Bending Reality Magazine April 2014 | Page 15

I have been active in Red Light Center – Utherverse for 24 months – not as long as most, but I am a quick study. I started as a Basic Member… like we all did. I quickly learned the word, “GREENIE”. I quickly felt the scorn, and not always in a subtle way, of the VIP toward the Basic Member “The GREENIE”. And – I quickly became a VIP. I remained a VIP until a few days ago, when financial circumstances changed for me. Then just as quickly those circumstances reversed fortunes. But during those days while I CHOSE TO REMAIN BASIC – yes, I chose to be a “Greenie” – I looked into the face of prejudice and experienced the scathing scorn of class. Sometimes it was subtle. Sometimes it was straight up in my face.

Let me share a few examples… some humorous… some not. One very successful WG walked over to me and stated that she found it ironic that she was popular in five clubs, had 500 folks on her friends list and now regularly exchanged rays for cash $$$$ while I, her former employer, and a rude and mean man, was now… “a Greenie”. I told her I was happy for her “success” (as she defined it) and she put me on ignore. She would never have walked up to me, had I been a VIP. The Basic Badge gave her the courage to scorn and criticize my performance as a club owner. She never came to the realization that we all define success differently as we explore RLC. You are reading my words… not hers. To me that is a success! –smiles- The next day… three VIPs took verbal pot-shots at the Basic Member before them (me). When the verbal barrage was turned back upon them – hey, I love a verbal repartee – they used the VIP tactic of choice – ignore. They should have read the profile – ut oh – the operative word is “read”. My bad! That same day three sweet Ladies came up to me and asked me to dance – not share friendships, just dance. This was totally against some VIP unwritten code! ‘Once must to speak in public… say nice things and then ask for friendship… before you ask someone to dance!’ Funny thing – I danced. I did not know the Ladies. I did not scope profiles. I just danced. Oh, they were all Basic Members. The reader may draw their own conclusions.

Even within a virtual reality universe, where we can interact in any way we choose – prejudice mocks us and caste/class rears its ugly face. That is a pretty strong statement, and I know it will offend some. Good. If the shoe fits… wear it. Remember your days as a Basic Member and the feeling you had as a “Greenie”. Let that remberance guide your kindness, your action and your care. Make the virtual world a better world.

“Going Green” – A Social Experiment in Virtual Reality

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by DeGrey