed right.

I've got friends who are Joe's, but they do have redeeming aspects. So I nagged at them and tried to scare them. Some of them are getting ready because they finally GI. Some are getting ready because they trust me, even if they don't know beans about computers. Some are ignoring me, but at least when it's over I'll have done what I could.

Hey, we can't all be incredibly brilliant. Somebody has to be Joe.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), December 20, 1999.

Funny thing is that now "geeks" wield much the same bullying power over "Joe-Six-Pack" as he did once over you. That techno literacy is something many computer professionals use as something to make them look like they have power over "mere mortals" who haven't gotten into computers.

Veru ironic, but hardly surprising. There ain't new under the sun.

-- (before@you.accuse them), December 20, 1999.

If you don't even know who he is then I think I can understand why you might have made him angry enough to break your glasses. He is the guy who built your freaking computers so that you could become a geek and make twice as much money as him for doing half as much work. Even though you may not think he is worthy of a higher wage because he doesn't program computers, I think at the very least he deserves a little respect.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 20, 1999.

Okay,

The jig is up! I AM JOE SIXPACK, and I am married to LADY LOGIC!!!

-- Male Logic (Malelogic@madeup.abc), December 20, 1999.

I can attest that Male Logic is my brother, a.k.a. "Joe Sixpack" at family renunions. Geez, you should see Lady Logic "Laura." What a BABE!

-- Joe's Brother (ABC@CBS.XYZ), December 20, 1999.

How about "Joe somebody's son", "Joe took a bullet for you in Nam", "Joe who carries this country on his back with the taxes he pays", "Joe doing the best he can", or how about get a life & stop being such elitist, snobby, whiny little babies.

-- JoAnne Sixpack (proud@ofit.com), December 20, 1999.

I don't give a flying fig about Joe Sixpack but I care deeply for Joe's sixpack.

-- (sam@twelve.pack), December 20, 1999.

When TEITRAH, Joe Sixpack can be a most valuable member of your team. The ones around here hunt pigs and goats, grow some of their own food, fish (and often have boats), drive 4X4s, and often have a substantial supply of adult beverages. And don't mess with the big guys, either! (Around here, "Big" generally denotes an individual over about #400!)

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 20, 1999.

"He's the guy that will kill you and take your food when he realizes that he didn't prepare. My guess is, you'll care about him, at least with regards to the safety of you and your family.

-- (its@coming.soon), December 20, 1999. "

Bubba Joe hunts and fishes, he has chain saws and firewood, he has tools and a well, more than one gun, a CB radio, a generator, a two acre garden and all his land taxes paid.

What have you got?

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), December 20, 1999.

If you don't even know who he is then I think I can understand why you might have made him angry enough to break your glasses. He is the guy who built your freaking computers so that you could become a geek and make twice as much money as him for doing half as much work. Even though you may not think he is worthy of a higher wage because he doesn't program computers, I think at the very least he deserves a little respect.

I worked damn hard to get where I am. I didn't sit around drinking beer and debating the merits of the Redskins. If Joe shows up at my door, he'd best not be wearing glasses.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), December 21, 1999.

Amy, if you really want to know who Joe Sixpack is try working on an auto assembly line for a few days. Then you'll know why he doesn't have much more to look forward to but that six pack at home every night. I'm not a Joe anymore, but I've done his gig for a while, and I definitely wouldn't want to go back. You can't pretend to know him by listening to Bruce Springsteen records like the Yuppies do either, but then I get the impression you don't really want to know who he is. It's easier just to say "who cares," so that you don't have to show any appreciation for his labors.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 21, 1999.

Why does it have to be a derogatory term? In the Military we constantly refer to everybody as a 'Joe' for obvious reasons naturally. Why does 'Joe' Sixpack have to be so negative? In a sense, we are all 'Joe'.

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 21, 1999.

Reader's Digest cares a lot about Joe. They have written numerous articles about parts of his anatomy..."I am Joe's spleen", "I am Joe's prostate", etc.

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), December 21, 1999.

Well, as a matter of fact Amy, *I* am Joe Six pack.

But... I am not partial to beer, prefering bourbon and wine.

I work on cars.... actually, I also run an automotive business. Just greasy mechanic type stuff.... but my paws are clean because I wear examination gloves and am more likely to have a lab scope in hand than a lug wrench.

I also write articles and essays.... which would badly shock the teachers I had in high school. Perhaps fatally so. I have given up my weekly newspaper column for lack of time.

While I am 'six-packing' in my daily on line chat with other techs from around the world, discussing solonoids and eratic electrons, I may take time to help solve business problems or advise on cooking a proper sprout omelet or discuss sci fi authors of the 50's or the ins and out of backyard poultry production.

Is there a point you wonder?

I dare you to define 'joe six pack'. I double dare you. See how I fit in that definition. See how my friends fit in that definition.

Perhaps Al might fit.... Except he designs sculptures in iron and practices horticulture while his wife teaches art and performs it as well..... All this after closing up his joe six pack car repair shop at days end.

Maybe Mike fits..... another greasy ol mechanic... but you'll have to catch him in between studying for his pilots license and building his own home from scratch.

I can go on and on........ probably have too much already. Amy, do you understand what I am saying?

'Joe Six Pack' does not exist... Just like the 'geek' you refer to does not exist.

-- art (artwelling@mindspring.com), December 21, 1999.

I dare you to define 'joe six pack'. I double dare you. See how I fit in that definition. See how my friends fit in that definition. I see I made the mistake of political incorrectness by saying that everyone isn't exactly the same. So let me continue. The perfect evening for Joe Six-Pack:
5-6 Happy Hour. Hang out with your buds at the local bar. Talk about Pamela Anderson Lee, the Steelers, and Joe Paterno.
6-7 Go home. Eat dinner prepared by wife.
7-bedtime Park in front of the TV. Monopolize the remote. Interact with children by screaming at them to stop blocking your view.
Social skills of Joe Six-Pack:
Ability to belch on command. Perfect evening for Geek: 5:00 Drive through Wendys for dinner.
5:30 - 7:00 Discover that the new issue of Wired has arrived. Read it from cover to cover.
7:00 - 9:00 Realize that there is nothing good on the Discovery channel. Surf the net. Visit all your favorite newsgroups, like alt.2600. See if Bill Gates posted anything.
9:00 - 10:30 Install more memory in your PC. Social skills of Geek:
Blushing when spoken to. The ability to read in the middle of a loud party.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), December 22, 1999.