Several surgipedians have gathered in an operation theater. On the table lies an unconscious man whos left leg looks dark. Surgipedian #1 grabs a sheet prepared by the patient’s doctor that details the problem.

Surgipedian #1: “Whoa, he’s been lying here for 26 hours, we sure got a backlog again. It also says on this that he has a ‘claudication’ and a ‘chronic venous insufficiency’ in the left leg”, looks at right leg, “and we are asked to do a ‘leg segmental arterial doppler ultrasound exam’. Whatever that is. His leg looks pretty good to me”.

Surgipedian #2: “You looked at the wrong leg. It says the left one”.

Surgipedian #1: “I looked at the left and it’s looking totally normal!”

Surgipedian #2: “The left from his point of view! Do you know where your left leg is?”

Surgipedian #3: “No need for shouting, #2, please remember Surgipedia guideline ‘Assume Good Faith’. #1 was just trying to be constructive!”

Surgipedian #2: “I was only trying to be constructive, too!”

Surgipedian #3: “Well, let’s just get to back to this guy.”

Surgipedian #1, feeling securely at the helm again: “I remember something I read once on a website about heart diseases; when your arms or legs turn dark, you got a heart problem”.

Surgipedian #3: “Yup, you are right. It’s something about the veins in the heart being clogged up.”

Surgipedian #2, feeling outdone: “I think it’s something about having not enough oxygen in your blood!”

Surgipedian #1: “Can you cite a source for that?”

Surgipedian #2: “My aunt Thelma had something like that and I wrote a paper about it for my biology class at school!”

Surgipedian #3: “Please remember Surgipedia guideline: No Original Research! Let’s get back to the man’s heart problem! What should we do?”

Surgipedian #1: “I think you need to cut open his ribs and give him a heart massage or clean the veins or something”.

Surgipedian #3: “Sounds reasonable. After all, when you get a massage to your back, the blood there flows better as well. I just wrote an article about it”.

Surgipedian #2: “Heh, that is original research, too!”

Surgipedian #3: “Several surgipedians agreed on that article to be correct. Are you trying to be a nuisance or do you want to do that man some good?”

Surgipedian #2: “Of course!”

Surgipedian #3: “Then please stay constructive! How do we cut the man’s ribs?”

Surgipedian #1: “You need a saw or something.”

Surgipedian #3: “A saw? Surgeons use scalpels when they operate. I think you just need to cut a hole and poke your fingers through”.

Without further ado, he grabs a scalpel and cuts a hole approximately where the heart is and sticks two fingers through.

Surgipedian #3: “I can’t reach the heart, my fingers are not long enough!”

Surgipedian #2: “Then do that thing with the veins!”

Surgipedian #3: “How do you do that?”

Surgipedian #2 “Well, my aunt Thelma finally had something they call a bypass and they cut open the veins, I think”.

Surgipedian #3: “But that is orig…, well let’s try it. But I will have to push in the scalpel pretty deep to reach the heart. Shall we do it?”

Surgipedian #1, #2: “Support”.

Surgipedian #3 remembers Surgipedia guideline “Be Bold!”, grabs the scalpel in his fist and swings his arm in preparation of a deep push into the hole, but at that moment a surgeon comes by.

Surgeon: “Stop! What in the world are you doing?”

Surgipedian #3: The man has a problem in his leg and we are going to cut his heart veins open”.

Surgeon: “What? All I see is a man with vascular problem in his leg and another that wields a scalpel like a knife. Are you aware that pushing a scalpel into someone’s heart will kill that person?”

Surgipedian #1: “We have decided by majority that this is the proper thing to do. Besides, can you prove that pushing a scalpel into someones heart is deadly?”

Surgeon: “You decided by MAJORITY? Are you all nuts?”

Surgipedian #2 feels that there is finally someone besides him to put down: “Please, no personal attacks!”

Surgeon: “I will fucking personal attack you if you endanger someones life!”

Surgipedian #3: “We need to call an admin!”

Surgeon: “Alright, do that, but put that scalpel down!”

An admin comes by.

Admin: “I have heard that a guest is violating Surgipedia rules”.

Surgeon: “I am a surgeon and these people are about to kill this man by pushing a scalpel into his heart!”

Admin: “Reviewing the archived discussion, you are in violation of rules Surgipedia: Assume Good Faith, Surgipedia: Vandalism, Surgipedia: Neutral Point of View, Surgipedia: No Personal Attacks, Surgipedia: Avoid Weasel Words and Surgipedia: Do not disrupt Surgipedia to make a point. You will be blocked from accessing Surgipedia for one week. Please use the time to review Surgipedia guidelines and rules”.

Admin and desperate Surgeon leave.

Surgipedian #3: “Okay, where were we?”
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Surgipedian #2: “You were about to cut his heart.”

Surgipedian #3: “Yup. I propose that so-called ’surgeon’ was just a troll and we should go ahead.”

Surgipedian #1 and #2: “Agree”.

Surgipedian #3 slams the scalpel into the man’s heart, who is dead within moments.

Surgipedian #3: “Why did he die?”

Surgipedian #1: “It’s his fault. There was nothing WE did wrong!”

[All guidelines and policies mentioned in this satire do exist in Wikipedia.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swann

At present, to the utter dismay of my grandmother, it is very americaised.

The wonderful virtual world that is web 2.0!